A sense of fall is in the air as what seemed like a relentless period of heat and humidity has broken and cool nights and mornings have been welcomed. The course was dialed in for the Men's Invitational, with green speeds hovering around 12' and fairways and rough starting to burn out. Though the heat has abated, we are still in need of some more frequent rainfall. The irrigation system is running a little harder than is typical for this time of year. We are pushing the envelope a little bit in terms of letting the course dry out. Shorter days, and the aforementioned cooler nights take the stress out of things somewhat. It takes longer for the leaf shoots to start wilting, and recovery is much more easily achieved. Though we are running sprinklers overnight, output is less than it would be in the middle of July. Inevitably, tropical systems make their way up the coast and douse the property in rain. Before we know it, the course is saturated and greening up significantly. As I write this post we are expecting up to 60mm of rain this weekend. The irrigation pumps should be shut off for the season following this rain event, spare the need to water in sand after aerating. Speaking of which!
We have scheduled our annual core aeration to take place Sunday, September 29th and Monday, September 30th. We will begin Sunday afternoon behind the last scheduled tee time and work until dark. The course will be closed for the duration of Monday as we finish the job. A delayed start to tee times Tuesday will allow us to complete any final watering, topdressing, brushing of sand etc. For more on the process, and the benefits of core aeration, see the USGA video below.
I conclude this post by thanking our high school and university students who have finished their summer with us and return to their studies. Their impact here has been immense as our course presentation was top notch all summer as the little details we have a tough time getting to in the shoulder seasons are much more easily managed with them here. To Aidan, Brennan, Jack, Patrick, Mark, Dan, Finn, and Owen: Thank you! Hoping for a high rate of return next summer!
Comments