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<\/p>\nAs far as course maintenance goes, the rain has been a big benefit in cost saving. Don McDermid, the Golf Club\u2019s Assistant Superintendent, says on a hot day the course can use more than one million litres of water, so saving a significant amount of water, on top of the electricity costs of pumping all the water out, can equate to thousands of dollars saved a day.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWhen the machinery isn\u2019t running, you\u2019re saving more money, you\u2019re not having equipment repairs, irrigation upgrades can be done within the budget and not having to spend them on repairs, so that\u2019s huge savings,\u201d McDermid said.<\/p>\n
McDermid notes the course is on its own well, so the water normally used doesn\u2019t put pressure on the city\u2019s water supply either way. As for the soil of the course, McDermid adds the soil is mostly sandy soil, so all the rain won\u2019t become a flooding issue. In fact, as far as grass growth is considered, it\u2019s been a huge benefit.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis year we took advantage of the wet weather and we did some projects that are more suited for that. So we started the new area on a hole that we\u2019re rebuilding, we put in close to 30,000ft\u00b2 of sod, which is a lot of lawns,\u201d McDermid said.<\/p>\n
The rain has certainly brought many positives to the course, but McDermid adds it\u2019s not all positives, as it does bring several challenges. Among them is handling species other than grass growing on the course, as consistently wet conditions open the door for other species to take root.<\/p>\n
\u201cMoss is a wet weather plant, and then we get more and more of that invading the greens and we get significant amount more disease pressure, that\u2019s our biggest concern. So after 8 to 10 hours of continuous leaf wetness, the fungal diseases start to form, and that\u2019s a big problem for us. So right now we\u2019re managing it through cultural practices and proper fertility and we\u2019re staying ahead of it, but at some point it may have to turn more invasive chemical treatments. Fortunately to date, we haven\u2019t had to deal with that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the soils get saturated, the compaction levels go up and the soil squeezes down. It\u2019s equated to a mailman going across your lawn, and everybody\u2019s got that little wear spot, whether it\u2019s a mailman or the neighbour\u2019s kids. Well, we have 200 mailmen on our greens every single day, so we really see a lot of wear,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n
Regardless of what the rest of the summer holds weather-wise, McDermid is confident the course will remain in great shape, saying he and the rest of the crew are prepared for whatever Mother Nature throws at them.<\/p>\n