The message below comes to us from John Ausen, CGCS, at Hyperion Field Club. (Perhaps a more fitting name based on their weather would be Hyperion Boat and Yatch Club).
John's Message:
Hyperion Field Club received 39.5 inches of rain from June 2nd to August 14th. Many golf courses received more and for that I sympathize with you. Keeping the 39.5” of rain in mind, this means that 3.25 cubic feet of water landed on every square foot of turf. One cubic foot of water weighs 62.5 pounds which puts the weight of 3.25 cub foot at 203 pounds.
If you consider a 5000 square foot green the total weight of water landing on that green was 1.1 million pounds or 507 tons and it all hit at the speed and force of gravity which is somewhere between 10 and 20 miles per hour depending on the size of the drops.
Any more questions about the need for aerification!
John Ausen
John,
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid your article has jinxed us. Last night central Iowa got hammered yet again. Ames is reporting over 4 inches with heavy rain expected again tonight. (http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20100901/NEWS/100901002/Ames-rainfall-tops-4-in.-as-overnight-storms-pound-state)