Conditions:
Thursday Sep 2	This morning a steady drizzle is falling at Coyote Run golf course. Yesterday morning's rain left a grand total of .18" of precipitation in the official rain gauge. Actually, we had to rely on the old analog rain gauge yesterday because a big black spider had taken advantage of the extended dry spell and to build a nest in the digital rain gauge. Technology has its limitations. If forecasts are accurate, tomorrow will feel a lot more like autumn with temperatures struggling to make it to 70 degrees and 20MPH winds. I can't wait! Meanwhile...the Coyote Run staff is ignoring the drizzle while out on the course mowing greens and changing hole and tee marker locations.
Wednesday Sep 1	It's September...I feel better now. Yesterday was another hot windy day, typical of the summer of 2010, where the limited turf roots could not provide enough moisture to keep the plants alive requiring the grounds staff to apply light amounts of irrigation to get it through the day. For the first time in over 3 weeks, it appears that the Chicago area is due for some significant rainfall. If that happens, I guess I will have to start mowing my lawn again. The golf course would benefit from some natural precipitation to get the dormant roughs growing and to even-out the irregular moisture patterns caused by the inherently imprecise application of water from the irrigation system.
Tuesday Aug 31	Today is the last day of meteorological summer of 2010. From a turf manager's point of view...good riddence! Although the summer didn't set many records, the nearly constant upper 80 degree temperatures and high humidity made growing golf course turf very difficult, especially after a wet spring that limited normal turfgrass root growth. Our plans for the fall include greens aerification on Wednesday September 8th and again at the end of October, tee aerification starting after the 15th of September and the rebuilding of 5 more bunkers; two by the #16th green, two by the #17th green and one by #18 green.
Sunday Aug 29	Yesterday turned out to be an interesting day for turf survival in the Chicago Region. The temperature reached 88 degrees in Flossmoor but the humidity was only 45%. That is a winning combination for playing golf but a recipe for disaster in maintaining already weakened turf. The short rooted grass plants had a difficult time supplying enough water to keep the plants cool and alive. A light afternoon application of water on a few of the faiways helped the turf at Coyote Run survive. It was a reminder that in a year like 2010, you have to be prepared for all the curve balls Mother Nature throws your way...even on what seems to be a very pleasant Saturday afternoon.
Saturday Aug 28	Wouldn't you feel better if this was the first day of September? After a five day fall teaser, the warm and humid summer of 2010 is scheduled to reassert itself today through the middle of next week. The golf course, (and my electric bill), benefitted from the cooler temperatures as a few areas started to grow a few roots, allowing us to back-off the irrigation a little. Today the weekend crew will mow greens, change hole and tee marker locations, rake bunkers and do a little hand watering of dry areas before going home at about 9:00am.
Thursday Aug 26	Today looks to be a repeat of yesterday...almost perfect golf weather with unlimited sunshine, low humidity and a temperature in the upper 70's. The heat is scheduled to be back for the weekend but with shorter day lengths, (days are currently growing shorter 2 minutes and 39 seconds per day), and a lower sun angle, they don't feel as bad as they did in July. As discussed in earlier posts...just like July, August has 31 days. Why?
Wednesday Aug 25	Last night, Coyote Run received a trace of precipitation that was too little to register on the official digital rain gauge but was enough to leave a few small puddles in the official Coyote Run maintenance building parking lot. This morning the temperature is 64 degrees and it feels cold, (I almost want to put on some long pants), but it is still above the average low for today of 61 degrees. Yesterday, a blog reader, (yes I have one), asked why we don't let the fairways go dormant which would save a lot of water and eliminate a lot of time spent mowing. Besides the fact that golfers prefer to play on green grass, the reason we need to keep the fairways, greens and tees irrigated and growing is because they primarily consist of bentgrass. Bentgrass differs from Kentucky bluegrass in many ways; one being that bentgrass doesn't have a dormancy mechanism. If it doesn't get irrigated, it turns brown and then it dies.