Ryder Cup + Misc.
- Matthew Behl
- Jul 1
- 2 min read
Congratulations to team USA on their Ryder Cup victory!
What a week leading up to Ryder Cup for the agronomy team. 5 straight days of 90 degree temperatures with one of those days hitting 104 degrees. With that heat we had to back off prep plans and just go into survival mode. When it is that hot for that long it is nearly impossible for us to keep up with wilt on fairways especially in drainage lines and in areas where we have shallow rocks or poor soils. These areas just heat up too quickly, and at the same time we need to be very conscious and careful in the management of our water supply. Once the weather broke a little the agronomy team went back into full prep mode for Ryder Cup. Let's just say by Ryder Cup Sunday morning we were not just the usual tired, but exhausted.
June was a dry month for us in Ipswich. We received 1.4 inches of rain which is quite a bit under the normal monthly rainfall of 3.4 to 3.6 inches for the month. Both wells are currently running, but we are currently watering fairways and limited rough at what I call deficit irrigation. This means that we are not replenishing what is lost from evaporation on a daily basis. Emphasis is put onto greens, tees, and approaches first. Once those are in position to survive the day we start on hand watering fairways. This daily procedure of watering is a 7 day a week 10 to 11 hour endeavor unless we get a break in the weather with some precipitation. During this time please be understanding and patient with crew members as they water areas in the fairway needing attention. As always the agronomy team will do the best that it can to provide the best conditions possible with the water supply we have.
In an effort to conserve water this spring we established a number of fescue areas around the golf course. Some of these areas add aesthetic value to the course or areas of separation. We will be seeding more areas to fescue as we move into late summer early fall. Please remember the fescue areas are off limits from cart traffic and even carts with handicap access.
The new mat was installed to the driving range on June 18th. This is the mat that all invited properties will be utilizing moving forward. The larger square mat (lighter green section) will accept a normal golf tee. The smaller rectangle section (dark green) where the rubber tees are located will not accept a standard golf tee. The correct rubber tees for the mat were backordered and not available at install and we were given short rubber tees. We currently have the adjustable tees in the place of the short rubber tees and will be replacing those when the backordered tees come in.
Wildlife around the Course:
Two Muskrats along the edge of 6: