Thank you all for putting up with our aerification process.
I know its not as enjoyable to play on after and my goal is and will always
be to heal the greens in and get them back to smooth as soon as possible.
Overall it went pretty well with the exceptions of a few equipment break downs.
I am very pleased with our size and spacing’s of the holes punched in the
greens. Normally in the past we see pretty decent heaving across the greens.
Heaving is the raising of the turf causing an unnatural and uneven putting
surfaces. This season we were able to avoid the heaving. We will continue a rotation
of mowing and rolling to help smoothness and to maintain desired green speeds. With temperatures hopefully dropping we will begin to
see less growth and if we can reduce the stress on our greens (promoting
healthy turf) by mowing less and rolling more while maintaining adequate greens
speed we will. If we need to continue to mow daily to achieve desired green
speeds we will. This is not set in stone, I will monitor greens speed and do
what is needed. Tee aerification is still under way. We have half the course
completed and will continue to deep tine tees once I can get some moisture back
into the tee boxes. With low soil moisture we can experience weak roots and
weak roots can lead to pulling and tearing of the turf and aerifying.
Heading into October has shown no signs of relief in the
terms of moisture. We are currently between severe and extreme drought
conditions according to the National Integrated Drought Information System.
Our
irrigation ponds are running low. The question has been asked “If you had a
fully operating pump house would the course be this dry?” We wouldn’t have been
as dry as soon but we would’ve been buying city water much sooner. With only
one pump we can only put out so much water throughout the night and that is not enough. As a
department we have been running water throughout the day to help get as much
water out as possible. I have heard complaints the grass is wet and not
enjoyable to drive across throughout the morning, yet the ground is hard. I
understand the complaints, we have to continually put out water to keep the
grass alive. We are unable to get enough water out to help thoroughly saturate
the soil. That is where the rain comes in. Turf managers can only do so much
with the use of wetting agents as we are using and pond water. September
blessed us with the lowest total of rainfall for that month in the last twenty
years, a whopping 0.84in. Currently we are sitting 4.58in short of the average
rainfall through September since 2000. I have included a chart below showing
rain totals by month dating back to the drought in 2018. These numbers have been
taken from the national weather service.
Jan Feb March April May June July Aug Sept Totals
2018 1.13 1.32 1.65 1.04 5.47 3.71 5.29 4.46 1.3 25.37
2019 1.78 2.15 3.29 4.22 12.82 7.64 2.49 7.65 6.82 48.86
2020 2.8 0.68 3.91 3.34 3.64 1.96 10.02 2.46 1.47 30.28
2021 2.47 0.54 3.55 4.86 5.47 7.12 2.75 5.24 2.1 34.21
2022 0.79 .067 5.14 2.35 8.46 4.73 2.3 2.41 0.84 27.69
Mean 1.14 1.44 2.71 3.81 5.43 5.34 4.04 4.74 3.62 32.27
Without adequate and timely rain the soil has not been able
to maintain the moisture it needs to adequately grow turf. Along with the pure
volume a good rain can give us it also provides water with the correct ph
levels being more beneficial to our turf. Along with saturation and water at
the correct ph, when rain falls nitrogen is pulled out of the atmosphere tying
to the rain being placed in the soil. Without the help of mother nature it is
and will always be an uphill battle.
To end on a bright note the new pump ordered in
April has now been completed. I am working with them on finding a time the can come
out and install it, my time frame is as soon as possible. Theirs however is
more complicated but they have helped us out and turned around in Omaha and
made it hear the same day earlier this season when we were in a pinch so I
trust they will have it to us as soon as possible.
I plan on finishing up the natives this month and begin our tree work at the beginning of November. Remember if any branches are hanging over your property line you can cut these on your own if you'd like. If you do have these branches or even trees you're concerned about on golf course property please reach out and I will come meet with you.
