Whew! What a stretch of hot nasty weather we just endured.  The course is a little dinged up but all in all it performed well under conditions we haven't experienced since July 2013.  Temperatures reached 95 or above for seven straight days and didn't go below 80 for 134 consecutive hours which was only four hours short of a record.  There was remarkable recovery from the welcome rain Thursday followed by more moderate temperatures.

Right before the hot weather arrived we solid tined all the greens to get more oxygen to the roots.

We had a pretty good storm and lost this tree when the weather was still pristine.

Pylex herbicide was applied to all the fairways on July 19th and its performance is easily seen a week later.  The herbicide's rate of application is 1/8 ounce per acre and it only affects the bermuda.  Think about that!  Pylex temporarily suppresses the bermuda and will green back up about three weeks later. The whitening of the bermuda prevents photosynthesis from occurring thus keeping it from spreading when it is growing at its peak.  The negatives is that it is aesthetically unappealing.

Pylex herbicide selectively inhibiting bermudagrass with the bent performing well.

One week later the bentgrass in beginning to show quite a bit of heat stress.  Look closely and you will notice tire tracks from golf carts.  This is the reason we restrict carts when temperatures soar.

We had some great tree pruning done this week featuring James Earhart the 2015 world tree climbing champion.  He lost his title this year but will be competing at the National Arboretum in 2017 to try and reclaim his title.

Lots of cleanup for our crew.

The pollinating garden is moving along.  Here Julio and Cayatano plant inkberries completing the shrub phase.

Turf twister.  Be the first to explain why this turf failed and win a dozen golf balls.  This area is located just to the left of the 7th fairway near the beginning.  The answer (and winner if there is one) will be mentioned in my next blog.

Another amazing day begins!

At long last our intense tournament grind is over and we can take a breath!  The golf course handled the extra stress very well with the help of some nice weather and timely rain.  Many thanks to my staff for their hard work.  They are the best!

Preparing the fifth hole on July Fourth for club championship finals.

Dusting greens with sand to improve playability.

It has been difficult scheduling rough mowing around all the tournaments.  The rough has been particularly healthy this season as you can attest to!

The benefits of lightweight mowing are already being seen.  This along with aggressive growth regulator applications have helped improve our fairways.

Enough said….

Our purple martins occupied every house again this season.  They don't seem to mind the tilt to this house either.  They will be moving south very soon so enjoy them while they are here.

Saw this guy in the creek by five green this morning.

Our red tail hawks are doing well and are on their own now.  Their loud high shriek can be heard regularly.

Jack is getting use to the course but the adjustment has been tough for him so far.

The early bird catches the worm or in this case a beautiful sunrise!