Updated Moisture Index

As you can tell from the index below, we have seen a dramatic improvement in soil moisture in the last two weeks!  We are now at a rainfall deficit of only .35" year to date, here at the Legacy Course.  It is amazing how quickly the weather can change in Alabama!

Drought Relief!

We have received some much needed rain over the past 6 days!  We recorded .80" last Friday, .50" yesterday, and have received .30" already today as I write this, with a good chance of more rain today and through the weekend as well.  Our irrigation supply lakes could use a lot more, especially the one behind #11 green.  It is about 6 foot low right now, which equates to approximately 10 million gallons of water.  As a point of reference, our average monthly useage May - September is about 6.2 million gallons per month.

Dry Weather Continues.

The map below gives a very good perspective of the dry conditions in our state right now. In the past 41 days, the Legacy Course has only received 0.62" of rain.

Early Signs of Summer

Although summer does not officially start to June 21, it sure seems as though it is already here!  May was a very hot and dry month and the indicators point to much of the same through at least mid-June! 

Syringing of greens has become an everyday thing

The greens fans were turned on today and will continue to run through the end of the summer

We have also begun hand watering of fairway trenches and dry spots on tees

The lake behind 11 green, which we transfer water to our irrigation lake on 2 from, is starting to get the summer look as well

Legacy Club House Summer Annuals
and Landscape Renovations

As the seasons change, temperatures increase, and the days get longer, the smell of freshly mowed grass, birds singing, and the sound of the scurry of setting up the golf course for a busy morning of play permeate the last of the cool spring mornings in our lovely little valley. This time of year also brings the changing of the annual flowers around the club house. Over the past years we've learned what works, performs best, and is least appetizing for our pet deer.

 

This year we went with some old favorites and good performers from last year’s endurance test, thanks to one of the longest and hottest summers on record. Dragon wing begonia, scaevola, angelonia, coleus, lantana, and purple fountain grass are a few of the chosen plants for this season. Below are some pictures of the installation process.

Below is Mike, Adrian, and Joe placing and planting the flowers for the island bed.

Adding the mini pine nuggets gives a clean look and also holds in moisture.

Prepping the beds on the back side of the club house.

...and here are the finished beds.

 

 

Picture below from right to left is Mike Donaldson, our Landscape Foreman, and his helper Adrian Vargas, these guys to a great job taking care of the clubhouse grounds.

Landscape Renovations

This year we are able to do some landscape renovations at the clubhouse by filling in open areas and replacing plants that were past their prime. We concentrated on the front door entrance of the clubhouse to give the landscape a cleaner, balanced, and more welcoming look. We replaced some of the scraggly dwarf yaupons with 3 gallon Carrisa hollies and Maiden Hair grass.

Before

After

 

We also renovated the area on either side of the walkway that leads to the Men's Grill in the back of the clubhouse by planting gardenias, itea, and butterfly bushes.

Before

... and after.