Water, Water, Everywhere

I have been asked repeatedly about the wet conditions on the course, so I wanted to give an explanation as to why this has occurred.  First of all, I would like to say that August 15^th marked my 10 year anniversary as the golf course superintendent at Barrington.  I guess my reason for bringing that up is because these conditions have not been the norm over my tenure here.  There are many factors that are causing the wet conditions this year, it’s not as simple as just applying too much water.

As you remember, we had several months of near record rainfall this spring.  Normally, we apply a wetting agent to the fairways in the spring.  Basically, the wetting agent acts like a soap, allowing the water to soak in faster, as well as keeping it in the upper soil profile for a longer period of time.  The wetting agent we use lasts for three months, so once it is applied, it stays there, no way to get rid of it.  We didn’t apply the wetting agent this spring because it was raining almost every day.  It would have kept the course far too wet.  So, now that the rains have stopped, we are having problems with water infiltration into the soil.  Basically, the water beads up on the surface like a freshly waxed car, and runs into the low spots making them even wetter.  If we apply the wetting agent now it would help, but things will be too wet in September and October.

What we have occurring on the course are called isolated dry spots.  These are areas that are hydrophobic, meaning they repel water.  There can be a moist spot of soil literally within 6” of a spot that is so dry the sand will pour through your fingers.  Isolated dry spots occur because of a build-up of organic acids on the sand particles.  Fungi also cause isolated dry spots which are called fairy rings.  These are noticeable in the fairways as green circles about 6” to 12” around, with drought stricken centers caused by the fungal hyphae.  Isolated dry spots can be lessened by the application of fungicides and wetting agents, but both must be watered into the soil profile.   We have applied a special kind of wetting agent this week that is called a penetrant.   As the name suggests, a penetrant tries to break the surface tension of the water, allowing it to soak in.  It has no long lasting water holding capabilities.  These penetrants must be watered in immediately because they are alcohol based, which can easily burn the leaf blades, and it doesn’t work unless you wash it into the soil.

The third part of our perfect storm this year is the quality of our irrigation water.  The water has a very high pH and is full of salts and bicarbonates.  Bicarbonates are basically dissolved calcium in the water, which precipitates out as the water evaporates.  Again, this causes the soil to become hydrophobic.  We have a system attached to our irrigation pump station that injects acid into the water to help remove the bicarbonates and lower the pH.  This system has been operating, but it has had some issues, and has not kept up with the worsening water quality.  I think we have the problems with the system resolved, and we can keep the water around 6.5 pH from now on.

Believe it or not, the course is often the firmest immediately after a large rain event.  The steady rains flush the accumulated salts and bicarbonates right through the soil profile, giving things new start.

Finally, I would like to explain why you see my staff running sprinklers in the afternoon.  Contrary to popular belief, it is not to cause you frustration.  We can actually let the turf get drier if we cool off the wilting areas in the afternoon.  We are not watering at that time, we are running a sprinkler one revolution to cool off the stressed turf.  You will also see staff using hoses to hand water some areas that are not getting enough water because of poor sprinkler spacing.  Hand watering is the best method, because a person can apply the water only where it is needed, helping to alleviate sprinkler patterns.

Please understand that we are doing our best under these circumstances.  We are making a conscious effort to make the course play firm and fast every day, but sometimes there is a fine line between sustainability and playability.  I appreciate your comments about the course conditions, and I am trying to correct things as soon as possible.

Below is a photo of the isolated dry spots on #8 fairway.  Note the lack of dew in the drought stressed areas.

This is a closer look at the same area.  It’s a little hard to see , but the plug on the left is under drought stress, while the plug on the right has plenty of moisture.  These plugs are about 6” apart.

Mark