Lake Norman Enters Stage 1 of Drought Protocol

The Catawba-Wateree Drought Management Advisory Group (CW-DMAG) today announced continued dry weather conditions and above-average temperatures have placed the Catawba-Wateree River Basin in Stage 1 of the Low Inflow Protocol (LIP).

Stage 1 is the second of five drought stages outlined in the LIP and recommends voluntary water conservation by water users across the Basin, in addition to operational adjustments by Duke Energy. The LIP is the drought management plan major water users in the region employ to share responsibility and set priorities to conserve the limited water supply during drought conditions.

"While some areas of the Basin have received scattered rainfall, the lack of widespread precipitation the past several weeks and high temperatures have resulted in increased drought conditions,” said Ed Bruce, P.E., Duke Energy, CW-DMAG coordinator. “We are asking the community to conserve water and energy as we enter the height of the summer season and the typically drier fall period.”

Continued below normal rainfall and very hot temperatures have pushed two of the three LIP drought indicators (triggers) into Stage 1. Water storage in the 11-reservoir Catawba-Wateree Hydroelectric Project continues to decline and streamflows feeding the reservoirs are well below normal. In addition, the U.S. Drought Monitor trigger indicates most of the Basin is experiencing drought conditions.

Earlier this month, the Catawba-Wateree River Basin entered Stage 0 of the LIP which is a drought watch stage and prompted the CW-DMAG to closely monitor conditions.  After observing declining trends in the triggers, the group decided to proactively declare Stage 1 conditions. 

“We wanted to be proactive in making the community aware of increased drought conditions and ask customers to be mindful of water use,” explained Barry McKinnon, Mooresville Public Utilities Director. “The sooner we start conserving, the better for our region as we work together to preserve our shared water resources.”

The Golf Course Maintenance Department has implemented its Water Conservation Plan. At Stage 0 we reduced our water usage by 5%. As we have now entered Stage 1 we are reducing our irrigation by 15%. At this stage we will reduce our run times in the evening and eliminate 1 cycle of rough, 1 time per week. 

Our Water Conservation Plan is as follows for future stages:

Stage 2: 25% Reduction in water usage. Eliminate a cycle per week on high priority areas (Fairways, tees and green surrounds), irrigate low priority areas (roughs) only one time per week. To comply with homeowner restrictions, the clubhouse lawns and grounds will only be watered 2x per week and ornamental plants as needed.

Stage 3: 35% Reduction in water usage. Reduce run times and water no more than 1x per week on high priority areas (tees, fairways, green surrounds). Whatever water is necessary to maintain greens will be reduced from the amount provided for fairways, tees, and green surrounds. 

Stage 4: 85% Reduction in water usage. Watering only necessary zones (greens) for maintenance and survival is allowed.   

As we begin to reduce our water usage to comply with the Catawba-Wateree Drought Management Advisory Group we will begin to expand our handwatering of dry areas. This will enable us to conserve water and put water where it is needed to maintain plant health and survival. 

Handwatering dry spots allows us to put the water where it is needed and conserve water.

(Some excerpts taken from July 20th Catawba-Wateree Drought Management Group News Release)

Peninsula Hosts USGA Ultradwarf Surface Management Field Day

On June 29th The Peninsula Club hosted the 9th Annual USGA Ultradwarf Surface Management Seminar. This event had been hosted by Rodney Lingle at Memphis Country Club for the past 8 years and is considered by many to be the “Godfather” of Ultradwarf Management. Forty superintendents, assistants and club officials, attended the event. Jared and Rodney teamed up to discuss their greens management practices. There was a classroom question and answer session followed by in-field demonstrations on putting greens #5 and #1.

The day was a resounding success. It was a great time to learn, meet new people and share various methods to achieve excellent putting greens surfaces.

For more information on the field day click here for an USGA write-up on the field day.

The Field Day started with a question and answer session in the ballroom.

Jared answers question regarding his putting green management philosophies.

Assistant Drew McRorie demonstrates our topdressing practices.

Arnold Deherra shows how to verti-groom to get just the right amount of grass standing up to achieve a good cut. 

Bradley Furr and Nick McLennan show the last step in the verti-grooming process by brushing and double cutting the green.

Aeration of Greens is Complete

Aeration of the greens is finally complete. The process started on Sunday evening and finished Wednesday afternoon. It was a HUGE effort by the entire staff to get all of the greens punched, cleaned, washed, sanded and broomed. Below is a chronological look at what our aeration process at The Peninsula Club entails.

The greens looked amazing at the start of aeration.

The first step in the aeration process was vertically mowing the greens. This removes undesirable lateral growth in the canopy. 

View of the green after the vertical mow. Slicing into the canopy allows for more sand incorporation into the channels.

After the greens have been vertical mowed they are rolled and mowed.

Dumpe'! Dumpe'! Dumpe'! Aeration begins and the staff immediately catches and removes the cores. This makes for a very clean green after the holes have been punched.

Arnold cleaning the holes and making sure the holes are ready to receive sand!

This is exactly what the goal is. Large, clean and open holes. The bigger and cleaner they are the more sand that can be incorporate into the holes. 

The dry sand was push broomed into the open holes. This entire process decreases the amount of heavy equipment driven on unstable, open holes that can potentially cause shifting and rutting of the green surface.

The final look after the sand has been brushed in. The holes officially have begun the healing process. 

Now the process of healing and repairing the putting green slate begins. The holes will rapidly begin to heal and the greens should be like new in 12-14 days.

This process would not have been successful without the excellent help of the entire GCM Staff. 

Thanks Nick, Drew, Cesar, Jonathan, Paolo, Arnold, Margarito, Bradley, Alberto, Raul, Chayanne, Roberto, Brian, Wilfred, Jose, Milo, Wes, John! You guys rocked it out! 364 days and counting...