This consistent rain and lack of sun is taking it's toll on our putting greens. The practice green specifically, is thinning in several areas where traffic is intense and there is a lot of wear occurring. This past weekend, we experienced tremendous wear on the area closest to the bench. Someone spent a long time practicing around the same pin, dragging their feet and twisting. With the water logged conditions and lack of sun, the turf can't recover from that. By the end of August, our greens receive so little light that we back off of the maintenance. Several of our greens are only being single cut daily as opposed to double cut. Again, this time of year, the greens cannot heal from excessive wear and tear.
Next Tuesday, all of the greens will be aerated with 1/4" hollow tines. This is the same venting procedure that is done the first week of each month.