Monday, August 29, 2011

Why are some areas on the course brown?

Another post that did not show up from my phone last week.

The summer heat of July and August gave us some of the hottest temperatures ever and also left us with only 4/10" of rain since July 12.  Our irrigation lake is recharged by runoff from rain but when there is no rain, city water is used.  We used almost 8 million gallons of city water during the last billing cycle between July 15-August 1l and the meter continues to keep piling on during the current cycle.  We are keeping our main play areas watered sufficiently but are throwing smaller amounts in our deeper rough and non-essential areas.  The picture I've attached is behind 17 green and in front of 16 tee.  Even with a modern irrigation system, you can still see how inefficient an irrigation system is in comparison to mother nature.  There are numerous areas on the course in which weaknesses are on display from our system.  A few tees, fairways and even greens are showing signs of damage from inefficient irrigation applications.  I think its time for a rain dance.  Maybe that will be a part of our Labor Day festivities this weekend.

Old zoysia nursery between 17 green, 2 fairway and 16 tee.  We have kept the irrigation off in this area except for the bentgrass collar nursery near 16 tee in an effort to conserve on our water usage which is very high right now because of the 6 week drought.

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