We are now less than one week from the JP McManus Pro-Am to be held here at Adare Manor on July 4 and 5. The course remained open to the hotel residents until June 27th, at which point the course was closed to all but greenkeepers so we could get it dialed in.

Last week the weather started to improve with night-time temps around 53 degrees Fahrenheit and 63 during the day but we are slightly below optimal growth. We have this unique weather station on the resort called Meteoblue that gives a detailed seven-day forecast for the area.

The course is closed on Mondays, so we went out and vented the greens and approaches, totaling around 7.3 acres with .3 in tines, 3in depth, and 2in spacing with a light topdressing applied before venting. Afterward, the greens were rolled.

The 42 bunkers at Adare Manor are also being prepped for the tournament by five of my coworkers who have been working on them for the past two weeks. The main goal is to have firm bowl-shaped bunkers that allow the ball to roll to the base. The bowl shape bunker is achieved by moving sand to any uneven spots or back onto the bunker faces. Once the sand is in the correct area, the bunkers are watered to help compaction from a plate compactor. After the bunker is fully compacted, one of the guys rolls the faces with an Accuform 12 in solid roller. This helps remove any ridges left from the compactor. Finally, the bunker is watered again, and the base is raked with a spring rake.