August Update

The heat we are getting now is very nice. It's even nicer that we are getting it in August and not July since that would make for a very long summer for the turf (and the my staff!). Also, I'm pretty sure it won't last past the September long weekend. The other nice thing about August heat is the August nights can be cool and grass likes to grow roots during warm days and cool nights. Those areas with inferior irrigation are becoming very obvious with the heat and since we've had no appreciable rain for weeks those areas with no irrigation are in complete summer dormancy. Golf course wise we are just trying to hang on and get through the Pucksters Tournaments.

Wildlife

Not the best picture but just last week I saw a turkey hen and her brood out on 12 tee.

River Watch

We had some problems with the connection to the river but half a day, a pump, shovels, and two guys got everything going again. The flow is still good but it is dropping weekly. Before this little blast of heat and wind I thought our water usage would be on the decline but the turf is drying faster than I can water.

August 7

August 18

More holes

I could include the usual pre-amble regarding lack of posts over the last couple weeks (not much happening, staffing, etc., etc.) but it never changes so I won't bother going into any detail.

We started to aerate the tees this week as well as needle tine the greens with our deep tine aerator the same as we did last year (see deep tine ). Both are fairly low key events and will be followed by a light top dressing on the greens next week and and a heavy top dressing on the tees.

Obligatory Aeration/Clean up
Picture for the Tees

A little follow up to the from our spot fairway aeration I referenced during the July 7th post.

New Grass In
Aeration Holes

This picture was taken July 17th and shows all the little sprouts from the overseeding coming up. With the possible exception of the aeration on the left of 14 fairway all other areas are looking great and the whole process has allowed me to back off the water in these areas as well as eliminate any extra hand watering. This is something we will start up again in September when the timing is better.

The fox is still around and has made the local paper. In the following picture the fox is within arms length and was busy eating a mouse.

River Watch

Here we go again. I'm optimistic that with the level it is now and the the fact that it is already August we should have no problems but I want to keep a record and this is a good vehicle for doing that.

River Level
August 7

Something different from this springs run off was the deposit of a log just outside the intake. The angle is perfect but if I could choose I would place it 300 yard up stream so the log could continue to direct the flow of the water to the intake as the river level dropped.