Messy messy.....

As you may have noticed ever since Jamie Farr wandered off the golf course that the rough has been a wee bit stout of late.  The Farr week rain combined with lovely growing conditions have turned our rough into a lush "cabbage patch".

Best rough we've had all season!!

While it is nice to finally see some green, healthy rough after such a dry, hot summer, it is unfortunate that it came so quick!  As you may have noticed with your own home lawn, it is incredibly tough to keep up with this accelerated growth rate. 

Fortunately, this flush should subside with the shorter days and cooler temps as hopefully the turf will decide to start growing some roots instead of lush topgrowth.  Bear with us as we continue to battle.  There may be some clumps in the rough for awhile, but soon we should be back on top of things. 

Finally, we will also be tackling the remainder of the cleanup post Jamie Farr.  Crosswalks are being punched, and when time allows, we will be out with some sod to repair as much remaining scarring from the summer as we can afford.  #7, #4, #3 among others need some sod especially in the step cuts around greens where poa "gave up the ghost" so to speak.

2012 Jamie Farr is upon us.

I realize that the Jamie Farr has begun, and I hope you will forgive me for not blogging much.  Taking a year off from hosting the event seems to have made things a little more labor intensive this year.  A few new subcontractors to train, new tournament officials, and continuing to recover from the hottest month in recorded history have all kept us really busy here.  Yes, it's finally official, July 2012 was the hottest month EVER!!  Especially in the midwest and plains states.  Check out the article below.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/post/us-has-hottest-month-on-record-in-july-2012-noaa-says/2012/08/08/0fae675c-e169-11e1-98e7-89d659f9c106_blog.html

So far, the course is holding up ok to the early week Jamie Farr traffic.  The one upside to the drought conditions is that our rough is very firm.  The vast amounts of truck, car, and cart traffic has had little negative effect on these areas since they were already baked.  This is probably the first time ever the Jamie Farr traffic and structures actually made the course greener.

The Monday double Pro-Am was a little hard on some of our weaker greens like 3 and 4.  I was trying to figure out why, but in what can be best described as a "DUH" moment, I started counting the amount of people walking on the greens.  Through two full-field shotgun starts, we had 5-somes who each had caddies.  All together, it added up to roughly 400 or so people walking around the golf hole!  The pins remained in those positions for Tuesday practice, adding even more traffic.  Put 400 people in your crappy lawn and see how it looks after 8 hours.  We will nurse these greens as we do normally in hopes of quick recovery. 

Many members have commented on how green and great the fairways look.  "What are you doing special for the Farr?" they like to ask.  The answer is "We don't drive any friggin golf carts on them!"  The lack of cart tracks makes a huge difference in not only the health of the turf, but the general aesthetics and consistent color.  This is one of the major differences between our club and places like Inverness where carts are not allowed except in special circumstances.

Finally,with the exception of some chances of thunderstorms, the forecast looks good.  Milder temperatures are headed our way and should allow for minimal stress to the golf course.  The biggest stress is feeling like a parent letting his teenager throw a HUGE party on the lawn with 70,000 of his closest friends.