The Heat Is On

If the summer were a round of golf I'd say we just played the front nine in even par.  Course conditions were consistent throughout the first half of summer with no big set backs and lots of good weather. Now we are about to tee off on the very difficult back nine (second half of summer).  If we can hold it together through the next 5 holes (mid August), then we have a chance to shoot a good score.  We can't claim success until the round is over, but so far so good.  The round ends just before greens aeration on September 14th and 15th.  Aeration is to the greens what the 19th hole is to golfers....a much needed breather and a chance to recover.

Parts of the golf course are showing some typical summer stresses, but in general we are happy with our position at this point of the season.  We still need some assistance from golfers if we are going to finish the season on a high note.  Parking carts with all 4 tires on the path, following the cart traffic policy, sharing carts whenever possible, and of course repairing ball marks (as many as you can without holding up play).  

Here are a some strange pictures from the past few days....

We can do better than this.  Ball marks seem to be more prevalent lately.

The black layer in the surface of 15 green is a function 

of poor drainage and too much rain.  There are a few places on greens 

where turf is thinning as a result of this.  It's fairly common in the summer.

The depth of the profile in these areas is less than the ideal and standard 12".

A cart parked on this sign next to 4 green.