Regrading 9 approach drain

Removing water from the surface of a golf course is one of the keys to healthy turfgrass. Without proper drainage, even the healthiest turf will not survive. Last week, we graded the surface around the drain in #9 approach to help water escape easier.

Removing the sod first

The approach area of #9 is relatively flat. There is an existing drain in the left center of the approach, but after a few recent heavy rains, we noticed that water was not flowing to it like we would like. After a more thorough inspection of the surface topography, it was clear that although the drain was low enough for water to flow to it, there were some significant high spots blocking access. This resulted in some puddles very near the drain, that were unable to get off the surface. Luckily this was occurring in the Bermuda grass, which is much more tolerant of excess water in the summer months. But the Bermuda is not tolerant of water in the winter, so correcting this issue would benefit playability in the summer, and turf health in the winter.

After the soil had been graded
to the new slope

Since the drain was already in place, and functioning properly, we only needed to regrade the slopes surrounding the inlet. First, we started by removing all the grass in the entire area and setting it aside in the order it was removed. Fortunately, there was not a lot of soil to remove to correct the grade. The work was easily done by hand. We also knew that we were not changing the height of the drain, so everything needed to feed down to that and make sure that it stayed at the lowest point. Starting from the edges, we gradually removed more soil as we worked in to the drain. Once the soil base was correct, we replaced the sod. Regardless of how carefully you manage the sod and put it back exactly in order, the surface will still be imperfect. To correct this, we also spread sand across all the replaced turf and used the sand to level out any imperfections.

Once the sod was replaced, we leveled
with new sand

Although the drain in #9 approach affects a very small area, and even fewer golfers, it still was a place for improvement. By simply regrading the subsoil we were able to help water off the surface and into the existing drain.

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

Please be conscious not to scuff your feet or drag your putter along the surface of the putting green. This can adversely affect other people’s putts and can damage the turf grass.

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

Additional soccer work

Once aeration is finished on the golf course, the work at soccer begins. While the course heals, we take time to get the soccer fields ready for a busy fall also.

We have two regulation size soccer fields over near the tennis facility (for those who haven’t been down that far!). While they are not the main Bretton Woods attraction, they do get plenty of use, and we do spend a lot of time keeping them in good shape. We have an upper field, nearest to the tennis courts, that is predominantly cool season turf- ryegrass, bluegrass, and tall fescue. There is certainly some Bermuda grass mixed in as well, and especially after a summer like this, the Bermuda grass can look dominant, though it never can tip the scales to a majority of the grass species present. We also have a lower field, further away from tennis, that is 100% Bermuda grass, exactly like the golf course fairways. Because the two fields are so different, we must manage them differently also.

Using the auger to create holes

The lower, Bermuda grass field, gets aerated the week after the golf course aeration is completed. We treat it very similarly to the fairways- solid tine, no cores removed, often we apply compost as well, though not always. And that is all the field needs. It is relatively new, only 12 years old, and it gets very concentrated traffic, so there is not a large buildup of thatch. If the thatch does start to become a problem, we will potentially add in the verticut and/or hollow tines also. The lower field is also closed for the winter to help protect the Bermuda grass over the cold months. This also reduces the amount of attention the field needs to keep it in good condition.

Drilling holes and filling with sand

The upper field is completely different. First, it is open year-round, so it only gets a break when it is too wet for play, or during the maintenance closure from the middle of August until the middle of September. We are in the midst of this closure now and have a list of regular tasks to complete, but this year we also added something new. The field has some trouble areas that we have been dealing with annually for many years. These spots don’t drain well at all, they are terribly compacted, and the turf does not perform well. We have aerated and we tested the Shockwave , both to no avail. So, this year we went a step further: we rented an auger with a 1.6” bit and manually drilled 12” holes on one-foot centers. We removed the spoils and filled the holes with clean sand. We did this across nearly 3000 square feet. Now we will remove the old sod, aerate just the bad spots with a traditional machine, add some fresh soil for levelling, and lay new sod. It was a lot of added labor, but we are excited to see if it helps.

This is a photo of half the area completed at soccer.

While mother nature helps to heal the golf course after aeration, the Grounds staff heads over to soccer and continues with summer cultural practices. It will be interesting to see if adding in the extra drilling on the upper field will help us improve the upper field.

 

 

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

 Please be conscious not to scuff your feet or drag your putter along the surface of the putting green. This can adversely affect other people’s putts and can damage the turf grass.

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

Aeration follow-up

We aerated greens, approaches, tees, and fairways last week. It was a very busy 3 days, but we accomplished everything we needed to, in less than the four days we were scheduled to be closed.

We aerate earlier in the season than most other courses in the area. It works good for us- it is the perfect time for the Bermuda grass, and it is an underappreciated time for the greens as well. Plus, it fits in with our golf schedule extremely well. We can allow time for healing and be ready for a very busy September and October.

Greens

Starting back in 2023, we changed our procedure for greens aeration. No more pulling cores at this time; now we topdress before the aerator, use only solid tines, and use a brush to move the sand into the holes. Research shows this is just as effective for managing thatch and is far less disruptive. We continued this process this year, results were excellent again, and we will continue along this path moving forward.

This is the second year that the course has been closed for aeration. This has been incredibly helpful for our program. Several parts of the process simply require time to elapse before we can move forward. When we were under the gun, knowing the course was reopening the next day, sometimes we had to rush the process and results were less than ideal. Now, we can allow each step the time it needs and the final product is cleaner and better in the end.

Tees

                We aerated tees on Wednesday. First, we apply compost. Then we aerate with solid tines, which help break up the compost and drive it into the soil. Next, we drag the compost into the holes and blow any excess of the surface.

                We do all the tees in one day and this is maybe where the course closure helps the most. We have always aerated the tees on Wednesday, after the greens and fairways are finished Monday and Tuesday. We don’t have enough equipment and staff to do all of it at once. Some of the machines that we use on greens and fairways are needed in a different capacity to work on tees, and we can’t switch back and forth during the day. So, in the past, we were scrambling like mad trying to get the tees finished ahead of golfers because Wednesday was previously a day when the full course was back open for regular play. Any delays or problems meant we were working amongst golfers, trying to get very labor intensive and vital work done, but trying to be respectful of golfers at the same time. It did not always go very smoothly. Now, having Wednesday closed, barring any equipment issues, the tee process is uneventful and easy, and the course is ready for play on Thursday, with no major work being done in play.

Fairways/Approaches

                We treat the fairway and approach aeration as the same surface: both are aerated by a contractor with a tractor. We have a longstanding relationship with this contractor, and they do a very good job. This year we opted for solid tines also- no material was removed. For now, we expect to be on an every third- or fourth-year rotation for coring. But that schedule is subject to change based on testing that we conduct annually to measure the thatch buildup in the fairways, which also takes into account the verticutting  we do to remove thatch also.

                At this time, we also make our second annual compost application to the Bermuda grass. You can read about our compost program from all the way back in 2014. Materials have changed, but the idea behind the compost is still the same. And based on the last two years, we have had minimal, almost inconsequential, Spring Dead Spot, so our overall program is working. Bermuda grass injury has multiple possible causes that can come any season, sometimes despite the proper protection, but throwing everything we have at the problem is still the best defense.

It may seem as though we are tearing the course up during a prime window for playing golf. However, completing this work ensures many more days of good conditions by sacrificing just a few days now.

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

Please be conscious not to scuff your feet or drag your putter along the surface of the putting green. This can adversely affect other people’s putts and can damage the turf grass.

 

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

Hydraulic spill

Inevitably machines will break, and problems will occur. Sometimes these issues involve the fluids in the machines which are toxic to turfgrass. Last week, unfortunately we had a spill on #4 green.

Unlike a previous instance of hydraulic fluid leaking on greens back in 2015, this was a spill rather than a leak. Before, a hose sprung a hole and was spurting fluid out of that hole as the machine moved across the green, leaving a drip trail of damage. Unfortunately, this recent problem resulted in nearly the entire volume of a hydraulic pump being dumped in one location.

The spill covered with a plastic bag
trying to minimize the movement of oil from the
rain. You can see the stream
of water moving across the green.

The offending machine was our greens roller, one of our most utilized pieces of equipment. The hydraulic output shaft coming out of the pump snapped in two. One piece fell back into the pump and the other piece fell into the engine bay. The seals that lock the hydraulic fluid in the pump fell back into the pump as well, leaving a wide-open hole for fluid to pour out onto the green. The result is a roughly 3 foot by 3-foot patch of dead turf.

In some instances of hydraulic leaks, flooding the area with soap and water can help remove some of the oil and slightly lessen the damage. Unfortunately, on a green we would run the risk of washing the oil onto healthy turf and widening the area of damage, especially in this case where such a large volume of oil was present. So, we were left with trying to soak up as much excess oil as possible and minimizing any movement to healthy grass. Making matters worse was the steady rain that was falling at the time of the accident, potentially causing runoff across the spill and not letting the oil dry.

The spill about 30 hours after it occurred.

As far as repair goes, there are not many options other than total replacement of grass and soil. We will strip the grass off the surface, but we also must excavate down and remove any soil that the hydraulic fluid has seeped into, otherwise, when we put new grass back, the contaminated soil will kill the new grass as well. The one saving grace is the fact that this happened 2 days before we aerate. This will allow us time to methodically repair the damaged area as well as allow it some time to heal.

Nothing could have prevented the hydraulic spill, and there is not much to do afterwards other than replace turf. But we have bounced back from these types of issues before and we will again this time.

 

We are also starting aeration of greens, tees, and fairways this week. The course is closed Monday through Thursday. Thank you

 

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

Please be conscious not to scuff your feet or drag your putter along the surface of the putting green. This can adversely affect other people’s putts and can damage the turf grass.

 

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

Remembering how the course used to be

The night prior to typing this blog we received 1.25” of rain. The course handled it well. It is important to remember how much we have invested and improved the infrastructure of the course after weather events like this.

This wasn’t the most rain we’ve received at once by far, but it was still a quick, high-volume storm. Luckily, it did not include the fierce wind like the storm from almost exactly one year ago. But the rain still washed out the bunkers, overwhelmed the drains, and left standing water across the property. However, without the Master Plan renovation work, subsequent small tweaks that we have made, along with regular upkeep, the damage would have been worse and repair slower.

Prior to the renovations, the lower portion of the course- holes 3, 14, 15, 16, and 17 especially- had no drainage. The holes were extremely flat, and water could not move across the surface and could not percolate into the soil fast enough. We were left with large areas of standing water for days on end where no grass could survive.

15 fairway 2 days after rainstorm, prior to 
drainage installation

Once the drainage was installed, water could find a way off the surface and off the course. Now, water backs up at drain inlets for a matter of hours rather than days, and even that is only after the largest storms. We occasionally must deal with clogged drains but even then, water is still moving better and faster prior to the drainage installation.

The old fairway bunkers on #18
prior to renovation

The idea is the same with the bunkers. Prior to the bunkers being rebuilt, the design of the original bunkers was not conducive to withstanding heavy rainfall. The sand was pushed high up the slopes of the bunkers, and nothing was holding it in place when the water came rushing down the edges. Once that sand was washed away, next came the erosion of soil underneath. All this contamination led to water being unable to drain out of the bunkers properly. The silt and soil fill the gaps between sand particles, and it becomes nearly impenetrable. The water would puddle in the bunkers indefinitely, until we manually pumped it out. Across the course, pumping the bunkers could take 2-4 days depending on how much rain had fallen. That time frame does not include shoveling the sand back into place. Full bunker repair from a big storm could take our entire staff a full week to complete.

The old approach bunker on #18
prior to renovation

Fast forward to the storm yesterday and nearly every bunker had some extent of sand erosion along the edges. But not soil erosion because of the new design of the bunkers with grass down the slopes to where the sand is nearly flat at the bottom. The drainage inside the bunkers all functions properly and there is no silt contamination within the sand, so water very rarely puddles. If there is a puddle in a bunker, it is because the water draining out of the bunker must wait its turn to flow into the same drains as everything else. It is only a matter of a few hours or less for the water to clear. We don’t have to pump bunkers anymore, at all. And repairing the sand now takes anywhere from a few hours to possibly a full day depending on the severity of the storm. Yesterday’s storm took four hours to repair.

The old fairway bunker on #10
prior to renovation

Sometimes it is hard to remember how the course used to perform during heavy rainstorms. Now, we must look at old pictures to remember how poorly the course would handle the storms instead of still dealing with the repair work. Making the necessary changes to the course and continuing our regular maintenance of that infrastructure has paid off.

On of the renovated bunkers after the storm

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

Please don’t stand in one place for an extended period to practice putting. Your footprints can be worn into 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