Welcomed Rain

I can't believe I am saying this, but the rain we've had the last couple days has been a welcome sight and very timely.  We were finally able to get out and get some fertilizer on tees and fairways for the first time this season and, although I've been irrigating, nothing gets it going quite like a good rainfall.

I'm also hoping the showers give the rough a bit of a kick so it can start covering up the brown seed stalks from the poa annua seeding earlier this month. It can really detract from the overall appearance of the course.

There is a fair amount of concern in the region that turfgrass managers may see a fair amount of turf loss if we hit an extended hot dry spell this summer.  As explained in the previous post, I like to firm the course up and let the turf roots chase the water down through the soil profile and it was just this past week that I was able to do this for the season.  The fear is that it may have been too little, too late as the roots were already too shallow this late into the season.  This can be counteracted with more frequent irrigation and hand watering, but this also leads to more compacted soils, potential anaerobic conditions, and a dramatic increase in fungal activity, which leads to an increase in pesticide use.  But for now we'll just have to wait and see what the summer brings.