Glen Eagle Maintenance (4/19/24)

 Golf Course

We are still battling hot spots but at least some parts of the course are still green. 😁

I was having a conversation this week with someone about how dry the course looks. They were a little surprised because they know our lakes are higher than normal for this time of year. What they didn’t know was while this year we have water in the lakes, the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) limits the amount of water we can use via our water use permit.

A lot of times when I bring up our water permit, people are surprised and don’t know that we can’t use an unlimited amount of water until the ponds are empty. I know I mentioned the water usage last week but thought I would take a minute and go thru how our water permit works.

The permit is a running 12 month total. Water usage from May 2023 to April 2024 (now) is combined to give us 12 months of water usage.

Our permit allows us to use 8.96 million gallons (mg) per month with an annual allocation of 73.25 mg.

The allocated amount is calculated based on many factors including crop type (turf), soil type in our area, 100 year drought and rain data and others.

Adhering to the 8.96 mg/month is doable most months but the tricky part is not pumping too many months at that rate which would exceed our annual allocation of 73.25mg.

Instead of giving us 107.52mg/yr (12x8.96), the calculation takes into consideration that normally, June thru September we are going to use very little irrigation. It also takes into consideration that during the winter months usage is going to be reduced as turf growth has slowed down. Therefore the annual allocation is reduced to 73.25mg/year.

In most normal years, meeting the annual allocation is doable but as you know the last 12 months has been anything but normal. We had to irrigate more than normal last summer which is effecting how much water we can use between now and rainy season.

Also contributing to the course dryness has been the low humidity and unusually high winds we have experienced this spring. Nature is always trying to strike a balance. When the air is dry, water is pulled out of the ground, plants, lakes etc to “fill” the open spaces in the air with moisture. Process like evaporation, and transpiration (Evapotranspiration) are greater when the wind is high and humidity is low. The greater the “holding capacity” or drier the air is, the more water it will try to take from the plant.

Soils type also effects the hot spots. Once they become dry, some soils become hydrophobic and water will no longer penetrate into the root zone.

These natural struggles are constantly being fought on the course. Some areas faring better than others. The good news is that Celebration Bermudagrass is tolerant to the dryness and will snap right back once we start receiving rain.

In the mean time, we are watering as much as we can; applying wetting agents thru fertigation, foliar sprays, and granular applications to provide the best conditions possible.

Common Grounds

Ficus project is still ongoing with irrigation work looking to start this weekend or early next week. I will get some pictures of the irrigation next week to pass along.

I look forward to seeing everyone on the course, and as always, if you have any questions, flag me down or shoot me an email. I always enjoy talking turf!