It has been 92 days since our last one inch rain event!  Yikes.  From the wettest 18 months to a drought.  We certainly can adapt.  The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality has issued a statewide drought watch advisory because specific criteria have been met.  Precipitation amounts since July are 6-12 inches below normal, stream flows are 75 to 95 percent lower than recorded October flows, groundwater levels in some observation wells are 75 to 95 percent of previously recorded October levels, and minimal rainfall combined with record temperatures in September and October have resulted in very dry soil moisture conditions and subsequent agricultural impacts.  Lets hope this weather pattern changes! 

 

Not a pretty picture.

 

 

Our pump intake with the intake screen just beginning to break the surface.

 

 

We are pumping water from fifteen lake and it is showing.

 

 

We continue to water with reduced amounts.  Shorter days and cooler temperatures are helping.

 

 

Now is a good time to feed cool season turf.  However without adequate moisture we are careful where we apply fertilizer.  Here Rony applies a granular fertilizer to the 17th tee.

 

 

Pretty isn't it?

 

 

Mondays continue to be productive.  Here Francisco fills fairway divots with Gill's help. 

 

 

We also had a tree contractor remove multiple dead oaks on nine and near the driving range as well as chipping branches from the previous pruning.

 

 

Notice the difference?

 

 

Bermudagrass has really moved out this summer and fall.  That is a nasty plant and nearly indestructible..

 

 

The course is still looking good and playing fast!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A strange weather phenomenon occurred this week.  RAIN!  We only received three tenths of an inch but it was almost magical.  There was more recovery to the turf from this than all the irrigating we have been doing over the past month.  Cooler night time temperatures are helping as well.  Yesterday we set another record-98 degrees on October 2nd.  Cooler temperatures are finally in our future beginning Friday.

One amazing panoramic view of the course.

 

 

Cool nights are waking up the turf.  Here we see some lateral recovery in our bent fairways.

 

 

Annual bluegrass weevil damage on putting greens.  Originally this pest was thought not to damage greens.  I say Bull!

 

 

This is the larval stage responsible.  We put the hurt on them by spraying Ference insecticide on Wednesday.

 

 

On Monday the guys repaired part of our spillway that leaked. This is what it looked like prior to construction.

 

 

What a nice job they did.  The broken concrete was jacked up and then rip rap and concrete were added in the void.

 

 

Additional cracks were sealed throughout.

 

 

More concrete work.  Now we need some rain to see how we did.

 

 

Wildflower bed on the third hole with asters dominating in the fall.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Ugh.  Its Ground Hog Day over and over.  Last year it was rain and more rain.  Do you know that we were closed for a week last year at this time cause we were saturated?  Too much rain is the worst.  This year its just the opposite.  There is something about this area that wards off rain though we know this mini drought is area wide now.

 

Its hard to establish new seedlings with this amount of rain.

 

 

Our pump intake is alarmingly low. 

 

 

With the lake so far down we thought it was a good time to service the intake.  Divers cleaned silt accumulated underneath as well as debris on the intake screen.

 

 

New bent seedlings trying.  A soaking rain would do wonders.

 

 

Bent coming up in some of the rows.  The thin areas in the fairways will need to be reseeded.

 

 

We have had outings the past two Mondays so it has been difficult knocking out projects.  The crew worked on the bunkers throughout the work week.  Marvelous!

 

 

All turf around the clubhouse has been seeded.

 

 

Remnants of days past.  Too much rain and an abundance of silt creating islands in 11 pond.

 

 

Monarchs in the Rough!

 

 

Gill has the view!

 

 

 

 

A little rain has helped our cause this week.  We are hoping for more but some is better than none!  Course maintenance went well.  The greens have recovered nicely and are in great shape for early September.  The rest of the course is improving every day and should be in great condition for fall.

 

The level of the lake on four has risen some but we need more rain.

 

 

Our greens just one week after opening from fall aerification.

 

 

The first mow on Wednesday.

 

 

Fifteen tee seeded with perennial ryegrass.

 

 

Our new seeder is money!  Plenty of new seedlings throughout the rough in a drought.

 

 

The new wildflower beds have been seeded. 

 

 

The member's favorite tree after pruning.

 

 

We now have camouflaged carts.

 

 

Asters growing in the wildflower bed on the third hole.

 

Course maintenance has concluded for 2019.  Thanks to minimal rainfall we were very conservative in our approach.  The course has received a paltry 1.65 inches since August 1st and we have purchased nearly two million gallons.  More heat is coming this week so expect more city water to be required.

 

Deep tine aeration of the greens.  This is the first time we have done this in September and may not be the last!

 

 

After the deep tine we core aerified using very small tines.

 

 

Once cleaned and rolled the putting surfaces looked like this.

 

 

Our next step was to core aerify the collars with a tighter spacing.  After these were cleaned up the green was ready for a light topdressing.  Once topdressed the greens were brushed lightly and then watered.  The next day all were seeded and ready for a Friday opening.

 

 

Our water situation is not improving.

 

 

 

This week we are concentrating on the collars and tees.  Here Richard seeds weak areas with a drop seeder. 

 



 Max follows with a dimple seeder to push the seed into the ground.

 

Once completed it looks like this.  Time to water!

 

 

We had two tree contractors on site while we were closed-one for fine pruning and another for take downs.  Here a large red oak near the ninth green is hazard pruned.

 

 

Custom Touch Tree Service is our company of choice for removals.  In three days they removed eleven oaks and hauled off all the wood not chipped.

 

 

Eighteen fairway before....

 

 

And after!!!!