Summer 2012 is on target to be the warmest ever in the Northeast.  Our greens at Richter came through June and July with flying colors, the 1st week in August they started needing more TLC to make it through the final stretch.  The stress on the greens is in direct relation to the intensity and duration of the heat we are experiencing this summer, along with limited air movement.  The past week we have had zero air movement, 100% humidity and high temperatures.  These three combinations are bad for turf that has exhausted all carbohydrates, have shallow roots and are screaming for cooler soil temperatures.

We are doing everything possible to keep everything going in the right direction.  This week we performed some maintenance on most of our playing surfaces.  Upon first glimpse it would appear that the we are rewinding back to 2011 on holes 6 and 7, this could be no further from the truth.  We did indeed verticut and aerify this week and while we experienced some leaf bruising and thinning it is not critical in any way.  The sand that is on the surface is there to protect the crown and encourage recovery in the form of upright growth. Initially I was hoping for the storms and cooler temps today, that is not going to happen and will delay recovery for a few more days.  Brown is not bad, we have rolled the greens and it will not affect ball roll.