Wow. What an unbelievable stretch of heat and drought. May ended as one of the driest on record, and the second half of the month saw more highs in the 90's than the 70's. This pushed through a very busy Memorial Day holiday. The constant heat and lack of natural precipitation forced more summer like irrigation practices. I am very pleased with the results of this first wave and the staff's response. We implemented a more aggressive hand watering program during the week; covering surfaces other than just greens. Even at the height of the heat and drought (the weekend), we were able to keep turf alive while still providing acceptable firmness and kept speed up on the greens.
There is a little break in the heat; and it came with a small .5 inch rainfall Monday evening. The dust is settled for a few days, and the irrigation can be shut down...but we could all benefit from another rain event late in the week.
Ryan Baldwin, CGCS
