Sodium induced wilt

This season has definitely been feast or famine. We have either gone long stretches with out rain or the faucets are stuck open.
After 45 days in June and July we received over 22" of rain. Too much rain for extended periods will cause the plants to shorten up their roots as moisture is plentiful. The good news is the roots of the plants on the tees and greens still look great. This is due to the sand make up of the profile. The water can penetrate more effectively through this zone and will dry out much faster. On the other hand, the plants on the fairways and rough are sitting on a layer of rock and clay. The pore spaces that allow water to flow are much tighter and the top1-2" will stay overly wet.
The issue that we are dealing with now in the heart of summer is the rain has all but stopped.
High temps during summer combined with a lower relative humidity dries out the plants even quicker. ET is known as evapo-transpiration and is a measurement of how much water is lost from the plant. ( for example; an acre of corn will lose 3-4000 gallons of water per DAY and a 80ft oak tree will lose 40,000 gallons of water per year.) As the plants transpire or perspire more water is pulled from the roots to cool off the plant. On a 85 degree day with a relative humidity of 35%,  a whopping .33" of moisture is lost. To irrigate this amount back to the plant almost 700,000 gallons must taken from the pond. Our irrigation pond on holes 14,17 contains about 2.5 million gallons.
The other issue when solely relying on pond water is the make up of that water. Our irrigation water contains very high levels of sodium and carbonates.  When we consume a very salty meal we become dehydrated and must drink copious amounts of clean water to feel good again. If you put a teaspoon of salt in your water you would still feel dehydrated. This is actually what is happening on the fairways and rough. The term is known as sodium induced wilt. The more water we put down to keep up with the ET rates, the more sodium is introduced and the faster the plant dries out. When we finally get a good soaking rain the sodium will be washed away and we start over.
As you know, our style over the past 6 seasons has been to keep the course on the dry side when mother nature allows. This not only makes for a healthier plant, it also produces better playability with increased firmness and roll. When you run on the edge to keep those conditions some browning out may occur.