Just when I thought the West greens had gotten through summer relatively unscathed they stressed out this afternoon requiring quite extensive back up water to be applied to them.  It was most of the normal places but a few new areas as well.  

I purchased a "soil moisture sensor" late last year and this has been an invaluable tool in managing the greens through summer by taking the guess work out of when and how much irrigation is required.  It has been interesting talking to other superintendents around the country and the figures that they strive for.  Here on the Tweed the West greens get to wilting point at 24% of plant available water which is where areas on greens 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 12, 16, and 18 got to this afternoon.  The River greens on the other hand regularly sit in the mid twenties and as low as 12% without any sign of stress.  The Tifeagle on  17W and the practice green have been as low as 7% and still maintain a healthy sward.  Hopefully the weather cools soon and the West greens can take a sigh of relief (and me too).

The photo below shows the read out on the screen from 75mm long probes.  Its a bit blurry but the top line indicates "Standard Volumetric Water Content" (VMC) % = 9.0.  NO. 17 on the bottom line is the number of locations probed and A is for the average of those areas which is 8.7%.  The photo further down shows the Tifeagle in perfect health.  I would hate to think what a bentgrass green would look like at the same level!!

 

Read out on soil moisture sensor

 

Healthy Tifeagle

A major irrigation break earlier in the week resulted in a huge hole being hand dug in quite uncomfortable weather conditions.  It was on Tuesday when we were getting some showers coming through so fortunately didn't impact on the course too much.  The irrigation lines almost had to be drained completely and then took nearly four hours to refill back up to pressure again.

On the track between 13 and 14 West.