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

Weed control

After the very dry fall we had to end 2024, we were left with some voids, mostly in the rough height turf. Nothing is more opportunistic than broadleaf weeds and they took advantage of the thin turf. We will be out in the next couple of weeks aggressively spraying to control those weeds and give the advantage back to the turfgrass.

Last fall was very dry. Despite our best efforts using the irrigation system, there is no substitute for rain. Most areas that are well covered by the irrigation survived the drought well, but areas outside the sprinklers or where coverage is less consistent, especially in the rough, suffered greatly. As the grass continued to dry down and die in some instances, this left gaps in the turf canopy and at precisely the time that our preemergent weed control from the spring was wearing off. Clover, chickweed, and other broadleaf weeds seized the opportunity to take hold in the newly created open spots in the grass.

We do not control all the weeds on the property. The acreage is too great and there really is no need to use that volume of herbicides. Even in years when the turf cover stays strong through the fall, weeds can still make their way in from the periphery through natural seeding and plant movement. So, spring weeds are not new, but there is a slightly higher amount than normal this year.

Aiming to keep a weed-free playing corridor, we treat about 40 feet around all greens, tees, and fairways with post-emergent herbicides. Green and tee surrounds are spot sprayed, while fairway surrounds are sprayed in full due to the larger area as well as greater penchant for weeds. Treating in this way keeps the most in-play areas clean.

Weeds are a natural part of the golf course- the most common definition of a weed is “a plant out of place”- which allows for many types of plants to at some point be considered a weed. For us, broadleaf weed control is a measured approach, working to keep the areas most in-play as clean as possible.

 

 

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