Another challenging summer is behind us. Record heat in July which is hard to believe after last summer was followed by perfect weather in August for aerification. The greens recovered quicker than I had ever seen, and the tees were well on their way to full recovery when September arrived dumping over 9" of rain on us from storms like Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee. This made it the wettest September on record for our area. Several tees that don't drain well had standing water on them for several weeks, making it impossible for seed to germinate and survive. Some of the low spots on the tees are where sprinkler heads were removed and relocated from the teeing surface, and other low spots have developed over the years through settling. We are working hard to fill in these areas and will be top-dressing them throughout the winter to raise them up, which will provide better surface drainage. In addition, we will be deep tine aerifying next season which will achieve depths of 7+ inches that will create channels to increase water movement and promote a deeper root system. We also intend to improve the irrigation on our most troubled tees which will definitely make them better.
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| #3 Tee holding water. |
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| #16 Tee covered with water. |
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| #9 Tee |
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| The new seedlings just can't handle the moisture. |
