Humid and wet

There were a few days this past week where it felt like we were starting August over again. 3 tenths of an inch of rain pounded the course Tuesday and then the sun came out to create an oven at the turfs surface. The bermuda is loving life while the greens are ready to see some fall weather. 

While we had plans for a few more fans on the remaining Manakin pocketed greens for next year, we got impatient on 17. With the humidity and even some 90 degree temperatures showing back up in the forecast, we went and stole the fan off 2 Sabot for 17 Manakin. If you remember in the spring, we put in a new power panel to the left of 15 tees in order to power the recirculation pump for 14. We were able to again tap in here so we cut a 800 foot long trench the left of 15 to behind 17 green.

It was a swift moving day without too many pictures being taken but the trench was cut, wire installed and sod laid back just before another thunderstorm came through after lunch on Wednesday.

Most of the Manakin greens are sloped towards the center from the left and right. This means when it rains hard, water runs to the middle and off the front of the green. These areas continue to get basically waterboarded, the water even stripping off the plants waxy protection and these areas staying wet and oxygen depleted.

The growing environment on 17 has immediately changed for the better now with the fan. Instead of dripping with sweat from lack of air movement here, the fan cuts through the dense air and cools the air and surface significantly. While we cannot control the weather, we can help it along and the fans make that happen. These few thins greens in the back corner of the Manakin will continue to heal as the humidity drops and nights get cooler. 

The guys on the Sabot continue to grind through irrigation challenges, even when it is raining. This head on 8 split in half over night and was leaking through the morning until we drove out and saw what was going on.

This week begins the countdown to when the bermuda starts to slow down in growth (its a long countdown). With the high school kids going back to school during the week and sleeping during the weekends, our crew gets tightened up quickly. Tasks like mowing and edging bunker faces still need to be done, we just hope the weather slows down the turf enough so that our slightly elongated maintenance intervals still match up with golfer expectations!