Australian golf and the heatwave

[Thomas Dai]

Been hearing quite a bit about an excessive heatwave in Aussie and wondering how courses have been effected? Is it an issue all over or more a regional issue?
Atb

[Scott Warren]

Nothing to be alarmed about, it’s just summer.

[James Bennett]

I've seen two courses in Adelaide - both have managed the heat well. No signs of stress in the greens/surrounds/rough.  The fairways are santa ana at these two courses, so the hot weather isn't an issue.

Royal Adelaide has had some heat stress on a few of the pines, which have shed a limb (they are trees away from play) - the trees might be removed.  No significant loss if they go.
I think 4 people played on Thursday - why they played is a mystery. 45 degrees plus is just lunacy.

James B

[Mike_Clayton]

My club, Metropolitan closed the course when it got to 40 degrees (105 about) on Friday.
The weather has no noticeable impact on the course aside from a little browning of the fairways.

[Jeff Schley]

Be there next week so hot weather and fast courses sounds good to me.

[Mark Chaplin]

Scottsdale averages 100-105 daily in the summer, no shutting courses or they could be shut for weeks on end. Admittedly it’s dry heat so bearable.

[Thomas Dai]

Thanks folks.
What about water allocations in relation to golf courses and life generally during such periods?
Atb

[James Bennett]

Courses generally provide/source their own - use of town water is limited to a few courses with shortfalls, and only for greens for survival.  Horrenduosly expensive in Australia (can be $2 to $3 per kilolitre).
Water is from a mix of on-course dams, water harvesting and bores.Bore levels are closely monitored to prevent excessive draw down.Some clubs take run-off from neighbouring suburbs.Royal Adelaide, Glenelg and Grange in Adelaide all take road surface run-off in winter, pass it through wetlands and pump it into the aquifer.  Then retrieve the water in the summer.Royal Adelaide puts in 200 GL a year, and extracts that amount in summer.  Salt levels have halved to about 500 parts since the aquifer pumping started.
Royal Melbourne has recently added a couple of water storage facilities following the droughts of a decade ago when ground water salinities rose quickly.
One course is Sydney taps into a major sewer, treats that water on-site and uses that on the course.Treated sewage effluent is used at several courses (Horsham,in the middle of the western desert between Melbourne and Adelaide does this).
It would be rare to see roughs irrigated in Australia, and drought-tolerant grasses are the norm on fairways.
Note that heatwaves are quite different to droughts - Adelaide can easily have several months without rain, Melbourne can be weeks without rain.  A dry spring really complicates a dry summer, irrespective of how severe the temperature gets.

[Terry Lavin]

Gotta get down under there. And soon, as the high temperature projected in three days here in Chicago is -15 Fahrenheit.

[Thomas Dai]

Courses generally provide/source their own - use of town water is limited to a few courses with shortfalls, and only for greens for survival.  Horrenduosly expensive in Australia (can be $2 to $3 per kilolitre).
Water is from a mix of on-course dams, water harvesting and bores.Bore levels are closely monitored to prevent excessive draw down.Some clubs take run-off from neighbouring suburbs.Royal Adelaide, Glenelg and Grange in Adelaide all take road surface run-off in winter, pass it through wetlands and pump it into the aquifer.  Then retrieve the water in the summer.Royal Adelaide puts in 200 GL a year, and extracts that amount in summer.  Salt levels have halved to about 500 parts since the aquifer pumping started.
Royal Melbourne has recently added a couple of water storage facilities following the droughts of a decade ago when ground water salinities rose quickly.
One course is Sydney taps into a major sewer, treats that water on-site and uses that on the course.Treated sewage effluent is used at several courses (Horsham,in the middle of the western desert between Melbourne and Adelaide does this).
It would be rare to see roughs irrigated in Australia, and drought-tolerant grasses are the norm on fairways.
Note that heatwaves are quite different to droughts - Adelaide can easily have several months without rain, Melbourne can be weeks without rain.  A dry spring really complicates a dry summer, irrespective of how severe the temperature gets.

Thanks for these insights James. I wonder to what extent other areas of the globe are, or perhaps will one day or ought to now, adopt such approaches. Necessity is the mother of invention and all that.
Atb

[Kalen Braley]

Gotta get down under there. And soon, as the high temperature projected in three days here in Chicago is -15 Fahrenheit.

Holy hell, I thought you were just exaggerating, does this happen every winter?

Here in Utah we only go under 10 a couple times per winter, (far less often than just 20 years ago when it was common)..for the overnight low.

[Steve_ Shaffer]

@  Mark Chaplin


The humidity in the Phoenix/Scottsdale desert is rising in the summer. We play golf at 630-700am or earlier when the temperature is about 85+F but overnight irrigation doesn't burn off until about 10am.  It doesn't reach 100F until around 11am and can go as high as 115F in the afternoon but not many brave afternoon golf.


We get a lot of brown spots on the Bermuda fairways and sometimes the greens are stressed. When September arrives, the courses are in good condition with the Bermuda fairways, greens & rough overtaking then rye overseed. Then the courses are overseeded again and closed for about a month and then after reopening in October or November are cart paths only for a few weeks. Shaggy greens are the result of the overseed as they aren't cut as often.


Bottom line- visit from December/January through May or June unless one is a bargain hunter as summer rates are much lower.

[SL_Solow]

Kalen,  this is the coldest snap we have had in several years.  Indeed, winter was very mild and dry until at a couple of weeks ago.  Thank goodness we have had some substantial snow as it will act as a blanket and protect the turfgrass.  We had some real bitter winters in the early 80's.

[Kalen Braley]

Tomorrow looks to be a doozy,  forecast shows in the -40s for Wind Chill.  Insane!!

https://www.wunderground.com/hourly/us/il/chicago/date/2019-01-30?cm_ven=localwx_modtomorrow

[Mark Chaplin]

Steve I’m in Scottsdale over Masters weekend after a long weekend of cricket and golf matches in Philadelphia. The Scottsdale weather should be perfect for golf.

[Pete_Pittock]

Kalen,  this is the coldest snap we have had in several years.  Indeed, winter was very mild and dry until at a couple of weeks ago.  Thank goodness we have had some substantial snow as it will act as a blanket and protect the turfgrass.  We had some real bitter winters in the early 80's.

[font=&amp]Why cold air plunges south
 Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities have warmed the globe by about 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit (1 C) over the past 50 years. However, the Arctic has warmed more than twice as much. Amplified Arctic warming is due mainly to dramatic melting of ice and snow in recent decades, which exposes darker ocean and land surfaces that absorb a lot more of the sun’s heat.
 
 Because of rapid Arctic warming, the north/south temperature difference has diminished. This reduces pressure differences between the Arctic and mid-latitudes, weakening jet stream winds. And just as slow-moving rivers typically take a winding route, a slower-flowing jet stream tends to meander.
 
 Large north/south undulations in the jet stream generate wave energy in the atmosphere. If they are wavy and persistent enough, the energy can travel upward and disrupt the stratospheric polar vortex. Sometimes this upper vortex becomes so distorted that it splits into two or more swirling eddies.
 
 These “daughter” vortices tend to wander southward, bringing their very cold air with them and leaving behind a warmer-than-normal Arctic. One of these eddies will sit over North America this week, delivering bone-chilling temperatures to much of the nation.

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[Kalen Braley]

Didn't want to start a new thread about hot weather and golf..

But a quick shout out to our So Cal friends to stay cool this weekend.

Forecast this Sunday:
108 in Los Angeles
110 in Moorpark
115 in San Bernardino
105 in the OC area

May be a good time to head to Santa Barbara for the weekend, only supposed to hit 90.