This picture of #1 fairway shows some of the isolated dry spots I spoke about in a previous post. These purple/brownish spots are dry areas and the turf is wilting because the roots can not take up water because the soil is dry. Once the soil dries out like this, it is extremely difficult to re-wet. The soil becomes hydrophobic and repels water. Think about new potting soil that you dump from the bag. You've probably experienced watering a house plant where the potting soil started to float and made a mess? This is the same principal. To help fight this, we use wetting agents in these areas, so when we run irrigation, the water tension is reduced and the water has a better chance of getting absorbed into the soil as opposed to running off.
It is important that we irrigate these areas because if we didn't, turf loss would be the end result. That would not be acceptable to a majority of the membership. Again, it comes down to a delicate balance between playability and aesthetics. In the coming years, we are planning to make some improvements to the irrigation system that will allow us to have better control of the irrigation water distribution, something we currently lack. In the meantime, there is a staff of dedicated team members that are hand watering and using resources to the best of our ability.