July Monsoon

What a crazy week it's been!  Once again, last night we were hit with another 2.5" of rain.  The difference with this one is the entire amount came in about 45 minutes.  As you can imagine, the golf course was not built to handle this scenario.  

Since last Tuesday, we have now had four severe rain events totaling 8.35".  In all four events the bunkers were completely washed out, along with creek cleanup from water coming out of the banks.  Tuesday night, we had significant wind with the rain.  Branches were scattered throughout the course along with four trees that had to be removed.  Kudos to our crew for working through each storm.  Bunkers were completely repaired following each storm, only to be washed out in the next one.  

Creek cleanup from recent storm.

A couple of feet from going over #11 Green.

Runoff up in #15 Fairway

Typical Bunker washout.

 Looking ahead, it's going to take some time for the golf course to dry down.  We are approaching a full week since fairways and rough have been mowed.  Once things dry out enough to mow we will be forced to raise the mowing heights in the rough.  We will quickly work this back down as time allows.

The good news is the golf course will be in great shape as soon as we get back to a more normal weather pattern.  As far as irrigation water is concerned, there has been significant savings this year compared to the last two seasons. 

Thank you for your patience as we work to put the golf course back together.

Looking forward to getting back to this!

Golf Course Update

What started off as mild summer quickly feels more like the last two scorchers we have experienced in Wichita.  Other than a good rain on June 17th, we haven't seen much moisture.  With complete reliance on the irrigation system, we are beginning to see  more brown show up.  The good news is the course is playing firm and fast.  If you enjoy it lush and green, we're going to need more rain!

During the heat of the summer our biggest concern is maintaining the health of our greens.   With Bent/Poa pushups we are constantly walking the fine line of achieving the playability we desire without pushing the greens to the point of no return.  The practices we utilize are designed to produce firm, fast conditions without much emphasis on the color.  The fact is, these greens can be pretty ugly during the heat of the summer.  Doesn't mean they're not healthy, just a result of our turf types that tend to be more susceptible to disease and summer stress.

Below are pictures of a disease called Summer Patch.  The disease starts out yellowing the turf, with dark green outer edges.  Over time the disease will weaken the roots, mainly on the edges.  The good news is it specifically attacks the Poa, rarely do we see issues with the bent.  As summer progresses we will see bentgrass fill the voids left from the damaged Poa annua.  The pictures were taken recently on #17 green.

Water management, appropriate fertility and a solid preventative fungicide schedule are just some of the keys to success.  Another tool we have used over the last couple of years is continued topdressing throughout the heat of the summer.  Instead of using our heavy equipment to apply the sand we are now using push spreaders to apply a light dusting on a weekly basis.  The sand helps keep things smooth and firm while also keeping the greens from getting puffy.

Next week looks like there could be some relief in the forecast.  Cooler temps with a chance of much needed rain.