Carmel Country Club Agronomy

  We are very thankful to be able to turn off the pumphouse for more than one day this week. The hot and dry pattern has changed but it is looking like May will turn out to be colder than April! We remain in a serious drought since the rain we have received this week is still lower than average.  The picture above is from the storm that moved through this morning, that gave us just under a tenth. This makes the fourth storm this month, which brings our monthly total to 0.82”, well below our 3.63” April average for the area. Hopefully, this coming weekend brings some more but only in the evening.  The Turfrad continues to help us use water as efficiently as possible. After a month with no rain and no humidity for that matter, only being down about 15" on the pond is pretty impressive. Even after a rain event the Turfrad can give us confidence to keep the irrigation off for an extra day while highlighting some smaller areas that are drying out faster and can be watered by h...

Boomer is enjoying the cold mornings again this week, soaking in the frost here on Tuesday morning in the rough. Our warm season turf continues to endure the low humidity and cool temps with plenty of supplemental irrigation. We have our fingers crossed for some rain Saturday evening. This week we are set to update our official Golf Course Care and Guidelines that have been run through the Green and Golf Committees. Look for some videos in the coming weeks to further explain some of the bullet points.  Golf Course Care and Guidelines These guidelines are simple and help protect the club’s greatest asset, the Golf Course. Playability and health of the Course, along with player satisfaction, are top priorities of the Greens and Grounds Department. We kindly ask that players take part in repairing their own damage on the Golf Course as per the guidelines below. Please also brief your guests of these guidelines prior to your round.   Please make an effort to find and then fix ...

  Charlotte remains in an extreme drought  so with less than half an inch of rain over the past month coupled with 90 degree days and high winds we have called quickly upon all of our new toys to keep both courses playable and healthy. The new sprinkler nozzles, fertilizer programs, acid injection system and Turfrad moisture sensors have the zeon looking especially good on the South. The poa scattered here and there is seeding out so it will start to disappear naturally and with the help on some herbicide next week. The turfrad along with the acid injection and sprayer applications of wetting agent are proving to be extremely valuable in the drought. Each day our moisture uniformity gets better and we are using water efficiently. Most of 4 fairway is within 5% moisture level which is extremely consistent! This week both courses got a fairway application of wetting agent and essential nutrients via our Predict N program . While the fairways will continue to get their fertility ...

  There will be no talk of Subair at this years Masters as are spring drought continues. The last time there was a rain free Masters from Monday through Sunday was in 2011! Augusta looks amazingly pure right now and it will be interesting to see how far they let it dry out. Our bentgrass greens on the South are just about finished filling in from aeration and should be putting nicely for Masters weekend. The dry weather is making it easy to see some immediate benefits to our new TurfRad soil moisture sensors. We have mounted these new sensors to one of our utility vehicles which then is driven up and down the fairways in 3-4 passes. The sensors use a microwave technology to give us the volumetric water content of a large area. In two hours or so we can have millions of data points detailing moisture levels across the property. The sensors collect the data and when the cart comes back to the shop it is uploaded to the TurfRad cloud. Over the next week we will continue taking measur...

  Our Champion bermuda greens are trying to break dormancy for about the third time this spring. The 30 degree nights last weekend did not help the greens at all and certainly put another sting on the rough. Soil temps were back in the 60's this morning which is good, but staying above 65 through the night is really a good key in getting the Champion to kick in to gear. Color and greens speeds will come as the weather continues to warm up consistently. Our assistant in training on the North, Colin Costello put out some gypsum and potassium on Monday after a dusting of sand. This monthly application of micronutrients helps manage any salt buildup and aids in water use efficiency inside the plant. Carlos and his father Juan got the cartpaths edged on the North this week. We are excited to button up all our winter projects and spend more time on details in the coming weeks. The North guys also finished scalping down the bunker faces this week. We have now lowered our normal flymowers ...