August Survival

August brought the HEAT!!

 

 (14 fairway)

Hello all, I apologize for not giving you the Swope content for the month of July. Sometimes a blogger needs a break. Not to mention this blogger was busy fixing breaks. The end of summer is always a challenge for golf course maintenance. Up until mid July and almost all of August, we had had a mild summer. The temperatures were hovering around 80 degrees and we were even getting the random rain shower. The last two weeks have been nothing but 90's and the last rain we saw was in July. As soon as the weather turns mean, our course goes into survival mode. We rely completely on irrigation during these stretches. However, it never fails that when we are running irrigation at 100%, there will always be issues. Clogged sprinklers, faulty computer stations, and the dreaded 6" main line break were all problems that had to be addressed. One positive, positive-ish, aspect of being in a drought is being able to tell exactly which sprinklers are not running; look for the dry spots, or look for the isolated green patches where sprinklers are just leaking out. Keeping our heads up, we've tackled the problems as they've arrived and can see the end. Today is a high of 95, tomorrow 78. Fingers crossed, please.

(Carlos rolling 18)

To relieve the disease and drought pressure on our greens, we've had to allow them to keep a longer leaf blade during the week to promote healthy growth and water management. We would roll our greens two days, and mow the third. Some of the more particular golfers noticed the speed of our greens were slower than preferred, but keeping our Poa alive and in check always outweighs stimping at 12. With cooler weather forecast, we look forward to lowering our height of cut from .150 to .125 in the next few weeks. The balls are going to roll all the way back to the tee box after we're done with them. 

(Man, Myth, Legend, Mike Daffer)

Most of our regulars will recognize this view, especially during the hottest times of the summer. Mike Daffer is a huge asset for us. Starting off as a marshal for Swope, he became interested in helping out the maintenance side of the business. Needing someone to help us with hand watering throughout the day, he quickly learned the in's and out's of keeping his greens alive and healthy. With Mike at the wheel of hand-watering, my supervisor and I are able to focus on other aspects of the course that need attention, and know that the greens are taken care of. Mike also runs his own company, S.A.F.E - Surveillance Alarm and Fire Equipment, specializing in security systems, fire detection, and all other electrical safety systems and deals with all commercial and residential electric protection. Without him our greens would be browns. 

Stay cool out there folks, hope to see you in September!

Fix your Divots!!