The Irrigation "Dance"

As we are officially in the middle of summer now and true heat has finally found us, an update on summer stress, certain eyesore areas and the role irrigation plays in both is due.

As much as we would love to say that all the work we've done over last fall and the winter to improve plant health, soil conditions and the irrigation system would guarantee nothing but green grass, the truth is that the road to recovery from the woes of last summer is a long-term process. We've definitely seen some major improvement, in particular on the holes that received extra attention and topdressing this spring, like #3, 4 and 12. But we still have areas that are giving us headaches, for a variety of reasons.

In addressing the irrigation issues discovered this winter, part of the process was to completely reprogram the irrigation system. Doing so essentially sets all sprinklers to a uniform base percentage of 100%. However, we all know that sprinklers in the shade probably don't need 100% irrigation. Likewise, areas on the tops of hills or on south-facing slopes may need more then 100%.

So in firing up the irrigation system for the summer, these are the areas we are slowing finding. Areas where there's either too much irrigation, or not enough. We have the ability to adjust every sprinkler out there, but finding the right combination of percentages for any given area can be a challenge. In trying to dry out a wet area, we can adjust down too much, and get too dry. And vice versa. So we "dance the dance" with the irrigation system. But, in time, we find that balance. Getting there sometimes doesn't look pretty, but once we're there, we're set. And once the affected grass recovers, we shouldn't have to worry about those spots again, and we move on to others. Over the long-term, we eventually get the entire course balanced out such that when we need to, for tournaments in particular, we can dry down everything equally, to make it firm and fast. Then we can rewet everything uniformally as well for a fast recovery. This is the end goal, and we are on our way there, albeit little by little.

Another "good news, bad news" fact to point out is: bad news = some grass is very dry, brown and some of it beyond recovery (which is currently being reseeded) and doesn't look very pretty; good news = the majority of the grass looking this way is Poa annua, the grass we least desire to see and maintain. So while we'd prefer not to see overly dried out areas, we are effectively separating the strong from the weak; the Poa from the ryegrass. And the picture below is a perfect example of that:

You can easily see both the survival/drought strength of the ryegrass, as that is pretty much the only green grass in the picture, as well as the benefits of the aeration we've been continuously performing, as those are the regularly spaced spots the ryegrass is happily growing in. So as we continue to aerate and continue to seed in ryegrass, these areas of strong, healthy turf will become more dense, with better coverage and eventually the majority of the Poa will be gone. Again, long term, but a nice end result to dream about. Our commitment to this goal is unwavering, and we again thank you for your commitment and support as well.