Heading into July.......

 

As our drought conditions continue here in Arizona, (Experts are saying that the time period from April 2020 to March of 2021 was the driest in the last 126 years in AZ), our cool season turf is definitely starting to show the pain of extended high temperatures, heavy cart traffic and the general lack of full hydration. Currently we are at 1.15" of rain for the year, with the last measurable amount coming in March and that was a measly .1 ".   This is the lowest total of rainfall in the first 6 months of a year since 2014 when we only had .9" through June..............funny thing about that very dry start to  2014 was that we ended up getting 25 inches of rain from July through December! Crazy!  So maybe we can get a little help from Mother Nature to send a portion of that rain our way because we are in desperate need.

As you might have noticed on the course that Pueblo del Sol has relaxed some of our(GMS) covid restrictions that we have had in place since March of 2020. The pool noodles are no longer at the bottom of the flag sticks and bunker rakes are now in bunkers. When the driving range tee opens, bag racks will also be put back out on the tee. 

The GMS team would like to thank you for your continued support and understanding during these different and somewhat difficult times and we want to wish everyone a happy and safe Independence Day weekend ! 

We think we listen, but very rarely do we listen with real understanding, true empathy. Yet listening, of this very special kind, is one of the most potent forces for change that I know.

________CARL ROGERS

Needle tine Greens & Slit-seeding and topdressing of weak fairway areas

We finished our monthly goal of needle tine aerification of the greens this week. We wanted to make sure we "vented" the greens before we hit the "High Stress" period with temps in the mid 90's next week. The process of punching a small hole(5/16")into the green without removing any material, then double rolling the greens after completion is minimally invasive, clean and with little to no disruption to ball roll. A few of the  benefits we get from this process are :

1)  Help relieve soil compaction    helps break up compacted soil so that                              water/fert/other products can infiltrate easier

2)  Allows air to enter soil for better root and soil health   increasing oxygen content by routine needle tine venting of greens throughout the summer months produce healthy roots headed south into the rootzone, thriving in an oxygen rich environment and much happier ! :)

We have already gotten some negative comments about our timing of this needle tine with the tournaments next week but I can assure you that our timing is Spot On and that no one will know the difference by next week.

             

Thursday Needle tine vent (5/16" diameter) with a double roll after

Friday after a double mow

The last two weeks we have also been working on weak/thin areas in fairways, tees and roughs. We started with our "LDS"(localized dry spots) & thin areas in fairways..... solid tine aeration first(if needed), slit seeding then top dressing.

solid tine aerification on "LDS" fairway areas

Slit-seeding weak area #5 fwy