SUMMER SUMMER
The summer
from hell Brutal. Relentless. Extreme. Oppressive. Heartbreaking. Those were just some of the words superintendents and turf managers from around the country used to describe the summer of 2016-2017. ATM editor Brett Robinson looks back at a summer some would rather forget.
The summer of 2016-17 will go down as one of the most challenging on record, particularly for those along Australia’s eastern seaboard. Superintendents struggled to keep turf alive as extreme heat, humidity and pest and disease pressures reached critical levels 14
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t seems ridiculous to cast the mind back to the past summer when, just as this edition of Australian Turfgrass Management was being finalised, Queensland and northern NSW were mopping up in the wake of Tropical Cyclone Debbie. After one of the hottest, driest and humid summers on record, that all quickly turned into a distant memory as Debbie wreaked havoc, bringing with her massive rainfall that resulted in widespread flooding, affecting many golf clubs and turf facilities (read more in the GCSAQ report on page 79). The fact remains, however, that the summer of 2016-17 will go down as one of the most challenging on record, particularly along the eastern seaboard. Taking a look at Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) stats from December through to February provides a very real snapshot of the difficult conditions: l Summer 2016-17 was the warmest on record for Sydney. Records were broken for numbers of hot days and nights across the city, with many BOM stations experiencing their warmest February day on record on the 10th and 11th. (The 47.0oC at Richmond was just 0.8oC below
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Sydney’s all-time record set in January 1939.) Rainfall was close to average, with a dry start to the summer followed by some heavy rain and thunderstorms during February. Minimum temperatures in Sydney were persistently warm, with no nights below 15oC at Observatory Hill and 58 nights reaching at least 20oC, the second-most warm nights on record. Five nights reached at least 25oC, the most hot nights on record, with 10 reaching at least 24oC.
AUSTRALIAN TURFGRASS MANAGEMENT 19.2
Across NSW as a whole, it was the secondwarmest December on record and third warmest for average minimum temperatures. It was the third-warmest January on record for the state with average temperatures 3.34oC above historical averages. Rainfall was 41.6 per cent below average across NSW in January. February was the third-warmest on record for NSW. l Brisbane had its warmest summer on record in terms of mean temperature. Brisbane’s mean maximum temperature was the third-warmest on record, while the mean minimum temperature was the equal-highest on record. l Brisbane had a record run of 30 consecutive days above 30oC between 28 January and 26 February 2017 (previous record was 19 in 2002). l All Brisbane BOM locations recorded less than 80 per cent of the average summer rainfall. l Summer 2016-17 was the second-warmest on record across the whole of Queensland. Such were the conditions experienced in NSW, and prompted by concerns raised by members, the NSW Golf Course Superintendents Association (NSWGCSA) felt the need to send a letter to Golf Management Australia NSW. Titled ‘When the heat is on we need your help’, the letter highlighted to GMs and boards of management the many things that conspired to cause the loss of turf this past summer. First and foremost it outlined the challenges created by the extreme weather and the resulting increases in disease and pest pressures, issues with water quality, irrigation infrastructure and budget restrictions. The letter then went on to provide l