Heat Wave Continues

Wow "Mother Nature" just doesn't want to give us much of a break. Temperatures are soaring into the upper 90's along with humidity levels in the upper 50's to 60's. This combination causes the heat index to be up around the 100 to 105 degree mark. Needless to say these are undesirable conditions to be growing turf in. I have been monitoring the soil temperatures and surface temperatures throughout the day. The lowest soil temperature reading (at a 1.5 to 2 inch depth) in the last 6 days I have seen was 81 degrees with the surface temperatures going from 92 degrees in the morning to 106 in the afternoons. These are extreme conditions that require us to be a little more cautious and conservative. I have raised the mowing height of the greens just slightly from .125" to .140". This is to help the plant photosynthesize and produce more carbohydrates so that it can survive the extreme conditions. We also have cutback on the rough mowing and other mowing around the golf course just to give the turf a break and not to put it under anymore stress then we have too. We are still trying to mow the golf course one time entirely and then are making mowing decisions at the end of the week depending on the growth and weather pattern we are in. Today we are working on repairing the collar on #10 green. I hope to have this installed before the temperatures get too hot today. We will continue to work on some of the other holes (i.e. 2,6,12) as weather and play permits. I feel that the greens are holding their own right now and seem to be turning the corner. It is tough for turf grass to recover in the extreme conditions we are having. If we can get a little break and have temperatures in the high 80's to low 90's and have night time temperatures get into the magic 60's it would really help us tremendously. The night time temperatures is where the turf really recovers or gets stressed.