Mottled look of greens

Though winter still officially has another 10 days, we seem to have turned a corner on the weather. We will still have cold days, maybe even some snow, but in general, air and, importantly, soil temperatures have started to climb. As the turf begins to wake up, differences in species of grass and even differences within the same species of grass can be very apparent. Possibly no more so than on our putting greens.

This past week Jason and I took a short tour around the course with the Greens committee. We discussed several aspects of the course, some of the work accomplished over the winter, and plans and expectations for the upcoming season. While on the tour, a question regarding the look of the greens was asked- why are they mottled looking? Why so many different colors? Is it disease? Is something else wrong?

First, nothing is wrong with the greens. The appearance of many different colors and patches has to do with species of grass, and even more so in our case, biotypes within a species. Our greens are predominantly (>90%) Poa annua, or annual bluegrass, and the rest is made up of creeping bentrgrass. There is a natural color difference between annual bluegrass and creeping bentrgrass, which immediately explains a portion of the uneven color scheme. Not only is there a natural color difference, but especially in the spring when temperatures are still cool, annual bluegrass will start to come alive faster than bentgrass, so it gains a deeper green color sooner.

For our greens in particular though, the patchy look comes more from the differences within the species Poa annua. Poa is an incredibly adaptable plant, having been discovered growing on all 7 continents, that changes very quickly also. So the biggest cause of the mottled patches on the greens is due to hundreds of different biotypes of annual bluegrass all on the same green. Different weather patterns, cultural practices, and soil interactions can all cause mutations within any grass, but especially annual bluegrass. These mutations may cause many different responses within the plant that we never see, including some that turn out to be detrimental, but one difference that is expressed and we see is color. Then, the day after our course tour, a timely article from the USGA arrived in my inbox covering this exact topic.

Although the patchy color can be uneasy on the eyes, it is not a sign of any problem with the greens. And most importantly, it does not affect how the greens perform.

 

 

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

When parking your cart at a tee or green, please keep all 4 tires on the path.

 

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

Busy March

This winter has been colder and snowier than the past several years. While certainly not unprecedented, it has been a change from what we are used to recently. The cold and snow have hampered winter golf, and it has hampered winter work for us. With the slow progression to warmer temperatures, golf is starting back up, but the Grounds department is also catching back up on work.

The biggest hurdle this winter was not the cold, it was the snow cover. Although the snow was helpful in protecting the turf from some very cold temperatures, it kept us from completing some of our work because we just could not access the course. Now we are in a sprint to catch up on some projects before the full force of the golf season is upon us.

One of our main goals for winter is to add new bunker sand to all the bunkers. With the persistent snow cover this year, we were unable to start at all. Over the next few weeks, we will work as quickly as we can to get new sand added and prepped for the season. This will take time, as well as an understanding that during the work, the bunkers will play inconsistent across the course. However, we have done this work in past seasons, and the bunkers are returned to a consistent state for the season.

There were a few breaks in the cold and snow early in the winter that allowed us chances to get out and tidy up the course. However, we still have a lot of spring cleanup to accomplish over the next few weeks also. This includes stick cleanup, general bunker maintenance and flower bed cleaning and mulching.

March is also a critical time for some major agronomic practices as well. We completed aeration of the greens last week- a huge accomplishment. Although aeration was later this year than usual, it will allow for lots of healing before we start our PGR program. At the next available window, we will also be applying our first pre-emergent herbicide to the Bermuda grass. This will set a barrier against weeds growing in the Bermuda grass for the start of the season. It will be followed by a second application in May.

Lastly, not to be forgotten is the soccer field. March is also the time we put in major work in repairing the field from any fall and winter wear and preparing it for the upcoming season. The weather starts to warm enough that the turf begins to grow and heal, but it is still early enough that the soccer season hasn’t quite made it into full swing.

March and April are always busy. Waking the course back up from winter and setting it in the correct direction for the season. This year we will be working on some delayed projects along with all the regular spring tasks.  

 

We will now resume weekly posts through October. Thank  you

 

 

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

When parking your cart at a tee or green, please keep all 4 tires on the path

 

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

Upcoming greens aeration

We have had a winter unlike any we have seen in the last few years. Significant, extended snow cover has kept the golf course unplayable for a few weeks. It has also kept work from being completed on the golf course, and just like golfers itching to get back out, so is the Grounds staff. As soon as the snow clears, our first task will be to aerate greens.

We aerate our greens early compared to some courses in the area. But there is a very specific reason behind that plan: best management of seed head control and aeration healing. We have covered this in the past and you can read more about it here. The idea is we want to aerate as soon as we can to allow as much healing as possible before we start aggressively regulating the turfgrass growth.

Although this year will be a couple weeks later than usual because of the snow, at the first opportunity we will be aerating greens. We are using very small diameter tines like we did last year, so disruption and material removed will be at a minimum. Depending on what weather factors we are dealing with- frost or freeze delays, rain, etc.- we may opt to stretch the work out over several days. Although this will extend the impact on golfers, we will make it as painless as possible.

We understand that golfers will be excited to get back outside, but to get our season off on the right foot, the Grounds staff will also take this time to do our work.

 

 

We will also be returning to weekly posts starting in March. Thank you

 

 

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

Please do not scrape snow or ice off the green to clear your line for putting. 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

Golf Cart tips

 

See you on the course!

Joe

jvillegas@bwrc.org

Why is the flag right there?

Why are the cups in unusual locations? As you play over the winter, you may find yourself noticing that the cups are in atypical places. There are a few reasons that we set the pins in rare spots in the off-season.

 Play is greatly reduced during the winter months, but not completely absent. So, we still do the basics of course setup over the winter, which includes changing cups periodically. But because there are less golfers, and conditions are different than summer, when we change cups, we put them in locations that we wouldn’t use in-season. The biggest reasons for this decision are traffic management and frozen ground and/or frost.

Often, the ground is frozen over the winter, typically for long stretches at a time. We cannot change the cup when the ground is frozen, so we must take advantage of the few instances of thawing when they occur. Knowing that a pin location may have to remain in the same place for many weeks, we choose areas that we don’t commonly use in the warmer months because of the repeated traffic from golfers playing to the same location for many days in a row. Although there are fewer golfers per day, accumulated play over several weeks can still add up. Add in the fact that the turf is not growing, and recovery from traffic stress is non-existent. Luckily the greens can withstand the stress, but on the occasions when the traffic does start to accumulate, it is noticeable on the grass. Having that stress occur in a location that we don’t need in the season means that the stressed area has plenty of time to recover once growing conditions return. So, we purposely choose cup locations that we would never use during the season and save the “normal” locations for peak golf weather.

Another near daily occurrence in the winter is frost. Even if the ground is not frozen, we commonly have frost delays in the winter. Part of our strategy for minimizing winter damage to the greens is by strategically placing the cups in places on the green that receive the most sun. By doing this, we greatly reduce the risk of golfers playing through areas that may have lingering frost later into the day. We manage frost delays in a way that allows golfers out onto the course as soon as possible. We make sure frost is clear from the first few holes that will be played, but often there may be frost still located on holes that will be played later in the round, just based on sun angles and shade patterns. But we don’t wait for every inch of frost to be clear, knowing that it may be 30 minutes or more before a golfer gets to a hole that still has frost. Nevertheless, we can’t predict everything regarding temperatures, frost clearing, and golfer behavior, so it is possible that a player could reach a spot on the course that still has a slight covering of frost before we anticipated they would arrive. By having the cup in a sunny location, we protect against this causing damage to the greens. We aim to keep the cups in areas of the green where the sun always shines first, thus having as much time as possible to melt the frost.

By combining these two strategies, we end up with pin positions that are often very different from what a golfer might expect. Nevertheless, using unique cup locations helps us manage winter golf by still providing a challenging course but also prioritizing the health of the turf.

 

 

 

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

Golf Cart tips

 

 

 

See you on the course!

Joe

jvillegas@bwrc.org

Accessory cleaning

At this time of year, with the cold weather, our work doesn’t stop but shifts in focus. Drainage, bunker work, and tree work dominate our outside time. But we also spend a great deal of time inside working on refurbishing some of the accessories that are on the course.

Bunker rakes, ball washers, and tee markers are all cleaned, repaired and repainted as necessary at this time. Because the golf season is over, having these items off the course for a period is not a major problem, compared to the us trying to do the work in July.

This year we will also be removing the yardage plaques from the course for good thorough cleaning. It has been several years since we last cleaned the plaques (they don’t get dirty very quickly), but this will be the first time we have brought them back to the shop for a deeper cleaning. We will get the plaques back out to the course once we are finished, but there will be a stretch of time that they are missing. We will work on 9 holes at a time. With clean plaques for the start of next season, we will also work on double checking the yardages and making sure the plaques are set correctly.

Winter work is slower paced and not related to the health of the turf, but the tasks that we get accomplished still make a difference to the overall experience during the season.

 

 

As a reminder, we are now reducing down to 1 post per month through February. Thank you

 

 

 

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

Please be careful on greens that are partially covered in snow or ice. Do not play from these spots, and please do not try and scrape the snow or ice out of your way.

 

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