The golf course has really come together very nicely over the last few days. My staff has been working very hard on many detail projects so that everyone can enjoy their round of golf. We are continuing to work on removing weeds in the fescue areas by hand right now. I am trying my best to get to the weeds before they go to seed. We are making progress and I think starting to get the upper hand. I think fescue areas are a much better name then native or naturalized areas. We are spending so many hours in the "native lands" then we are in the actual rough areas. Hopefully once we get to a point the amount of work will slowly diminish.
Believe it or not even with all the rain for the month of June the golf course is very dry. The weather for the last two weeks has been very windy with little humidity. Makes for great golf but these conditions dry out the soil. The golf course has a very good irrigation system, but there is a few gaps that do not get the proper amount of water. I supplement my nightly watering with portable irrigation sprinklers. I am sure you have seen what we call roller bases out on the course already. We try to irrigate at least 3 holes like this per day and if the conditions do not improve this will continue for some time. You might also see us hand watering the greens in the morning and throughout the day. This is an old practice that is somewhat overlooked by many golf courses. I do not use the overhead sprinkler system on the greens unless it is absolutely necessary. I feel that the greens receive too much water this way so I hand water the green and collars so that they get the right amount of water for the day. I also spot water using the irrigation system in the fairways in the morning. Once again, trying to keep the playing surface firm and giving the turf just what it needs and not to waste water or keep the turf soft. This practice walks a fine line but I believe in keeping the turf as firm as possible. The irrigation system that we have at Hawks is highly specialized. The system is completely digital and wireless. I have a central computer and also a radio that can control the system anywhere on the property. This allows me to turn on individual sprinklers heads very easily.
In the upcoming weeks we will be topdressing the greens on Mondays and will also spike the collars around the greens every two weeks. This practice seems to be working very well with little disruption in play.