All about Water

June's weather has been a complete 180 from May with temperatures touching the 90 degree point already half way through the month and bringing 5.5 inches of rain. The course has taken all of the rain very nicely considering how dry we were but the recent rain forced us to cancel the deep needle tine aeration of the putting greens. Due to club events and July rapidly approaching we will not be rescheduling this process.

Staying with the theme of water we received our water test results for the irrigation water conducted by our agronomic consultant, David York, who also has been doing our soil and tissues testing this season. I spoke with Dave on the phone about our water results and his first comment to me was "this is the worst water I have seen on the east coast, and the highest amount of sulfates I have ever seen in 22 years." So after I picked the phone off the floor we began to discuss the best way to manage our water issues especially during the heavy use periods. First let me say that because we are in a region where it rains frequently many of our water issues are flushed naturally from the soil during the shoulder seasons. Our nutrient programs are going to be altered to stay away from any additional sources of sulfate, add frequent amounts of calcium carbonate, and continue to manage our potassium,manganese, and magnesium.

This weekend is father's day, my third one already, and that means its the US Open being contended this year at Chamber's Bay in Washington. To say that Chambers is a unique course is an understatement, all of the playing surfaces are fescue including the greens. I urge you to watch at least part of the Open over the next few days but don't adjust your tv you won't be seeing much green.

Mowing fairways at Chambers Bay - they use 20 mowers