Waiting on the rain

We continue to wait on some significant rain to help heal the golf course. With absolutely no rain in November and just a trace amount in December, the course continues to struggle. If and when this El Nino does occur, I think you will see a rather swift change in the condition of the golf course. Not only will a good rain provide a uniform shot of water, it will also, and perhaps more importantly, flush the salts from the surface allowing for a much improved growing environment. With our heavy clay soils, we have a very slow infiltration rate. Thus, we see an accumulation of salts near the surface when relying upon our well water for an extended period of time. Once we get a good, soaking rain, we will leach the salts below the rootzone, finally balancing the soils for optimum plant growth. I think the photo below speaks volumes....

Note the salt accumulation due to poor infiltration

Bermuda Dormancy

Although winters official beginning is still a few weeks away, we are definitely seeing the effects of the cool weather. With average soil temperatures hovering around 56 degrees we are seeing much of our Bermuda going into dormancy. The picture to the right was taken last week and shows the common Bermuda already has a straw color to it. Some of our hybrid Bermuda cultivars still have some color, however neither the common or the hybrids are growing much at all.