Golf Course Update

Extreme heat, humidity and rainfall continues to dominate the weather scene through July and into early August.  Springfield recorded its 2^nd wettest July on record with 9.51”, 5.57” more than average.  A severe thunderstorm on the night of July 24^th brought 65 MPH straight-line wind gusts, just 10 MPH shy of actual hurricane strength, along with a torrential 3.5 inches of rain in about 45 minutes.  In terms of wind damage to trees, this was the most extreme weather event the golf course has experienced since the fall of 2010, when we lost the massive Burr Oak tree left of #10 fairway.  Tree damage is still a work in progress, there are a few stumps to grind and limbs to remove from several trees.  While there was flash flooding and considerable washouts in the new bunkers, there was thankfully no grass loss due to washed silt and sand like we had on holes #1, #9, #10 and #18 during the flash flooding event in July, 2010.  The course thankfully had just enough time for the excess water to drain before an intense heat wave began.  

The greens are in fair health; the investments of drainage, drill and fill, and labor involved with aggressive aerification continue to make the greens more predictable to manage and more resilient through some of the most challenging climate.  The lack of oxygen due to water saturated soils and extreme heat indexes has quickly led to short, dysfunctional root systems resulting thinning bentgrass.  The greens have benefited greatly from conservative management during stressful periods.  We have been able to play offense and speed the greens up by double cutting and rolling on only a few occasions for tournament days this summer when ideal weather allowed for minimal stress on the greens.  Yet the majority of the year we have been forced to play defense on days when hot, wet and sunny afternoons lead to wilt stress which is in turn exacerbated by double cutting and rolling.  As soon as the weather turns for the better and root mass and density improves, we will resume normal mowing, rolling and grooming schedules.    

The tees and fairways have remained in good shape through the summer.  The high humidity has reduced our water management to lighter overnight watering and more handwatering for less water-soaked tees and fairways in the mornings.  This approach has demanded more frequent yet short, light afternoon waterings and handwater for less wilt and resultant thinning.  The biggest agronomic problem we are facing on fairways, and so far this summer, is the scattered areas of isolated dry spots.  Even with record setting rainfall and high humidity, isolated dry spots can form and cause problems quickly.  Smaller in size due to the rainfall, isolated dry spots remain hydrophobic until completely saturated with water.  To eliminate wet areas from becoming even more saturated, we have implemented watering cans to water just the smaller isolated dry spots preventing other areas from getting wet.  This year crabgrass, goosegrass and other weeds have germinated throughout the golf course.  The nearly 10 inches of rain that fell in July, followed by the intense humidity and highs in the upper 90s, combined for a breakdown in the soil of our crabgrass preemergent products.  We will be selecting the safe solution of manually removing the weed grasses, as opposed to using herbicides that would likely damage the desirable grass at this time of year.

We will begin our fall aerification process on greens, tees and fairways starting Tuesday, September 6^th.