Fairway over-growth

The Grounds department sees the course all day, every day. We know the reasons behind our decisions and we also learn what we can and cannot do to the turf. However, for the golfer, all that is seen is the final product. Without knowing what the thought process was regarding a decision or maintenance practice, if the product is not what one expects, it can be frustrating. Recently, this scenario took place regarding the fairways.

First, we do not want any of this to sound like excuses. Rather, this is a direct representation of the thought process made by the Grounds department and the resulting effects those decisions had on the care of the course and especially the fairways. We keep extensive notes on weather, tasks, and any other pertinent information on a daily basis. The time-frame in question was roughly 6/1-6/14 and the biggest concern was that the fairways seemingly hadn’t been cut in far too long.

We regularly use growth regulator on the fairways to slow the growth that occurs. This does not stop the growth completely though, it allows us to mow 2-3 times per week versus 4-5 times per week. We made a growth regulator application on 5/29. The front 9 fairways were mowed on 6/1, with the intention of mowing the back 9 the next day. However, we received 2.25" of rain overnight from the 1st to the 2nd and the fairways were too wet to mow. In addition, the storm caused several trees to fall, along with many sticks and branches, and all of the bunkers were washed out. As a result we spent that week repairing the course and making it playable. In our opinion, shoveling bunkers, blowing debris, and cleaning up sticks and branches was more important for overall course playability. Rain continued to fall all week and by 6/6 we were at 3" total since 6/1. Due to the wet turf and many cleanup tasks we were not able to mow the fairways that week. By 6/8 we were able to mow all of the fairways. We also verticut 7-12 fairways which stood the grass up and made it seem even taller. This mowing did not provide the best cut because it had been so long since the previous cut. We mowed the back 9 fairways on 6/11 and the front 9 fairways 6/12. The next growth regulator application was made 6/14.

Going forward, weather permitting, we do not expect the conditions to resemble those which you saw the past couple of weeks. Our plan is to mow half of the fairways each on Monday and Tuesday as well as half each on Thursday and Friday. We try to disrupt play as little as possible and mowing fairways is very disruptive. Also, mowing fairways is very time consuming so mowing inevitably results in mowers and golfers disturbing one another. For example, with the addition of more fairway on #3, that hole now takes an hour and a half to mow. Even starting well ahead of the first tee time, trying to mow that fairway ahead of play, golfers would catch the machine very quickly. Once play has caught the mower, it is very inefficient to continue. By splitting the fairways in half, we can more effectively mow without interruption. Also, by halving the fairways, we can use only one staff member instead of two and that person is only tied up on that task for half a day rather than two people mowing all day.

We are always trying to find better, more efficient ways of completing our tasks. Recently, breaking the tasks of mowing fairways in two is another change we have made. Sometimes Mother Nature interferes and our new practice is disrupted. However, we feel that this is a positive change that, when uninterrupted, will provide more than adequate conditions.

See you on the course!

Joe

jvillegas@bwrc.org