Slow progress on storm cleanup

As summer approaches, we are at our busiest time of year. Every species of grass is growing at or near its full potential and must be cut regularly. All our regular, secondary tasks must be completed as well. This is why certain jobs, like cleaning up from the most recent storms, can take us longer to accomplish. We expect to finish the last of the cleanup and repair work this week.

The most recent storm was just over two weeks ago now, and we still haven’t finished the cleaning yet. A full tree remains down on #18, logs are still left on the driving range, and a few stump holes haven’t been repaired fully. There a couple reason behind why some of this is not accomplished yet. First, and most important, in certain circumstances, we don’t have the proper tools to manage larger tree cleanup like what has occurred in the recent storms. Large chainsaws, chippers, log trucks, etc. are not part of our fleet. We could cobble together the necessary machines if we had to, but it would take time and money. Contracting with a tree removal company is most efficient, even if it means that the debris lays longer than we would like.

Secondly, the time it would take for our staff to accomplish these tasks would be too great and would be at the expense of other jobs. Nearly all our labor would be consumed with just tree removal work and most other things on the course would not be done. Whereas the tree company labor is dedicated to the cleanup process. Mowing, changing cups, raking bunkers, among other things would be skipped. This would lead to a very poor experience for several days. At this time of year, using most of our staff on one single job would leave too much else unfinished.

Even jobs that are manageable for the Grounds staff can take longer for us to get to, and finish, because of the same time constraints. Often, these cleanup tasks are after all the typical course preparation for the day is complete. The average time for morning setup and mowing jobs is 4 hours. Even then, not the entire staff is ready or available to help after that, so things can take longer. Last week, we were able to get several old stump holes sodded and we will finish up the rest of those this week.

When you see a tree or logs left on the ground for extra time after a storm, it is not because we don’t know or don’t care. It might not make sense for us to do the work with our tools, or because our time is spent on other work. We appreciate your patience as we continue to get things back to normal.

 

 

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

When you splash bunker sand onto the green after your shot, please brush away any large piles or clumps that may have ended up on the green.

Also, as part of a Golf Committee initiative to improve course etiquette, we have included links to videos teaching proper on course etiquette. Please take a moment to watch:

Ball Marks - How to properly repair

Golf Cart tips

 

See you on the course!

Joe

jvillegas@bwrc.org

Rough growth

It has been a while since we have discussed issues with the grounds being too wet. We were in a drought of some degree most of the last 3 years, even despite the more normal amounts of snowfall this past winter. However, May, and leading right into June, provided above normal precipitation. Keeping up on maintenance becomes an issue when the ground is wet.

May will end up being just about double the normal precipitation for the month, with the majority falling in the last two and half weeks. When the ground gets saturated, the first thing we fall behind on is mowing. We scrape by mowing the essentials with push mowers, but putting large, heavy machines out on the course causes more harm than good. But the grass doesn’t stop growing and wait for us to catch up, which leads to massive amounts of grass clippings.

Once we hit a stretch of weather dry enough to mow again, we try and catch up as much as possible. Greens, tees, fairways, and approaches are not as difficult to get a handle on again. We manage the growth of the turf on those surfaces and that helps to keep the clippings at a manageable level. Also, on greens, tees, and approaches we can collect clippings in baskets, so they aren’t left clumping in play. But our biggest hurdle comes with catching back up on rough height grass.

Green and tee surrounds, along with the general rough around the property is only mowed by large machines and we can’t collect the clippings. The result is grass clipping debris everywhere. We work to balance our mowing frequency to decrease clipping volume but not create too much wear and tear on the turf. We also use blowers to disperse the clippings once they have had a chance to dry. If we can get 2-3 regularly scheduled cuts on the grass, we can catch up and get things back in shape. Squeezing in between storms is the challenge because it takes a day or two after a storm for the ground to dry and lately there has only been a day or two before the next storm.

Cutting as much grass as we have been lately negatively impacts playability with clippings as well as increasing the hours on our machines. Please be patient with us as we work to get the rough back under control as quickly as possible

 

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

When you splash bunker sand onto the green after your shot, please brush away any large piles or clumps that may have ended up on the green.

Also, as part of a Golf Committee initiative to improve course etiquette, we have included links to videos teaching proper on course etiquette. Please take a moment to watch:

Ball Marks - How to properly repair

Golf Cart tips

 

 

See you on the course!

Joe

jvillegas@bwrc.org

Steve McDonald site visit

Sometimes a fresh set of eyes can help see problems in a new light and offer new or better solutions. Last week, we had a regional turfgrass consultant out for site visit for exactly this reason: to bounce questions off and get some helpful tips.

Steve McDonald has been doing course visits in the Mid-Atlantic region for many years. He has a keen eye for all things turf and playability related. He sees golf courses across the area encompassing the entire spectrum of facility types from high-end clubs to smaller, daily fee courses. With this background and knowledge, we invited Steve out to discuss some of our problem areas.

Topics included the damaged Bermuda grass on #1 tee, and several approaches, and what some of the factors are that are causing the poor turf. We wanted Steve’s opinion on our pre-emergent weed control program in the Bermuda grass and improvements to make to keep Poa annua out. Luckily, we are not having any issues with greens, so we only briefly talked about the putting surfaces. For the full report and information, please see the link below to Steve’s report:

 

Bretton Woods Agro notes May 2025

 

We are happy with how the course has progressed through the spring, but having a veteran of the turfgrass industry visit is still a good opportunity. Gaining insight into some of our trouble areas and learning new strategies is always helpful and Steve’s visit provided just that.

Happy Memorial Day

 

 

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

After filling your divot with sand, either on a tee or fairway, please smooth the sand pile out so our mowers don’t cut through the sand.

Also, as part of a Golf Committee initiative to improve course etiquette, we have included links to videos teaching proper on course etiquette. Please take a moment to watch:

Ball Marks - How to properly repair

Golf Cart tips

 

 

 

 

See you on the course!

Joe

jvillegas@bwrc.org

Another severe storm

As we get into the growing season, it also signals the start of the severe weather season. Last Friday afternoon, we were hit by a glancing blow from a severe thunderstorm cell, causing quite a bit of damage.

Thunderstorms are very hit and miss- for several years it seemed as though we would miss most if not all of them, and the ones that did cross the property were tame compared to their potential. Suddenly that has changed over the last two years. Towards the end of July 2024 we were hit by a very strong storm that toppled many trees, scattered debris across the property and forced a center-wide closure for 2 days. Now, Mother Nature has struck again: a strong storm swept through las Friday.

About 20 trees were taken out and many more branches and smaller sticks were strewn across the ground. We did receive rain with the storm, but bunkers did not wash out. Power was knocked out to the lower end of the property- tennis, grounds, and the irrigation pump house- for 18 hours. This power outage also caused the tennis bubble to deflate and remain closed for an extended period of time.

Luckily, this storm was not as intense as the storm we endured last summer. Fewer trees in total were lost, and many more that were knocked down this time were in the native areas and much less impactful to golf. The storm on Friday was also much smaller and more focused: hardly a stick could be found on holes 4-9, while several trees fell on the driving range, 17, 18, and tennis, while the 2024 storm left debris and downed trees from one end of the property to the other.

Cleanup started immediately, and the golf course was able to remain open throughout. With the help of our tree contractor, we will have most of the cleanup done within a few days. We will leave some of the peripheral debris for a later time- whether that is later in the season or even possibly the offseason, depending on our priorities elsewhere.

One quick storm, moving through in minutes, can cause damage that lasts for days or weeks. This recent storm hit us earlier in the severe weather season compared to last year, which hopefully isn’t a sign of things to come. Cleanup will take time, and hopefully we don’t take another direct hit before our work is completed.

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

After filling your divot with sand, either on a tee or fairway, please smooth the sand pile out so our mowers don’t cut through the sand.

Also, as part of a Golf Committee initiative to improve course etiquette, we have included links to videos teaching proper on course etiquette. Please take a moment to watch:

Ball Marks - How to properly repair

Golf Cart tips

 

 

See you on the course!

Joe

jvillegas@bwrc.org

Bermuda grass sod

Bermuda grass is always the topic of spring. The greens and rough are usually at their best, but the Bermuda grass is still figuring itself out after the winter. We have written about our work on the Bermuda grass recently, and now another follow up blog discussing the sod work we just completed.

After completing the compost, we finished our last major step of Bermuda grass work last week: sod. Unfortunately, some of the areas are repeat offenders in terms of winter damage. We will be discussing this topic specifically with a regional agronomist this week, and we have a few ideas for improvements to make. But in the short term, these areas still need to be repaired. In total, we ordered 5 pallets of sod, or 2500 square feet. When compared to the 45 acres of Bermuda grass that is managed across the property, this amounts to .1% of the Bermuda grass that needed to be repaired- overall not too bad.

The sod process is very straightforward; we remove the old sod, aerate the area to encourage rooting, spread some compost and incorporate into the native soil, and then lay the new sod. Once the new sod is down, we fertilize and water it. Even though we have been in a stretch of wet weather, we don’t want the new sod to be deprived of anything essential for growth in order to maximize its chances of survival.

After the sod is watered, we will be patient and let it grow for 10-14 days. Once it has rooted down, we will roll and topdress it with sand and prepare it to be mowed like the existing turf. After a few more weeks of slowly working it into our regular mowing schedule, the new grass will be harder and harder to differentiate from the old grass.

Because Bermuda grass is not ideally suited for our region, it can be damaged in the winter. Laying some new sod is part of the spring preparation for the season regardless of the winter weather. We expect to make some repairs, and luckily, this year it was minor.

 

 

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

After filling your divot with sand, either on a tee or fairway, please smooth the sand pile out so our mowers don’t cut through the sand.

Also, as part of a Golf Committee initiative to improve course etiquette, we have included links to videos teaching proper on course etiquette. Please take a moment to watch:

Ball Marks - How to properly repair

Golf Cart tips

 

 

See you on the course!

Joe

jvillegas@bwrc.org