Collar sod and replacement program

After a tough summer, some turf repair work is common. Although we have healed nicely, we still have some sod to replace on the collars, which we will be tackling this week.

Any non-Bermuda grass struggled this past season. Hot, wet, and dry times all occurred through the summer, and we lost some turf as a result. The bentgrass on the collars was no exception and we spent time seeding to promote recovery in September. That seeding effort was very effective and provided very nice healing. The natural shift in the weather has played a significant role in changing the fortunes of the collars as well. Now we are left with only the larger areas that couldn’t fully heal in the time from when we seeded until now; those spots are what we will be sodding this week. Luckily, there are very few of these trouble areas left to fix and once they are complete, we will shift to our continuing effort to manage the Bermuda grass growing into the collars.

In addition to the areas that are still left over from the summer, we will also be continuing our program of sodding out Bermuda grass that has invaded the collars, especially along the front edges where the approach transition to the collar. Back in 2021, we renovated all collars on the entire course because the previous turf was no longer adequate for our expectations or management. But nothing stays perfect forever, so since then, we have also worked on keeping the collars clean from encroachment  from Bermuda grass. The last two years we have worked through both practice greens, and holes 1-13, leaving holes 14-18 for this year. We remove the sod where Bermuda grass has moved in across the front of the greens to redefine the transition point, and fresh bentgrass sod is laid. Because we can’t truly prevent the Bermuda grass from growing into the collar, this replacement program is a continual process- next year we will start over going forward from #1. But this is most straightforward way to keep the collars clean, and that is our goal.

Laying this new sod on the collars at this time of year is perfect- the weather is conducive for fast healing, and the new sod will grow in and be unnoticeable very shortly.

 

 

 Starting in November, we will reduce down to 1 post per month through February. Thank you

 

 

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

Please rake your entire disturbance within the bunker, including all of your footprints, not just the area from where you hit.

 

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