Course Conditions

In the first quarter of the year, we experienced a record-breaking rainfall amount totaling 22 inches year to date. Annual rainfall for our area is typically around 44 inches, which puts us at the halfway mark only a few months into the new year. Leading up to the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, we experienced over 5 inches of rain. However, our team was able to get the course back into championship conditions prior to regulation rounds.

With 40 volunteers working alongside our staff during ANWA, I want to acknowledge the hard work and efforts they put into preparing Champions Retr eat for this prestigious event. Drizzle, our unofficial Club dog, was recognized during the event by having the opportunity to guess the winner. A video capturing this special moment was featured all across ANWA's social media accounts. As our team reflects on the past few weeks, we are excited to host ANWA in 2024 with new ideas and improvements for our Members, guests, and the viewers.

Jumping back into the topic of weather, our area has experienced more cold temperatures over the course of the last couple of months, which is delaying the green up of our playing surfaces. Typically, the average temperatures this time of year are 60/84. During the first week of May, we had consistent temperatures of 45/77, which delays the vigorous growth of the bermudagrass that we have this time of year. However, warmer temperatures are right around the corner, and we hope for a season of beautiful weather.

In the coming months, our team will continue preparing the course for higher volume Club events, which include Member-Member and Member-Guest. As temperatures change, you will notice the increase of our agronomic practices, which include greens venting, topdressing, and vertical mowing. These practices are all essential in maintaining premium playing conditions in order to give our Members and their guests the best experience possible. The first large core aeration of greens is scheduled to take place J uly 5th-7th.

Our winter playing surfaces with ryegrass will start to succumb to heat and transition back into a bermudagrass playing surface in the next few weeks. We are currently applying additional fertilizer to encourage growth, lowering our grooming heights to allow for more sunlight, and applying products to these areas in order to aid the transition from ryegrass to bermudagrass. We plan to aerate and top dress these areas, however many of these practices are weather dependant. With that, please be on the lookout for future Club communications regarding course closures and updates.

As always, a big thank you to our team for their support and efforts as we prepare Champions Retreat with premium playing conditions, on a daily basis.

Barry Rewis | Director of Agronomy