Here we go again!

July Rain

In July we average 2.6 inches of rain in the Boston area. So far in July 2008 we have had over 6 inches of rain. It has rained 16 out of the 31 days and more thunderstorms are expected today with up to two more inches of water. Over double the average rainfall with it raining on half the days! This has made it difficult to not just open the grass courts, but also difficult to perform standard maintenance.



The grounds crew has done a wonderful job dealing with the wet conditions. Wear, fungi and lack of soil oxygen all put a great strain on the grass plants. Care is taken performing the simplest of tasks so that the grass does not have to be subjected to another stress. Mowing, line marking and fertilization have all been affected by all this water. One more stress could put it over the edge and we could lose a lot of turfgrass.



For more information please check out this update from the USGA. It is a thorough explanation of what we have been dealing with at Longwood.



http://www.usga.org/turf/regional_updates/regional_reports/northeast/07-25-2008.html



The water table is up to the surface, so any further rain we get has no where to go. Let's hope this is the end of the daily thunderstorm cycle.



Here are some pictures from July 24, when it rained over two inches in just a short time.

Sunrise

5:00 am mowing - Sunrise!

More Father/Son Pictures

Due to rain the champioship was played on three surfaces - grass, clay and indoor hard court.

Natinal Father/Son Grass Court Championship

Heavy rain on Sunday (1 1/2 inches) forced the move to clay for opening day of the tournament.

13 grass courts were ready for Tuesday's matches.

Paul wants to know when the rain is going to stop!

Typical Early Morning

June 24, 2008

A typical early morning. All the clay courts are ready to go with some open at 6:30 am. All the grass courts are cut and sprayed with fertilizer before any members arrive.

A new sidewalk is also being installed on Dunster Road.

HEAT!

It is Monday June 9, 2008 and we are in the third day of a Massachusetts heat wave - 3 consecutive days over 90!

At Longwood we are all dealing with it different ways.

Charlie is taking care of the grass with precise watering. On 95 degree days this means hand watering pretty much all day.

Tim and Andrew taking a leisurely 6 hour walk, marking the courts. Notice Tim's built in cup holder on the marker handle.

And Magnus. The hotter it gets, the more tennis clothes he puts on!