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North aeration complete, still incredibly dry

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  Last week the forecast had over an inch of rain forecasted to fall in the afternoons on multiple days this week. The storms were out there but none of them hit our property. It was rained TWICE in the past 30 days. We have hit 100 degrees every day in July so far and the wind has been blowing all afternoon.  Someone north of us is getting rain but it is not helping our cause.  We are moving close to 900,000 gallons of irrigation water a night in order to keep our turf hydrated. The low humidity and wind means we are wet in the morning and dry in the afternoons. We are watering during the day when possible and we are keeping the bentgrass greens moist as we get through this crazy dry period. We are hoping for at least some clouds over the weekend to catch up a bit! It is not just hot for the turf, it is hot for the staff as well. This week they did an amazing job of getting the North course aerated for the season. The high sun, the sand, and hot machines all made for a g...
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As hot as it gets!

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  Our warm season turf is soaking up the heat beautifully this week. Two quick thunderstorms last weekend recharged the soil so 100 degrees is no problem for all our bermuda and zoysiagrass. The North course is ready to go for aeration next week and will be closed Monday through Thursday. The greens will be dryjected and then solid tine aerated. These processes will limit golfer disruption but still allow us to put over 60 tons of sand into the upper profile. The tees and approaches will also be lightly verticut, solid tine aerated and topdressed with sand next week. The heavy lifting next week will be on the North course fairways. The fairways will be verticut with our new tractor mounted machines to a depth of close to 1". The debris will be blown off, picked up and then around 300 tons of sand will be spread out evenly. This annual process will allow us to keep the North fairways firm and consistent through the season. The bunker banks received an application of fertilizer, ins...
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Beautiful week but more heat and humidity are on the way

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  After a solid stretch of wind and 90 degree temps through the weekend we have cooled off nicely Wednesday and Thursday, before the blast furnace turns back on this coming weekend. The North greens were ready for a quick breath of oxygen so we ran the needle tines over them quickly on Monday. A light sand topdressing along with some gypsum and potassium were washed into the profile and they were back putting nicely for the week. On July 6th the North will close for 4 days for summer aeration. The greens will be dryjected and then solid tine aerated in order to incorporate sand into the upper profile. All other short grass will receive a vertical mow and adequate topdressing. Plenty more info to come. The North approaches received a light topdressing Monday as well that was brushed into the canopy. These light topdressings help keep the turf tight and prevent scalping during hot and humid periods. The roots over on the South bentgrass greens are hanging on as we trudge through summ...
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Finally some rain!

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  Our turf could not be happier to see some natural rain come down from the sky Thursday night. This ends another two week stretch of no precipitation. Temperatures look to get back to normal also, just touching 90 for highs instead of 100 degrees and windy! The bentgrass on the South is surviving another summer blast of heat. We are in full protection mode with fans running as needed to cut humidity and fungicides, wetting agents and nutrients being applied basically twice a week in order to keep the bent putting adequately. The Champion on the North continues to putt nicely as well and will also certainly enjoy some natural moisture. The turf on the South putting green and #1 green where our sprayer malfunctioned a month ago was replaced this past Monday. For #1 green we used good turf from the putting green so that the A1 variety of bentgrass would match up properly. The putting green spots received Pure Eclipse bentgrass from our nursery out on 5 North. The Pure Eclipse is a ne...
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