Turf

ALWAYS IMPROVING Surpassing expectations key at Omaha Country Club 24 www.westernturfmag.com McPherson, 42, said. Five inches of rain accompanied the hail. Another half-inch of moisture dropped two nights later. "We usually don't have wet patterns like this, at least not since I've been here." Omaha had its wettest June day in history, breaking a 139-year-old record with 5.30 inches of rain and single-hand- edly wiping out its rainfall deficit for 2014. The course fared better than did Blair, Neb., about 30 miles from Omaha, where baseball-sized hail fell and trees toppled on autos. More than 4,300 vehicles were pummeled at Woodhouse Auto Family in Blair. Hoods were dented and windshields were shattered. Company officials estimated dam- ages at $162 million. "I grew up in Michigan and where I've lived since then I haven't experienced much hail," McPherson said. "Here it seems like at least once or twice a summer somewhere around Omaha just gets battered. Luckily it hasn't been the golf course or my house." ALWAYS IMPROVING Surpassing expectations key at Omaha Country Club In February 2011, Eric McPherson arrived in Omaha, Neb., as director of green and grounds at Omaha Country Club. One constant since his arriv- al is the changing weather. "This is my fourth season and honestly all four have been different," McPherson said. "Spring conditions were quite wet my first year. The Missouri river flooded and humidity levels were high. The flooding did not impact the golf course though. "The last two years were very dry and very hot—drought conditions at times—and this year unseasonably mild with spring storms similar to 2011. So the weather has been incon- sistent more than anything else, even the winter seasons. I guess I've learned to expect the unexpected here in Omaha." Another example is the hailstorm that struck June 3. "Out here it was mostly leaves down and debris—prob- ably a couple hundred hours in cleanup but no real damage," Eric McPherson SUPER SPOTLIGHT By Allen Thayer

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