August In June

It has been a brutally hot and dry two week stretch.  The forecast has no break in sight so the course will certainly be showing signs of stress.  The fescue/bluegrass roughs are wilting in some places, especially where carts tend to travel.  The greens and tees are holding on, but only with an army of staff scouting and providing water as needed with a hose.  It seems we are about a month ahead of schedule with the weather.  The only downside to that is we are still two and a half months away from the onset of cooler weather.  Typically when we see weather like we're having now it's August and a break is right around the corner.  It should be expected that some areas will need repair in the fall after the summer weather and cart traffic take their toll on things.  It should also be expected that in times like this we must manage things more conservatively in an effort to survive.  We have bumped the height of cut up slightly in some areas and added some ropes for cart traffic control as well.  All this is done with the hope that we won't be faced with a large scale renovation in the fall.  While it may slow down the greens a little or make the rough more difficult to play from it will keep things alive and save a great deal of money. 

You can certainly help us preserve the turf by following the cart traffic rules and sharing a cart whenever possible.  It may be a minor inconvenience, but it makes a huge difference for course aesthetics and condition.