As I write, the first rounds of the Bro 2013 are finishing up. The sun tried it's best to come out earlier but, to this point, has stayed hidden. At least the rain is staying away, hopefully it remains dry long enough to finish the Bro and the remaining GAP matches, which are also on today.
We had 0.5" of rain last night and although the course soaked up a large amount of the rain earlier in the week, the addition of last nights rain has left the course very wet. It didn't help that the rain only stopped in the early hours so there was no time for it to soak up. As such the fairways are very wet, with some still having areas of standing water. Normally with it being this wet, I would make it cart path only - for at least part of the day - but due to the busy day today, I made an exception and the course has been protected as much as possible from damage. However please ensure that the signs are followed so the damage is minimized. I can get away with it a little more at this time of year as the turf is growing, a little damage can be tolerated as it will recover quickly. However, during more stressful periods, the course needs to be protected more so the damage is not compounded.
Standing water on 13 & 15
With the busy schedule this morning I brought in some extra staff to make sure everything we needed to do was completed before the tournaments. We had to skip raking a few bunkers here and there to make sure we stayed ahead of play. The ones that were skipped, are ones that usually do not see a lot of 'action', so should not affect play much. Our timing was perfect as the crew just finished before play caught them. The skipped bunkers will be raked in the morning.
Lastly, I got a bit of a surprise when I stimped the greens this morning. They were back to our (minimum) normal speed, which was surprising considering the rainfall last night. The height of cut is very close to normal and the sand is finally disappearing. We are very close to being able to turn the groomers on and get them a little faster, at which point they will be perfect!!
