Wood Duck box on #14 is supposed to be near
the water, not in it

We went from one record setting month to a record setting day.  As I mentioned in my last post we set a record in the month of August for being the driest month on record in Chattanooga.  Well, as fate would have it, we set a record on Monday for the most rainfall in Chattanooga in a 24 hour period.  Thanks to our good friend Tropical Storm Lee we received a total of 11.29 inches of rain over a 48 hour period with 8.92" of that coming on Monday alone.  I guess the next time I pray for rain I should be a little more specific about the amount.

The golf course really needed the rainfall but I don't think we needed it all at one time.  We lost a few trees which Mitch and Kevin took care of this morning.  It still amazes me that a 100+ foot tall tree can have a root ball this small, but I guess that is why it is on the ground and not still standing tall.  We have a lot of debris down around the course and will take the next few days cleaning this up once we can get our carts and blowers out onto the turfgrass without doing any damage to it.

#4 Greenside Bunker with Sand Mat Liner installed

Rains like this really go to prove that using the proper material in our bunkers can save us a ton of time and money in the long run.  The bunkers on the front nine that have were repaired last year and have the Sand Mat product in them held up great.  All we had to do was blow them out, rake them, and they are back ready for play.  I can't say the same for the ones one the back that we have yet to conquer but hopefully we will be able to get to them this winter.  One improvement at a time and we will continue to build a championship quality golf course.



#6 Greenside Bunker with Sand Mat Liner installed



#10 Greenside Bunker without Sand Mat Liner

I did realize something yesterday as I was cleaning up my office and clearing off my desk that I wondered if any other superintendents have realized.  I wound up with a very large stack of turfgrass industry magazines in a pile which I have accumulated over the summer.  Although each of the publications are very well written and have a ton of useful information in them as I found several of them still in their plastic mailing envelopes I realized that I read these magazines online before the printed copy even gets to my desk.  What a waste of paper and resources.  I feel kind of ashamed and am planning on calling all of the companies and telling them to eliminate my printed copy, but still send the electronic one. 

Devastating Storms in the South

On Monday, April 25th, Mr. James Spann, meteorologist for Birmingham's ABC 33/40 spoke to a gathering of the East Tennessee Golf Course Superintendents Association at Black Creek Club in Chattanooga.  Mr. Spann has spoken to our group several times before and every time he gives us great advice and knowledge concerning weather patterns and how to decipher the weather information available to us.  Mr. Spann told us that morning that Wednesday in the Chattanooga area could be of "historic proportion" and once again he was absolutely correct. 

The devastation in this area is immense and unbelievable. I have been through many storms in my life but this outbreak of weather has to be the most intense that I can remember.   In our area 67 people have been confirmed dead and in the south the number is currently at 269.  Over 190,000 people in the south are without power making everyday living impossible. Entire neighborhoods and communities have been wiped off the map and it will take a long time to recover. Tornadoes in the area have been classified from EF1 up to EF4 with wind speeds up to 190 miles per hour.

By the grace of God, our golf course was barely touched with only 17 trees down and a good bit of leaf debris.  The debris covering the golf course consisted of metal roofing and roof materials, insulation and we picked up mail, business cards, receipts, and other papers from Fort Payne, Alabama, along with the back of a library book from North Sand Mountain Elementary School.  Both of these locations are over 66 miles away from our golf course.

Coverage of the storm damage and the aftermath can be found at these local news station websites

 Storm coverage at News Channel 9

WDEF coverage of the storms

WRCB Chattanooga coverage of the storms

The Weather Channel

Please keep our area and all those which have been affected by this outbreak of tornadoes across the south in your thoughts and prayers.