The Art of Watering Greens

Water requirements for turf remain the same throughout the growing season but our irrigation/moisture maintenance practices change throughout any given time of year. Our bent grass fairways and greens require around 1.5" to 2" of water a week in the form of rainfall or irrigation. During the cooler spring and fall seasons our goal is to water deep and infrequently. We will let the surface dry out for a few days and allow the roots to dive deeper in the soil in search of moisture before a rain event or irrigation cycle.  During the summer, however, the cool season grass is more susceptible to heat stress and leaf wilt. We still try to water infrequently, but letting the soil profile completely dry out will lead to turf loss. During these hot stretches of 90+ degree days moisture levels in the greens are closely monitored. Between irrigation cycles, which is typically every 4 days, we will hand water areas of greens that are drying out faster than the rest. We can water these spots heavily in the A.M. and in certain conditions will be out in the afternoon to hand water again. During high temperature/high humidity afternoons too much, or standing water, can actually roast the crown of the plant and kill it off. A light watering, also known as syringing, is often applied in the afternoon sometimes just to lower the surface temperature, even if only a few degrees. Moisture levels are closely monitored by several members of the crew throughout the day to avoid under or overwatering. 

We know this can be a minor inconvenience to some and we do appreciate our golfers patience as we perform our afternoon watering.