Rub of the Green: Drought Update and Cart Traffic

Mother Nature continues to be very greedy when it comes to sharing her rain with us. While other parts of the country have more rain than they could ever want, we have just been classified as being in an extreme drought situation. You probably won’t believe me when you read this, but I would much rather deal with this scenario as opposed to the heat, humidity and rainfall that we had last year. As of today, July 2nd, our last significant rainfall occurred on June 1st when we received a whopping 1/2" of rain.

In extreme patterns like this, thanks to the irrigation system, we can be in control of where the irrigation water is placed, how much goes out, and when it is applied. Based on your comments to me, the general consensus is that this year’s course conditioning has been well received. With that being said, we will continue to “ride the wave” that we are on until the weather dictates that we need to adjust our management practices.

This is the perfect time to remind everyone about some simple, but often overlooked courtesies when it comes to driving golf carts. When turf is stressed from heat and lack of moisture it is critical that carts stay out of these areas. By driving through stressed areas, the turf is subjected to greater stresses that could cause significant injury or even death. Other courtesies that should be followed all year and especially during stressful periods include: parking to close to the greens, driving more carts than necessary in a group (ex: 5 carts for a 5-some), driving carts where they don’t belong (next to greens/tees and in the tall grass areas), carelessly applying the brakes too hard and leaving skid marks etc. All of these should be common sense, but you would be amazed at how many times I witness all of these on a daily basis.