June: 3.70"
July: 8.35" (most fell between 7/1 and 7/10)
August (to date): 0" (one trace amount rain period)
The average rainfall per month is typically in the 8-9"/month range.
Above is a piece from the Highlands Biological Station. By the way, the Highlands Biological Station has a wonderful website full of all kinds of data that I could literally look at for hours. I suggest you check it out! Looking at the annual total...if you simply double it...we would be at 70" for the year; 30" less than average! Quite frankly, I am surprised we aren't reading more about drought conditions in local media. This is really shaping up to be the driest year since I've been here the past 15 years. I do recall a year (perhaps 2002 or 2003) where I counted 43 days with no rain. I also recall (and try to forget) 2005 when we had nearly 125" of rain! In August of that year, we averaged 1" of rain per day! That is incredible...talk about making this line of work difficult! Then there was Hurricane Ivan in 2004 that dropped 24" in one week. That also washed away a portion of the Cashiers Rd.
On the golf course, we are back to single cutting and a less aggressive approach. Fast greens above 12' on the stimpmeter are fun for an event but certainly don't benefit the membership as a whole for daily play. What impresses me most this year is the total control we've had over them with my new nutrient regime. We are able to go from 10'9" to 12'6" in just 3 days by changing mowing schedules and grooming.
Rolling is a very effective practice but doesn't increase speed like some think it does. On a given day, you may gain 6" in speed from rolling. Surface smoothness is the objective with rolling. Think of the amount of footprints on a green after one day of play! Speed is nothing more than a function of friction. The fatter/healthier/longer the grass is, the slower the green due to all the friction slowing the ball down. Keeping the greens leaner results in a tighter, narrower leaf blade. Low mowing heights, a sharp cutting blade, groomed turf (grooming stands the turf upright and thins it) results in faster greens. Keep in mind, going to an extreme on that last part is how superintendents lose grass...the old saying in the Turf Business is: "Speed Kills." While true, there is a fine line there and a good Super knows the limits of the turf based on past experience and the environment for which the greens are growing.
Be sure to watch the video on the previous post about groomers!!