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