Friday July 25

Rainbow Derby Greetings,

What a difference a couple of days can make!!! On Wednesday, we were just about to send an email telling you about lack of rainfall, record number of gallons pumped by irrigation the last two weeks, stressed turfgrass in the rough and a request for a Potowomut rain dance or two.

After the last two days, however, the story has changed a bit. The rain dance has worked. The thunderstorm we witnessed here on Wednesday afternoon was extremely severe. We saw heavy winds, constant cloud to ground lightning and an inch of rainfall in quite a short time. Lucky for us, we only lost a few tree branches, and the protections installed to prevent lightning damage to irrigation components were up to the task. (We also received some much needed rain, 2.90" in total.)

We will begin adding sand to a few bunkers during the next few weeks. We will address bunkers commonly hit into that are lacking sand. They include the front greenside bunkers on 3, and 4, 6 and 10 right bunkers, and 16. Other bunkers will be addressed if sand supply remains.

Bunkers with sand added will play a bit differently as sand settles. Expect it to take a year for sand to settle and play as other bunkers on the golf course. We will do our best to hasten the sand settling process by applying water and compacting new sands with heavy equipment.

Today, the project to pave the cartpath that leads from the 3rd tee toward 8 tee will begin. We will do out best to alleviate traffic problems as the contractor completes the project. The bottom binder will be applied today and the top coat of asphalt will be completed next week.

Tidbits....From July 7 to July 21, we pumped a 15 day record 3,421,000 gallons of irrigation water. Old record of 2,600,000 gallons was established last year between August 27 to September 10....We will continue to sever tree roots with machine, filling in with soil and seed.....Please continue to help your golf course by repairing your ballmark plus one other, and please only use divot sand on fairway divots only. Please use divot sand sparingly, as too much sand in some divots is damaging mowers!!

Patrick Gertner CGCS