For dedicated golfers, all weather is golf weather. Short of a lightning strike, there’s nothing that can drag a golfer off the course — especially during a good round. But while a little rain or heat won’t dampen a golfer’s spirits, it can cause chaos for greenskeepers and superintendents.

Unlike other sports, there is no uniform field of play in golf. Each playing surface is unique, and while a foursome may spice up a round with a scramble or skins game, the real competition is in each golfer squaring off against the course itself. Golf course maintenance is a delicate balance of keeping terrain challenging enough for players and healthy enough to stand up to endless trudging cleats, speeding carts, and frustrated golfers slashing metal clubs into the grass.

Beyond all of that human-made mayhem, golf is the only sport where the arena is a living, breathing organism, and even the angriest golfer pounding a driver into the tee box can’t compare with the fury of a torrential rainstorm or punishing heatwave. Careless golfers will always do damage, but AcuRite weather technology can empower golf course managers and maintenance crews to match Mother Nature’s pace of play and keep courses healthy and green all year long.

Water Hazard

Of all the potential disasters a golfer can encounter — and there are plenty — there’s nothing quite like the sinking feeling of watching your ball go to a watery grave. Any amount of water will ruin a golfer’s score, but the wrong amount of water will destroy an entire course for weeks or even months and make golf course maintenance even harder.

Courses have rules for damp days to prevent players from increasing the damage that heavy rains bring, like limiting golf carts to paths only or roping off areas to keep sharp cleats from vulnerable turf, but that only helps after the fact. The AcuRite Atlas™ Weather Station with Direct-to-Wi-Fi Display and Lightning Detection and AcuRite Access™ for remote monitoring can help groundskeepers stay ahead of the weather and prepare for any eventuality.

With real-time weather forecasting and historical data, course managers can watch for inclement weather and analyze trends and averages from prior years to make informed predictions about future weather. With an AcuRite Rain Monitoring System to automatically measure and record rainfall, your crew will know exactly when to water greens or adjust automatic sprinklers to prevent oversaturation and compensate for dry weather. At the same time, AcuRite Access enables remote monitoring and easy data sharing to keep everyone informed whether they are at the clubhouse, in the shed, or patrolling the course in a cart.

Hot Days

Everyone needs to stay hydrated on hot days, including the course itself. But while golfers can flag down the snack cart for a cool drink, it takes serious planning to keep golf course grass healthy in extreme heat. Sky-high temperatures and humidity are the enemy of growth and can even supercharge invasive species of grass and weeds and exacerbate the problem even further.

The AcuRite Atlas is a professional-grade weather station with seven key sensors plus add-ons and upgrades to equip groundskeepers with everything they need to maintain a course during the busiest and toughest season of the year. Beyond temperature and humidity, the AcuRite Atlas measures UV and light intensity for even more granular data to determine when to mow fairways to prevent unwanted growth.

Additionally, this information helps make sure that crews stay hydrated and take proper precautions against heat exposure illness. The system also uses advanced lightning detection sensors to detect strikes up to 25 miles away, which provides ample time to sound alarms and alert players or workers on the course.

Get in the Game

Golf course maintenance isn’t all about battling the weather, of course. It’s about making the weather work to the course’s advantage to keep the game challenging and fun for players. AcuRite weather technology is great for inclement weather, but it is perfect for day-to-day maintenance too. Since all weather is golf weather, each day is about calibrating the course based on current conditions and setting the groundwork for the coming weeks and months.

Groundskeepers armed with AcuRite technology can fine-tune green speeds, adjust pin placement based on rainfall and wind speeds, and set long-term fertilizing and reseeding strategies based on personalized historical weather data. Certain golf course grass treatments and chemicals are hypersensitive to water levels, and AcuRite rain sensors can help determine the exact window for effective spraying. Forecasting information can even help schedule work hours for crews based on need or in advance of inclement weather.

Every AcuRite sensor is another club in your bag that you can pull out for any situation, but in this game, there’s no need to compete against the course. Use AcuRite on the course to fully optimize golfing conditions.