State of the Bermuda grass

It is time for the annual state of the Bermuda grass post. After a winter unlike any we have had in the last several years, it looks as though the Bermuda grass was able to survive relatively unscathed both from direct winter kill and Spring dead spot (SDS).

Despite some very warm days recently, it is still early in the green up process, and soil temperatures are still working to fully warm up, so there is still more information to gather. Once the soil stops the constant roller coaster up and down swings in temperatures that it has been going through, the Bermuda grass will get some consistent good growing conditions. However, so far, much of the Bermuda grass looks very healthy across tees and fairways.

However, we will not escape the winter completely unmarked. There do appear to be some areas just off the fronts of greens where the Bermuda grass is struggling from winter kill. Again, it is early, and we need some good warm overnight temperatures to really kick start the Bermuda grass, but these are some areas of concern that we will monitor closely.

Most of the areas are known trouble spots. There are a variety of factors that cause the Bermuda grass to decline repeatedly in these areas including: shade, physical orientation, saturation, poor drainage, poor soil, traffic, and more. Some of these causes we have addressed and will continue to work on, but others are out of our control- for example the Bermuda grass that is nearest #14 green is severely angled to the north and gets very little spring sunshine, and we can’t physically change how that grass is situated. We have more plans in place for this season to continue to improve all these areas, but it takes time and meanwhile the Bermuda grass continues to struggle.

In the short term, our next step is to be patient. Daytime temperatures, and especially overnight and soil temperatures will continue to rise, and the Bermuda grass will begin to grow more vigorously. After a prolonged stretch of beneficial growing conditions, we can then assess what areas will recover naturally and which areas need to be replaced. We expect to do some sod work and have started to gather some amendments to add into the soil so we are ready when it is time and the healing process can go as quickly as possible.

The trouble areas so far all seem to be from winter kill. But what there does not appear to be much if any damage from is Spring dead spot (SDS). We have been working diligently on our prevention program, and it is paying off tremendously. SDS is not a disease that you can eliminate, but we have reached a point where it is very much under control, and the turf is healthy enough to sustain any infections and come out of winter strongly. We won’t back off the things that have proven helpful in the last several years and we will continue to improve the turf health so that we can stay on top of the disease.

Growing Bermuda grass in our region is stretching the grass to its limits of winter hardiness. There will be some bumps and bruises each spring no matter what, especially coming out of an intense winter. So, making some repairs is expected and we will be ready when the time comes.

 

 

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

Please keep carts on cart paths for the entirety of par 3 holes.

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

Roller oil leak

We have discussed the dangers of using equipment on fine turfgrass before, whether it be a hydraulic leak or a gas leak. Last week we had a transmission oil leak on several greens. We expect to make a full recovery, but it is currently unsightly and will be for some time still.

Our greens rolling machine was the culprit this time around. The leak happened on a rainy morning, which was both a blessing and a curse. The rain helped to wash the oil of the leaf tissue, which will help to minimize the damage. However, because it was a rainy, dreary day, the leak was very difficult to spot while it was happening. Often, when a leak occurs on a sunny day, the sun reflects sharply of the shiny, wet oil, and makes it much easier to spot, leading to a quick discovery and stopping the machine. But without the sun, the leak continued unnoticed for too long.

Looking closely, the back and forth
lines of the oil leak can be seen

Once the machine was back in the shop, our Equipment management team noticed the excessive oil on the machine during their routine inspection and were able to locate the issue. Inside of the transmission a bearing had worn out, causing the transmission shaft to wobble. More wear on the bearing caused more wobble of the shaft, until the bearing could no longer hold the shaft in place and the bearing broke, sending shards through the transmission and eventually breaking the oil seal. Once the seal was broken, oil began to leak out of the case and onto the green.

We hate it when these things occur, but unfortunately it is part of the maintenance of a golf course. We will continue to monitor the situation and make any repairs and adjustments necessary.

 

 

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

Wet well leak

Ironically, the week after discussing the upcoming new irrigation system, we began the recharge of our current system with a major leak. The metal pipe that drains the cistern at the pump house rusted through the bottom side. Luckily, we made a temporary repair and will get the system up and running this week.

The pump house sits near #17 tee. Water is pulled in from the nearby pond into a well inside the building. From there, pumps send the water to the rest of the property. In the winter, we drain the well as a precaution against freeze damage, which could have been especially possible this winter with the prolonged cold. At the start of the season, we then close the drain valve from the cistern and refill the tank.

The wet well drain pipe and valve

Once we started filling the well this year, the head pressure blew a hole in the bottom of the drainpipe. This pipe is older than the current irrigation system, likely 25+ years. Although we have never encountered this problem, after more inspection we weren’t shocked that it happened. First, the age of the pipe is significant. But more importantly, the interior, bottom side of the pipe virtually always has water in it. Since the pipe does not sit at the very bottom level of the cistern, we can’t drain it 100%, so there is always some water in the drainpipe, either with water up to the valve when the well is full, or a small trickle of water draining out during the winter. Because of this constant water, the metal pipe had been rusting for quite some time, becoming thin and brittle. It finally broke last week.

Water is visible spraying out of the bottom
of the pipe

Unfortunately, a full-scale repair would be very difficult at this time. Lining up contractors on short notice, getting materials, but most crucially, we would be without irrigation until it was fixed. That is not an option at this time of year. After discussion with several of our pump and irrigation maintenance contractors, we decided the best solution would be an epoxy pipe repair wrap. Essentially, a fiber mesh that is coated in resin that is activated by water and hardens to the strength of steel after a short time. We first sealed the hole as best we could with putty, then applied this repair wrap around the pipe being sure to cover several inches past where the hole and cracks appeared to end. We let the epoxy set for the weekend and will recharge the system this week.

Fortunately, we are not desperate for water immediately. Having this problem just as we were getting the system primed for the year was disconcerting. But we are confident in the repair and should be back to normal soon.

 

 

 

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

New irrigation system

An irrigation system is the lifeblood of any golf course. Ours has served us well over the years, but it is reaching the end of its expected lifespan and is due for replacement. We have been working with an irrigation consultant for more than 2 years working on a replacement system and the schedule is to begin work in 2027.

Our current system is 24 years old, and it has worked well. It is entirely PVC pipe which has a lifespan of about 25 years, so we are right on schedule. Luckily, we have not had any catastrophic failures that would warrant a shorter timeline to replacement, we also don’t want to push the envelope and stretch it too far. Especially nowadays, it is at least 2 years between when a club decides they want a new system before the new system can be installed. Contractors are booked solid and materials are harder to get or at least take longer to arrive, so waiting until we are desperate for a new irrigation system is impossible.

The new system will be an upgrade over the old system in every way. Not only will it be new pipe, but we will be upgrading the type of plastic used. There will still be some PVC (it has shown to be the best for larger diameter pipe) but the smaller diameter pipe, which runs to the greens, tees, and fairways, will be HDPE. This is a stronger plastic than PVC and is expected to last many years longer, so we should be set for the foreseeable future.

The new system will also give us top-of-the-line sprinklers, with all the latest technology and sophistication. The new sprinklers can self-diagnose several problems, each has fully adjustable arcs, they can be individually controlled, and more. This will be a significant increase in control and flexibility. Once we become familiar with the system it will give us an improved ability to manage the water- using only the necessary amount and in only the necessary locations.

One of the more basic, yet very important aspects of the new system will be that it is designed for the course as it is currently. Because the old system is so old, any course changes over that span were not reflected in irrigation layout changes. These changes include all the Master Plan renovations, which on some holes resulted in significant adjustments. We did add some individual sprinklers in certain areas during construction, but we certainly did not rework the entire irrigation design; meaning on some holes, the fairway may angle in one direction, but the irrigation system does not match. This means that using our “fairway” sprinklers can sometimes result in very little of that water actually hitting the fairway. But the new system will be mapped to the existing course, so all the twists and turns will be perfectly matched by the system. We are also adding sprinklers to locations that previously had none, providing better coverage and healthier turf.

The exact schedule is not set in stone, nor is the exact installation plan. However, contractors have been selected and booked, and some materials have been purchased. We will share more information as it becomes available, but we wanted everyone to be aware of the upcoming work. It will be an exciting improvement to BW!

 

 

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

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