Monday, June 7th, 2010

Course Conditions
Quoting my good friend Peggy Hindahl, "Dave, the rain. Make it stop". I think there is a limit to how much rain the human psyche can withstand in the month of June. Especially when we get the normal month amount in the first three days. According to my weather station we have received 4 inches in the last 7 days and the weather pattern appears to be continuing. The long range is forecasting rain nine out of the next twelve days. The average monthly rainfall expected in the Portland area is 1.5". We may be setting some kind of record this month.

On the bright side, we haven't had to irrigate the golf course yet and we are saving a tremendous amount of money on pumping costs. We are usually turning on the deep well by the first week in July. We haven't even put the pumps in the creek yet this year. If we stay in this condition we may be able to draw from the creek through the month of July which will save lots of money from having to run the deep well.

The one thing I have been noticing is quite a few small fusarium spots on the greens. We covered them with our last fungicide application and it should not become a problem. With the Poa becoming more prevalent we will start to see more disease related to that species. I am glad that we have been continuing our soil penetrant program through the winter. Our moisture levels at 3" are still at 25 to 30 percent following an inch and a half rain event. Keeping the water running through the profile aids in maintaining a healthy root system and will also help prevent pythium outbreaks. With this amount of rain coupled with potential high temperatures, we could set our selves up with a bad outbreak if we are not moving that moisture through the profile. We will continue to be diligent and keep a watchful eye for any symptoms.

Again, given all the rain the crew is still doing a fantastic job. This week they managed to trim all the bunkers and still get the rough mowed. We have a few wet areas which are evident from the photos here but with a few rainless days we should be in fine shape. Quite a few bunkers are holding water which normally isn't a problem for this time of year so we will be pumping them as needed and making notes on which ones will get reconditioned next winter when we have time again to dig them up.

We took advantage of the rain last week and made another Verde-cal application. After reviewing soil test results we are barely making an impact with our past applications so we have decided to make multiple applications this year in hopes of increasing the calcium levels along with the pH. We are very pleased with the overall health of the greens to date. We have had a little struggle maintaining good speeds but at this point with all the moisture we are more glad to see them healthy. We will be fertilizing this week and along with that we will begin our Primo (growth regulator) program. This will help the greens tighten up as well as have an effect on maintaining better speeds through the day. If we can get some decent weather we are going ahead with the fairway and rough fertilizer then will start on the fairway sanding.



Ball Fields

I couldn't be more pleased with the work George and his crew are doing out at the ball park. You think we have struggled with the rain, imagine what they have to deal with every day when coaches and the parks department are expecting to have games each day. I think there has only been a couple rain-outs this season which speaks well for the work the crew has been doing. In this picture the guys are adding some more soil in low areas to prevent puddling.

Event Center
We have reviewed the landscape bids and will be hiring Showscapes. They were the company we used when we installed the clubhouse originally and will do a very nice job. Given the weather conditions they are backed up some and will be able to start the week of the 14th. Jason and Rick need a couple good dry days to finish the walls and will be able to pour a new air station for cleaning shoes. The steel will be in this week and the railings should start going up soon too. We should have the crawl space door installed this week so we can finish the grading behind the building. The framed photographs should be done this week and will start hanging them as soon as I get them in.