Dear Members,

September was a very wet month indeed. The wettest since the Millennium year in fact here at wonderful Wisley! We received 130mm (5 inches plus) through the month, but in two big rainfall weeks. The long-term average for the last 20 years and beyond is 53mm (2 inches) so more than double fell. We’ve probably all seen the flooding on the news in the midlands and thankfully we escaped that truly record-breaking amount. However, this very heavy rainfall is certainly both unusual and unwelcome as we head into winter.

All in all, the courses have coped very well. The new Garden course the best, which is no surprise given the investment there. We only incurred one closure day for the Mill & Church courses; a day or two less than some Surrey Heathlands even. It was seen coming through the forecast and so we applied deep aeration to the wetter holes on C/M ahead of the heavy second rain week. A good connection between the surface and underlying drainage is essential with deep aeration providing that temporarily.

The course maintenance work carried out in the summer has certainly paid dividends to course recovery post deluges and kept the greens, tees, approaches, and fairways open and playable in the main. It’s very easy to associate this work with only the temporary disruption experienced at the time. However, it’s at desperate times like this that we rely on its benefits to keep the courses open and playing well.

The good news – if it can be believed – is the forecast going forward may be drier than we’ve been used to. Famous last words and all that but things may change, and we certainly do need/deserve a dry spell. The unwelcome weather triggers worm casting on fairways and the county golf union’s decision to bring winter rules in early was wise as of 30th September. We’re not the only ones with wet, soft conditions with the odd closure thrown in I can tell you.

Farmers and greenkeepers alike are obsessed with the weather and most other people are not, so I thought I’d give you this update to help set in your minds just how awful the weather was in September and why we are as we are out on the links.