Week of 9/5 - Rain at the ICC

We could scarcely believe our radars on Monday, but sure enough we did finally receive some significant rainfall at the Ipswich Country Club! By Wednesday morning we had recorded 1.7 inches at the shop, not enough to end a season-long drought, but enough to shut down irrigation for a few nights and take some pressure off of our pond. A couple days of rain with little traffic followed by beautiful sunny weather and cool nights has also helped greens recover quickly from aeration as well.

Repair work already underway on the 9th fairway continued this week and we have moved on to some smaller areas on 18. Next week 14 and 15 fairways will get some attention as well. There truly is not much permanent damage on fairway surfaces despite the extreme conditions this summer! Thanks again to our membership for their patience and understanding.

18th fairway pictured below on August 10th and again on September 8th!

As golf carts have returned to the fairways, we would like to try to address some issues with cart traffic. Our new carts are lightweight and can accelerate quickly. This is continuing to lead to marked up turf in areas. Please use a gentle foot when taking off from a stop, especially on hills or while turning sharply. Another area of concern is concentrated wear at the drive-on and drive-off areas. Our "90-degree" rule means that golfers should be proceeding down the path then entering the fairway near where their tee shot landed. Carts should then proceed down the fairway and exit straight off at the cart signs.

Many players are driving straight on to the beginning of the fairways as soon as possible then veering around the signs but continuing in a roughly straight line towards the green. The purpose of exiting promptly "90 degrees" from the signs is to manage wear. By moving the signs forward or back we would be able to rotate worn areas and allow recovery. The current habit of many players is leading to traffic is following the same path even when signs are moved 25 yards forward or back. Please see the examples below of the 6th and 15th fairways.