Summer of 2011 weather in the USA

[Dan Herrmann]

Wow - what a horrible summer for golf here in the USA.  Our friends in Texas are in a blast furnace.  Here in Philly we have courses with no meaningful rain since late May and others with wet wilt.    A member asked our greenkeeper today if he ever wanted to just "give up" (he said, "no"!)...

We've gone to cart path only to save the rough (which is 95% dormant now).  Our fairways have a nice brown hue (good), but we really need rain (even the corn crop next door has started to wilt).    Temp on Friday will be back to 97F.   Not good...

How are the course you play handling the summer weather?  Any impacts, or are you suffering too?

[Brad LeClair]

Unlike last summer, where all courses suffered, there seems to be a real separation between the playing conditions of some of the courses in the tri-state area.  I have played some that have been downright poor i.e. burned out fairways, rough and tee boxes reduced to just dirt!  On the other hand others (GCGC and the Creek specifically) are in near perfect condition.  I am not an agronomist but is this 100% attributable to the work of the supers?

[John Foley]

While it's been warm & dry hear in Western NY - it does not appear to be a problem.

Courses are F&F and greens are in great condition.

[Dan Herrmann]

Brad,
Not at all...  The rain in our area has been very spotty. 

While we have agricultural drought conditions, I know there's a course within 25 miles with wet wilt issues.  Completely different weather.

Our fairways and greens are fine, but the rough is all dormant/burned out.  Most will come back fine, but some has died.

Even stranger, this follows an extremely wet spring. 

[Pete_Pittock]

Dan,
Ya shouldnta moved. Here's Portland's 15 day forecast http://www.myforecast.com/bin/expanded_forecast_15day.m?city=27604&zip_code=97221&metric=false. The Cascades had record tieing max snow levels this winter and spring. Any course with maintenance problems should look at themselves. It's been perfect for more than a month except for one day.

[Dan Herrmann]

Pete - Yeah, I knew Portland was looking good.  Best summer weather in the country (so why did I leave )

[John Kavanaugh]

I agree that this summer in southern Illiana is the hottest driest I have ever seen. Every course, rich, poor or in-between is in perfect condition.  It is both completely and not at the fault of the supers or their available budgets. Somehow golf maintenance has entered a state of microclimatic utopia.

[Rory Connaughton]

Dan

 Just down the road we have probably had a touch more rain (the turnpike effect is weird) but the fairways are in terrific condition. Firm fast and a nice mix of colors. Greens have suffered because the heat is doing a number on the poa but the bent is fine. Its has been so hot and dry that in the final round of the state am today the greens started at 12.5 and got more and more crispy. By the end they were at least a foot faster. Was at Stonewall last week and the greens were terrific with flier lies galore in the rough.
It has been tough but if we had the rain we typically get things would be a lot worse.

[Don_Mahaffey]

In golf course management, hot and dry beats the heck out of cold and wet.  

[John Kavanaugh]

Dan

 Just down the road we have probably had a touch more rain (the turnpike effect is weird) but the fairways are in terrific condition.

The turnpike effect is real.  I think it is a combination of focused radio waves, pollution and geographic formations conducive to highway construction.

[Roger Wolfe]

We have seen a summer very similar to 2010.  The heat actually came earlier in Charlotte (Memorial Day Weekend) but there was a respite that helped.  After last year we installed several large fans on 8 greens close to tree lines or in depressions.  We also moved our Member Guest from mid June to mid May and have kept the schedule free of events in June, July and August.  The decrease in traffic, an earlier June aeration, and the fans have our greens absolutely perfect now.

We hope to benefit from the lessons learned in June of 2010 for many, many years to come.

[John Kavanaugh]

We have seen a summer very similar to 2010.  The heat actually came earlier in Charlotte (Memorial Day Weekend) but there was a respite that helped.  After last year we installed several large fans on 8 greens close to tree lines or in depressions.  We also moved our Member Guest from mid June to mid May and have kept the schedule free of events in June, July and August.  The decrease in traffic, an earlier June aeration, and the fans have our greens absolutely perfect now.

We hope to benefit from the lessons learned in June of 2010 for many, many years to come.

You have learned well.  The best way to have a perfect course is to reduce the desire of the members to play.

[Bill_McBride]

Pete - Yeah, I knew Portland was looking good.  Best summer weather in the country (so why did I leave )

But terrible winter weather, right?   

[Kalen Braley]

Spokane has been an absolute delight the last two months.

Every day has been in the 70s and 80s for the daily highs and it cools off well at night as it always drops into the 50s.  Absolute perfection!! 

[Kevin Pallier]

FWIW - our summer 'down under' was quite the opposite- one of the wettest on record and it sure kept us busy.

[Tim Martin]

Unlike last summer, where all courses suffered, there seems to be a real separation between the playing conditions of some of the courses in the tri-state area.  I have played some that have been downright poor i.e. burned out fairways, rough and tee boxes reduced to just dirt!  On the other hand others (GCGC and the Creek specifically) are in near perfect condition.  I am not an agronomist but is this 100% attributable to the work of the supers?

Last week was the hottest I can remember in Connecticut although most courses are in very good shape. Yale has a finite amount of water available and the greens are running a little slower than normal to combat the heat stress. I think budgets certainly have something to do with conditions although I can`t imagine this is an issue at the Creek and GCGC.

[Carl Johnson]

We have seen a summer very similar to 2010.  The heat actually came earlier in Charlotte (Memorial Day Weekend) but there was a respite that helped.  After last year we installed several large fans on 8 greens close to tree lines or in depressions.  We also moved our Member Guest from mid June to mid May and have kept the schedule free of events in June, July and August.  The decrease in traffic, an earlier June aeration, and the fans have our greens absolutely perfect now.

We hope to benefit from the lessons learned in June of 2010 for many, many years to come.

You have learned well.  The best way to have a perfect course is to reduce the desire of the members to play.

In fact, by cutting down on non-member play, the members have a better course for themselves.

[Adam Clayman]

I'm curious at what number of rounds does reduced play show affects? Are private courses doing that many rounds where the need to eliminate guest play has an affect on the quality of the presentation?

[Howard Riefs]

Chicago officially recorded its "wettest" July in history -- thanks in large part to a flash flood early Saturday morning that dumped 7 inches in the city. Golf courses in the area have certainly felt the brunt of the recent heavy storms, with the loss of large trees and other damage. 

In the suburbs, the village course where I regularly play has been closed since the weekend storm. It recorded 8 inches of rain and the grounds crew pumped more than 50 million gallons of water off the course during the last four days.

The super describes in his blog that: "The primary function of the course is flood relief for the community followed by recreation. The water-shed is twice the size of this 110 acre course. Thus after a five week drought and 3.5-inches of rain in the first hour and over 5-inches in the first three hours, most all "ran-off" straight to the course. Staff acknowledges that this was the worst flood in any ones memory. This includes Don Voss who has faithfully served the golf course and park district since 1977."

Here's a photo of a short-lived Lake Winnetka that no longer exists...




Other images are on the super's blog at http://wgcsuperintendent.blogspot.com/

[Dan Herrmann]

From the National Weather Service (Thanks to Ben Franklin, Philly's weather history is recorded back to the 1700's):

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PHILLY IS NOW IN ITS 4TH CONSECUTIVE MONTH OF MONTHLY AVG TEMPS 3 DEGS OR WARMER AND OUR FCST AREA HAS NOT HAD A BELOW NORMAL MONTHLY AVG SINCE JANUARY!

PHL HAS A CHANCE FOR ESTABLISHING AN ALL TIME MONTHLY RECORD FOR NUMBER OF DAYS AOA 90F. AS OF THE 26TH WE HAD 18... THE RECORD IS 21 SET IN THE YEARS 1952 1988 AND 1995.

SO FAR THIS SEASON WE`VE HAD 26 DAYS AOA 90. THE ENTIRE SEASONAL NORM IS 21. WE`RE BEHIND LAST YEARS SEASONAL TOTAL OF 55.

PHL AREA HAS HAD 5 HEAT WAVES SO FAR THIS YEAR AND WE`RE ABOUT TO START ANOTHER.
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What's strange is that the only grass in the rough that's still green is Bermuda grass!

[Bob_Huntley]

Pebble Beach has had the foggiest June and July for many years. I can leave my house in mid Carmel Valley in brilliant sunshine and find  that I need to put on an extra sweater when I tee off.


Bob

[JMEvensky]

Pebble Beach has had the foggiest June and July for many years. I can leave my house in mid Carmel Valley in brilliant sunshine and find  that I need to put on an extra sweater when I tee off.


Bob

Per my dashboard,it's 101* outside here in Memphis.Want to trade?

[Roger Wolfe]

You have learned well.  The best way to have a perfect course is to reduce the desire of the members to play.
[/quote]


Desire?  Could you expand on your answer?

[Garland Bayley]

Pebble Beach has had the foggiest June and July for many years. I can leave my house in mid Carmel Valley in brilliant sunshine and find  that I need to put on an extra sweater when I tee off.


Bob

We feel for you Bob. We hope the extra sweater helps keep the joints mobile. Let us know when you are able to quit playing the dog tracks of the area and play something sunny.

[John Kavanaugh]

You have learned well.  The best way to have a perfect course is to reduce the desire of the members to play.

Desire?  Could you expand on your answer?
[/quote]

One of the reasons fans work so well is that they create an environment where members would rather do something else. Same with cart path only.  What I found most curious about your post was that you had more rounds with dead greens then with perfect ones. How can that be attributed to anything but the desire of your members to play?