WVCCgreens

By Joe Logan Published August 10, 2010 How bad is it out there for golf courses and the superintendents who care for them? Bad enough that the Philadelphia Chapter of the Golf Course Superintendents Association has cancelled its last two monthly board meetings. "Nobody can leave their golf courses – everybody is hunkered down," said John Gosselin, Philadelphia chapter president and superintendent at Aronimink GC, host of the recent AT&T National. "On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the worst, it’s a 10," said Darin Bevard, senior agronomist with the USGA, based in Glenn Mills, said of the current conditions. "Not every golf course is in terrible condition, but every course has their share of battle scars. It’s in varying degrees." What’s the chief culprit? "It has been too damn hot for too damn long," said Bevard. "We’ve had a load of hot weather and the grass hasn’t had many breaks. Guys are tired. It’s one thing to start having stress in late June or July, but this started back in early June, when it got into the 90s and never subsided." The conditions vary from course to course in the region, often depending on how much rain it has gotten. Some courses received as much as 12 inches in five days, others as little as 3 inches. Much of the real trouble begins when saturated fairways don’t drain and the temperature climbs into the 90s and stays there, effectively cooking the turf, resulting in "wet wilt." "A great deal of the damage I have seen is wet wilt," said Bevard. Relief generally comes in the form of lower nighttime temperatures, giving the grass a chance to breathe and relax. If the thermometer doesn’t drop sufficiently at night, the stress on the grass is only heightened. As Aronimink’s Gosselin mentioned, superintendents from New York to Virginia and out to Pittsburgh are under the same gun. Fortunately, said Bevin, clubs and courses are reasonably understanding; he is unaware of any superintendent being fired because of conditions at his course. Are superintendents at high-end clubs with big maintenance budgets in better position to react? "They’ve got more staff, more bodies to hand-water greens and fairways," said Bevard. "But the other thing is, the guys at swanky clubs also have greater pressure for better conditions, faster greens. A guy with a smaller budget doesn’t have that, so it all evens out." Neither Bevard and Gosselin see any let up in the hot, humid weather for at least a couple of weeks, maybe longer. "Looking at the forecast, I don’t see any breaks in sight," said Bevard. Gosselin sounded even more ominous. "We are still on a downward slid for another week or so," he said. "We haven’t hit rock bottom yet."