Culvert in #1 fairway

Though we don’t have many water features on the course, water management is still an integral part of our maintenance. Part of that is moving water around the property, specifically how the ponds on the course are connected. One of these connections was completely deteriorated and we replaced it last week.

The pond that is to the right of #1 approach and left of #10 approach has a pipe that serves as an overflow release. It helps to regularly manage the height of the water and serves as an escape for excess water when we get heavy rains. The culvert was put in when the course and ponds were constructed over 50 years ago. The pipe was a standard corrugated metal pipe and served its purpose well. However, in the last few years it had started to fail. 

Exposed irrigation line

We repaired one sinkhole in the rough to the left of #1 fairway, just near the creek that runs towards #2 pond. Another sinkhole was developing in the fairway, nearer to the pond on #10 side. Knowing that these pipes do fail, like what happened at #9 pond, we didn’t want to risk waiting too long to replace the entire pipe.

A glimpse at the underside of the old pipe

We hired a contractor to help, and we started by removing the grass and exposing our irrigation lines. Next, they used a mini excavator to expose and remove the existing pipe. It was far more degraded than we expected. The entire underside of the pipe was decayed, from one end to the other. It was surprising that we did not have any more, or worse, sinkholes than we experienced already.

The trench after the old pipe had been removed

The pond on #10 was temporarily dammed while a new pipe was laid into the same trench as the old. The new pipe is heavy duty, solid walled, HDPE drain pipe, which will last many decades longer than the metal. Once the new pipe was in place and secured, the dam was removed. The remaining soil was positioned to cover the pipe, compacted, and the sod was laid back down. The entire pipe removal and installation was done in one day and the sod was put back in place the following morning.

Backfilling of the new pipe

Other than the recent sinkholes, this pipe would have been entirely unremarkable and inconsequential to golfers. And now, replacement of the pipe assures us that the new pipe will again fade into the background.

 

We are now back to our in-season schedule of one post per week.

 

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

Please remember to keep your cart on the cart path when we are “Cart Path Only.”

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

 

 

 

 

 

See you on the course!

Joe

jvillegas@bwrc.org

Aeration notice

It is the time of the year when the Grounds department watches for a window of good weather to perform greens aeration. Hopefully, in the next two weeks we will get our opportunity. Our timing is often weeks ahead of other courses in the area, but there are reasons for the timing, and it has worked well for us in the past.

We maintain a “scheduled” aeration time on the Bretton Woods yearly golf calendar, usually around the 3^rd week of March. This is our guaranteed time, meaning if all other plans fall through, this is when we will for sure get access to the course. By this late in the spring, we are much less likely to face severe frost delays or other weather-related delays. The problem is, by this time, rounds are increasing rapidly, but more importantly, we are well into our seed head suppression program.

So, we aim to aerate as early as we can in February, usually around the 2^nd or 3^rd week. There are often some mild temperatures mixed in to promote healing and give us our window to work. And the busy spring golf season has not fully kicked off. Most importantly though, February aeration provides at least two weeks buffer before we must start our seed head control. Here are several past posts that paint the picture of our full spring program: discussion regarding seed heads, discussions about timing and reasoning here and here.

Aerating early seems to be a win-win: the Grounds department can time our practices in the best way possible for the turf and the disruption to golfers is minimized by having less seed heads to deal with and avoiding aeration in the middle of spring.

 

 

We will be resuming weekly posts starting in March. Thank you

 

 

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

Please avoid walking through overly saturated or puddled areas on greens if possible.

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

 

See you on the course!

Joe

jvillegas@bwrc.org

Ornamental grass transplanting

Several years ago, we split and transplanted the large ornamental grasses that line our entrance road, descending towards the tennis facility, spacing, and replanting to fill in the hillside. This winter we were due for another round of replanting.

The grasses along the road are a variety of Miscanthus. Several plants existed along the road initially which spurred the continued propagation. We started with 20 or so individual plants and our first round of transplanting doubled that number.

New grass plants at 16 tee

Allowing several years between aggressive replanting, the grasses continued to grow. So, this year was designated as the off-season for another round of division. We selected the largest current plants and cut them into three sections: one portion was left in place, and two others were moved elsewhere.

Knowing we would be starting this project in the winter, during the fall we mapped out areas that might benefit from additional landscaping. We identified several areas spread across the property: we lined the entrance side of the pool fence for added screening; grasses were added in several landscapes around the course to increase density of plant material- including near #1 tee, #2 tee, #13 tee and #16 tee; we used a couple of sections to block view of the propane tanks near the patio pizza oven; new plants were taken to mini golf and inside the pool facility; and several more portions were spread amongst the existing grasses along the entrance to fill in voids. Overall, we planted about 70 more cuttings.

13 tee

Along the pool fence

These new clumps will take several years to mature and establish themselves in their new locations. After that, we will evaluate and see if there is a need to continue our transplanting program.

 

 

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

Winter cart path rules are now in effect in order to protect the dormant Bermuda grass- we will scatter much less and be more restrictive with blue flags.

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

 

 

See you on the course!

Joe

jvillegas@bwrc.org

Wrapping up drain projects

The weather stayed nice, so we pushed forward on our drain projects. We hoped to complete either the drain in #3 fairway or the drain in #10 fairway before Christmas. Well, today is the 20^th and both projects have been completed for over a week.

In both cases, we added drains to areas that regularly get and stay wet but are just out of reach of some other drainage nearby. These were either small pockets of low areas where the water cannot continue flowing to an adjacent drain or the nearest drain is just too far.

Luckily, we were still close enough to tie into existing drainage. Using drains that we know already work, keeps us from having to create a full exit strategy for the water we are trying to capture. Feeding our pipe into a working drain saves us lots of labor and disruption.

We are slowly eliminating small wet areas around the course. Each season we tackle a few more and each season the course can manage water a little better.

Happy Holidays

Completed work on #10 fairway

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

Please do not try and remove a flagstick that is frozen into the cup. Turf damage may occur.

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

 

 

See you on the course!

Joe

jvillegas@bwrc.org

November roundup

Reducing to one post per month allows for many things to happen between updates. Here is the November roundup:

The leaves started falling in earnest in the last 2 weeks, but they took their time in October. This allowed us to focus on some projects which was nice, but it only delayed the inevitable: the leaves will always fall. We are fully into our cleanup process and golfers will see blowers and the vacuum out at every possible occasion. Cold mornings and windy days make it difficult, but we will keep plugging along.

Bunker renovation work is complete. We completed holes 1, 4, 9, and 10. We maintain a spreadsheet showing when each bunker was built and last renovated, so although it may seem we jumped around randomly, these were the holes that needed to be done. All the sod has been laid, the bunkers on holes 4 and 10 are reopened, and 1 and 9 will be open by next week.

We have transitioned directly into our offseason drainage program already. This year we will be adding drains to #3 fairway, #7 approach, and #10 fairway. We started on #7 approach last week and should have it wrapped up this week. It is undecided as to whether we will head to #3 or #10 next, but either way we hope to have one more hole complete before Christmas.

Lastly, we replaced the “Practice Area Open/Closed’ sign that was along the path towards the driving range. The previous sign was in decent shape, however at some point late last summer, someone decided to take the removable portion that read “open” or “closed”. Instead of making another piece out of wood to replace it, we decided to continue our gradual upgrading of all course signage and purchase a new sign that matched our tee signs. It is in place now and looks very nice. Check it out next time you go to the driving range.

We have had some cold days, but also some warmth mixed in. It has been just right to keep us very busy!

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

Please stay off all grass surfaces during a frost delay.

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

 

See you on the course!

Joe

jvillegas@bwrc.org