I have had a number of members stop and ask me lately what we are doing when they have seen us utilizing some "new tools" on the greens.  These new tools are soil moisture meters that we use to check water content of the root zone on our putting greens.  These meters are relatively new to the golf course maintenance field and have been in an invaluable tool in helping us maintain greens health throughout the heat of summer.  The meters are fairly simple.  In short you just stick the 3" probes into the ground and push the "Read" button.  What the meter returns is a percentage that represents the volumetric water content of the greens root-zone. 

Jake Manda checking moisture with meter and Steve Frick watering as needed

Every golf course is different in the age and construction method of their greens.  Our greens at Milburn are older, soil-based greens with a rather significant layer of sand (approx. 6") built up on top of the soil base from years of sand topdressing and aeration.  The one exception to this is our putting green, which was built in 2011 and is a true sand-based root zone that is built to USGA specifications for putting green construction.  The age, construction method, and soil texture of the growing medium all help determine the rate at which a green allows water infiltration through the root-zone.  This infiltration rate in turn is one of the factors that we use to determine our "ideal" water content of the greens.

Output of the meter.  This spot shows moisture content of 14.4%

The goal in the heat and stress of summer is to maintain the greens as dry as possibly while not so dry as to reach their permanent wilting point.  Excess moisture in the root-zone contributes to disease problems and ultimately can "boil" the turf roots (as water is an excellent conductor of electricity).  A saturated root zone allows for excessive root-zone temperatures during the heat of the day which can quickly cause decline in turf condition on the greens.

Another benefit of these new meters is that it allows us to better "balance" the soil moisture throughout the green.  The more even the moisture percentage we can achieve in our greens, the better and more consistent playing surface in terms of firmness and greens speed we can deliver to the golfers.

If you see a staff member using one of these new meters on the greens and want to see it work firsthand please feel free to stop them and ask for a quick demonstration.

Enjoy the rest of your summer,

Steve