July is drawing to a close and so far we have had a hot and dry summer. The opening of the soil profile done at end of June has been key in the over health of the golf course during this period of high stress. Allowing the root systems to breath and be receptive to moisture and air. As much as we would like to see some rain the agronomy team is grateful that the afternoon thunderstorms continue to miss us. Being dry going into last week's heatwave reduced the risk of boiling the turf from too much heat and moisture. A wise mentor once told me, "most grass dies from hot and wet, it can get ugly hot and dry, but it usually bounces right out when the weather shifts."  

Greens
Green speeds have slowed down slightly because we implemented precautionary measures during last weeks 7 day heat wave. The greens are very healthy and we plan to return to normal maintenance practices by weeks end, bring green speeds up to normal levels. We are seeing some crabgrass on the margins of the greens and collars, this is a weak spot in our herbicide program. Hand plucking and chemical applications are being done to remove this pervasive weed.

Fairways
The fairways are holding up okay during this hot and dry summer. We have done even more hand watering and are using our gps moisture meters to guide the team on areas of need. The additional traffic stakes are helping to keep carts from wearing down the same areas. We hope this weather pattern breaks in the next few weeks. If not please be patience as we may need to use our cart path system more often to reduce the stress of golf carts.

Rough
Much of the rough does not get irrigated. This has caused areas of it to go dormant, we anticipate them to fully bounce back with some natural rain and cooler weather. The fescue is having a great year. When conditions are hot and dry we see less weeds and the fescue does not get too thick at the base so it is very playable.

It's hard to believe that our Scheduled August aeration is just a few weeks away. Thank you in advance for your patience as we perform this necessary agronomy work. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.  
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The summer is rolling and so are the greens and fairways. Thank you all for your patience at the end of last month as we vented all the bentgrass playing surfaces in order to protect them form the extreme heat and moisture we typically experience in Philadelphia. The weather the past few weeks has been hot and dry, but the team has pumped over a million gallons of water through hoses and our irrigation system to keep the Crest in prime condition. We are excited for the upcoming championship, best of luck to all participates. 

Greens
The putting surfaces are very healthy all the work done as really improved their resilience to ballmarks and improved the overall density, leading to truer ball roll. We will continue to cut and roll the greens to maintain good speeds during the upcoming championships. 

Tees
This years tee program as focused on divot filling, weed control and extra fertility. That combination seems to have the tees in even better shape then last year. Some clover has been popping up in the recent weeks, and we have been spot treating it.  Divot filling is happening daily, up from 3 times a week. And we have added several lacking nutrients as a result of our most recent soil tests.

Fairways
Much like the other areas, the fairways are doing great in the summer heat. Well timed chemical applications, our new mowers, and countless hours of hand watering has them dealing well with the hot and dry conditions. I do ask that everyone tries to follow the traffic stakes and signs that are out there. They are there to shift cart wear around so that no areas get so beat up sod repairs are needed. We ask to follow the arrow signs to the cart path and to drive around any area with black and white stakes, thank you.

Staffing
I am sure you have seen the many new face of our team working on the course this year. We are grateful to have staffing during these challenge times with the labor market. Please bare with us as we work to train new staff members, we have seen a unusually high turnover this summer in our seasonal staff, leading to a constant cycle of on-boarding.

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