All is quiet on the maintenance front. It's the middle of summer and there isn't a whole lot going on. The greens are doing well besides a couple of salty spots stressing out the turf. We've treated those with gypsum and hand-flushed with a hose to avoid soaking the entire green. Below is a sample of this problem on #18 green.

We've done well this year keeping our bicarbonates in check with proper monitoring and irrigation to clean out the soil profile. Only 4 greens are currently experiencing these pockets of sodium and we walk and probe them daily to keep the fire below a smolder.

If the soil gets out of balance with sodium topping potassium and many other nutrient ratios out of whack, bad things will happen. Back in 2006, my first summer as Superintendent (lucky it wasn't my last), the instrument I use to test bicarbonates in the soil was not calibrated correctly and the stuff hit the fan.

It's hard to keep down your lunch when a few of the greens look like this:

Today that green looks great and contains a much higher percentage of bentgrass since much of the poa did not survive that summer four years ago. Many aerifications later and amending of the soil have improved drainage and the sodium is not holding on like it used to. The roots have some air to breath and there is some pore space for water movement and additional growth.

Now the greens look like this and lunch is easy to enjoy once again.

The staff has done a great job this year and each and every day they continue to improve the conditions we offer the membership. There is still a ton of work to do and we have a massive list to prove it. One item was: write a positive blog today. Check. Done. What's next?