Rainfall in Florida is very much a feast or famine affair. It wasn't that long ago when one of the primary topics of conversation during TAS visits was the lack of rainfall and dealing with the associated problems of drought stress and localized dry spots. The onset of the summer rainy season was several weeks later than normal, and initially, afternoon thunderstorms were somewhat erratic. Over the past few weeks, however, there has been a major reversal, especially through the central to southern part of the state. Year-to-date rainfall is back to or exceeding normal levels. It is easy to catch up on the so-called "average" rainfall when you receive single rainfall events of 2 - 2.5-inches.
With frequent and, at times, heavy rainfall events, accomplishment of routine mowing and other course management practices is difficult at best, and once you fall behind it takes even longer to catch up. With periodic pounding rains, bunker sand washouts are inevitable and a tremendous number of manpower hours are consumed with making repairs and working the sand back into place. It also is frustrating and discouraging to get the bunkers put back together and then have to go through the entire process again a few days later.
Increased pest problems and in particular flushes of weed growth is another common problem being encountered on courses around the state. With the high probability of rain almost everyday, great care must be exercised when conducting pesticide treatments so as to avoid possible runoff and leaching and wasting money. Contrary to the common assumption, the late summer rainy season in Florida is one of the most difficult times for producing and maintaining consistent and good quality course conditioning.
For many years mole crickets were the number one pest problem of Florida golf courses and caused extensive turf damage. With the availability of more effective control treatments, mole crickets have not been as much of a problem over the past few years. Yet, it has been found during recent visits to courses around the state that a marked resurgence in activity and damage has been experienced. Reductions in the amount of acreage being treated specifically for mole crickets and the use of some new alternative insecticides would appear to be the main reasons for this resurgence. With course operating costs rising significantly, everyone is much more budget conscious, but mole cricket control is an area where we can't let our guard down. The old saying of "pay now or pay later" absolutely applies, and additional money, time, and effort can be consumed with having to make follow-up control treatments and repair damage compared to conducting preventative treatments.
Finally, after two years of record setting hurricane activity, the first part of the 2006 season has been relatively quiet, although during the last week of August, Ernesto eventually came up the center part of the state. The forecasters have become much better at predicting storm tracks, and after the experiences of the last two years, everyone began making hurricane preparations when it was determined that Ernesto would make landfall in South Florida. Accurately predicting storm strength however, is an area that still needs improvement, and as it turns out there was a weakening rather than intensification before Ernesto made landfall. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief that there was a near miss with this one, but here too, we cannot let our guard down for at least another couple of months. This means that everyone will continue to have to deal with "hurricane fatigue".
Source: John Foy, jfoy@usga.org or 772-349-6105
