Rain and the greens

In the past week, 3" of rain has fallen on the golf course.  This doesn't seem like a lot compared to other places around us, but it has definately made the golf course soft.  The first rain soaked right in and you never knew it rained an inch.  After that the ground started to get saturated.  The past few days the greens have been looking a little off - a little orange.  This is because they can't get enough oxygen.  With the lack of drainage in the greens, the extra water sits there until it can slowly drain through the clay.  With the higher soil temps, the roots and plants can not handle the lack of oxygen in the soil.  Therefore, we spiked the greens today to open up air channels and allow the soil to breathe.  We may do the same tomorrow to give the greens their best chance of making it through this wet spell.

 

This size of the holes

 

You will notice some areas of the greens seem orange.