Intense sun, low humidity and wind were all factors contributing to yesterday's drying conditions. This made for a long day as we were busy syringing greens to cool the plants down. As discussed in previous posts, poa annua, our primary turfgrass on the golf course has extremely poor heat tolerance. A normal nightly watering cycle is often not enough water to get the plants through the low evapotranspiration day like we experienced yesterday. It is necessary to syringe during the afternoon to cool the plants down. It is not uncommon for the turf surface to be 10-15 degrees warmer than the air temperature. During yesterday's 90 degree day, the temperature on the greens surface was over 100 degrees.
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Jose syringing #9 green to cool the plants down
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Today's forecast looks to be even warmer and windier, so we will be back behind the hoses and turning on select fairway irrigation heads. As always, we will be as considerate as possible and try to avoid any play. Sometimes it is impossible to find a gap and is necessary to water ahead of play. Thank you for your patience and understanding.
