Compost

We will be making one of our annual compost applications to the Bermuda grass on Thursday this week. Over the last few years we have applied at different times of the year and we have tried several different products. This will be the first year that we have used the same product and followed the same timing as the year before.

Compost is beneficial for the Bermuda grass in several ways. It provides basic nutrients, it can warm the soil and turf canopy, and it aids in recovery from spring dead spot. You can read more about our other attempts at compost here and here or read more about spring dead spot here.

This will be our fifth year of doing the compost regularly on the Bermuda grass and it will be our fourth combination of product and timing. The previous four years were all different and we could never quite get the whole program the way we wanted it. Most frequently, the compost material that we used did not perform as we would have hoped. 3 years ago, we finally found a great compost product but we continued to do 2 applications in late summer. Last year, we still did 2 smaller applications, but we moved one to the spring and kept one in the summer during aeration. The idea was to give the Bermuda grass a boost early in the season when it was getting its bearings. This seemed to work very well, so we will follow the same procedure this year.

The material that we have settled on the last few years is much finer (but not too fine) and falls down into the turf canopy much easier than other products. The material is much drier and less clumpy so it is much easier for us to apply. Finally, by spreading the two applications further apart, we don’t put too much material down at any one time and we are not applying again quickly back to back. Two applications in the late summer seemed as though as soon as the compost was gone from the surface, we were right back out there again with more. All of this leads to much less impact on golfers.

Finally, this has thus far been the 3^rd coldest April in history. We are roughly 2-3 weeks of growth behind last year, which is evident from the state of the Bermuda grass. As we have done every year since 2014, we took a picture from a similar location on #10 fairway on April 19^th for a comparison. Here is each picture from the last 5 springs. It is very interesting to see the different progression each year.

2014

2015

2016

2018

2017

Finding the right balance between turf health and golfing experience is difficult. We understand that everyone wants everything perfect all of the time, frankly, we do to. But we have to accomplish these maintenance practices to make sure that we are always moving forward, working towards that goal.

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

Please be patient with our spring debris cleanup process. Thank you

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

Bunker etiquette

See you on the course!

Joe

jvillegas@bwrc.org

New drain in #3 approach

#3 approach had a trouble area that stayed consistently wet. The spot was too slow to drain and resulted in poor Bermuda grass survival over the winter. We added a new drain in this location.

Standing at the front of #3 green, just off the back right edge was a small swale that allowed for water to drain off the green, through the approach and down to the cart path. However, the slope was just too slight and the water took too long to flow. Between heavy foot traffic across the area during the season, and poor drainage in the off-season, the Bermuda grass was never able to establish itself year to year. This led us to re-sod the area previously.

This year we took it a step further. We installed a new drain in the trouble area that now collects the excess water and deposits it near the cart path. First, we removed the old sod. Then we used a walk-behind trencher to carve a curved drain line that followed the contour of the collar at the back right of the green. Next, we trenched a line perpendicular the contoured trench and extended it all the way to the cart path to the far right of 3 green. Pipe was placed in the trench lines, covered with gravel and sand, and new sod was laid over the top.

We did not re-grade the degree of the slope because that would have been a much larger area of disruption with many more changes and considerations than we could have managed. But, we did give the water a much easier exit and tipped the scale in the direction of turf grass health. We expect the performance of this area to improve mightily.

Too much water is as detrimental to turf grass as too little. There are other factors that led to the decline of this particular area, several of which we will also be addressing less noticeably, but the poor drainage was a key component. This new drain is a very positive addition.

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

Please be patient with our spring debris cleanup process. Thank you

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

Bunker etiquette

See you on the course!

Joe

jvillegas@bwrc.org

New trees between 3 and 15

As part of our annual tree management program, we removed several dead, damaged, or dying trees between holes #3 and #15, which you can read about here. Recently, we continued the project by adding many new trees in the same area.

30 new trees were planted on the property- 29 between 3 and 15, and 1 new Crepe Myrtle at the clubhouse. Working with our tree contractor, we were able to add a variety of new species that are less common across the golf course. We were also conscious to pick trees that would do well down at the low end of the golf course in areas that can be very wet, and that have better tolerance/resistance to some of the issues plaguing our existing trees. This year’s planting includes:

7	3" cal	Willow Oak
1	6" cal	Red Maple
3	2" cal	Red Maple
3	2" cal	Sugar Maple
3	3" cal	Yoshino Cherry
9	2 - 2.5" cal	Bald Cypress
3	2" cal	Nuttall Oak

Most of the trees we planted were 2-2.5” caliper size. Our supplier gave an honest assessment of this spring’s inventory, informing us that the slightly larger 3-4” caliper trees were not nearly as good of quality throughout the area. Therefore, we went with smaller trees that were better quality, which allowed us to plant 8 additional trees for the same price. We did opt for one large 6” caliper Red maple, that was planted inside the cart path on 15 fairway. This tree and location was designated a high priority by the Golf Committee, with emphasis on regaining the narrow point of the fairway.

By working closely with our contractor, we were able to select, but more importantly, place new trees that fit our needs. We hope you are excited to see these new trees mature.

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

Please be patient with our spring debris cleanup process. Thank you

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

Bunker etiquette

See you on the course!

Joe

jvillegas@bwrc.org

Cold spring

As the calendar changed from March to April, someone forgot to tell Mother Nature. The temperatures have stayed below normal, and the threats of snow haven’t subsided. All of this has combined to keep the turf grass behind schedule.

As I write this, it is 23 degrees at the club. That is roughly 18 degrees below the normal April low temperature. Yesterdays high during the day never made it out of the 40’s, which is also about 20 degrees below normal. While there is a reprieve in sight, and we all know that summer will come, for now, the grass is lagging behind.

The Bermuda grass is most affected by the lingering cold temperatures. Bermuda grass is a warm-season grass, meaning it thrives in warm temperatures. It needs warm soil, warm days, and warm nights- none of which we have had. Our soil temperatures are hovering in the 40-degree range, which is about 10 degrees lower than the Bermuda grass would like it in order to start turning green. We have had a sporadic warm day and a few warm-ish evenings, but nothing consistent. The Bermuda grass needs the consistency to really break free from dormancy.

One indication of the slow start that spring has gotten off to, is through one of the websites we use to track Growing Degree Day (GDD), which measures the heat produced during an individual day. We use GDD’s for lots of things: PGR timing, seedhead control, pre-emergent weed control timing, and more. One aspect of this particular website is that it compares year to year GDD totals, and so far, we are 27 days’ worth of heat behind the same date in 2017. We have had almost a full month less of good growing weather so far in 2018. When it is presented like that, it is easy to see why the Bermuda grass is still dormant.

Now for the good news: there is green Bermuda grass on the golf course. We saw the very first green leaf back in the first week of March, but the cold temperatures sent that right back into hiding. However, in the last week we have found more. We have to be patient because we can’t control the weather. We also have to keep things in perspective and viewing this spring’s temperatures through the lens of GDD’s helps us to understand why it’s been a slow start.

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

Please be patient with our spring debris cleanup process. Thank you

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

Bunker etiquette

See you on the course!

Joe

jvillegas@bwrc.org

Hawk-Eye camera

Since the middle of January, we have been testing a large camera that has anecdotally shown promise in early determination of Spring Dead Spot on Bermuda grass, one of our most difficult problems. As a few more golfers have returned to the club for Spring (?) golf, many may have noticed the camera mounted to a tree on #11.

We were contacted by the company who sells the camera because they are trying to test its capabilities for helping diagnose issues on Bermuda grass. Their idea is that by monitoring the Bermuda grass during dormancy and early green-up, they can identify trouble areas weeks earlier than usual. This added time allows for cultural practices to begin earlier and recovery to 

happen sooner.

The camera consists of a visual and thermal camera, data-logger, and antenna. The two cameras are trained on the same area. The concept is that monitoring the canopy temperature of the Bermuda grass with the thermal camera can recognize colder areas of Bermuda grass. These colder areas are a possible sign of developing issues that are invisible to the naked eye. By overlaying the thermal picture onto the visual one, we can pinpoint the weak areas and determine a plan. In addition, as the Bermuda grass begins to green-up, we are also running an algorithm that will measure the color of the leaf tissue so we can compare areas that are more or less green and see how that correlates to the areas we previously identified as weaker. In the end, the idea is to locate the bad areas prior to green-up and be ready to initiate a recovery plan as soon as the turf is ready to respond.

Here is a look at what the two cameras are seeing:

We chose an area that we have had issues with spring dead spot in the past. The camera angle sees a bad area right next to a good area. We are hoping that comparing the two areas will give us more insight into the status of the turf. In the thermal picture the yellow areas are cooler and correspond to areas that we know spring dead spot has occurred in the past. The red areas are where we have not had disease issues and should be healthier turfgrass this year as well.

Right now, the technology is in the very early stages for this type of application. The camera can’t help us specifically treat any issue or provide any defense against Spring Dead Spot, but it could be another tool to help us gather information.

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

Please be patient with our spring debris cleanup process. Thank you

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

Bunker etiquette

See you on the course!

Joe

jvillegas@bwrc.org