Knowledge gained from last year

There are still a couple of loose ends to tie up with regards to this year’s construction, i.e. paving and trees. However, the overall course construction is finished and as of this past weekend everything is open and ready for play. As everyone enjoys the new designs, you may notice that the Bermuda grass seems a little shaggy.

Last year was a great learning experience for incorporating large amounts of sodded areas into our regular maintenance routine. We had such large areas of disturbance that our goal was to get everything into immediate playing condition as quickly as possible. This year, while we opened everything as quickly as possible (tees were actually opened quicker this year than the tees last year), we are being more careful with the new Bermuda grass sod.

In our eagerness to incorporate the sod last year we unknowingly set up 5 different test trials on managing the new sod. We mowed the fairway sod as soon as we could with our heavy mowers at the same height as the rest of the fairway (trial 1). We mowed the approaches with our regular approach mower at the same height as other approaches (trial 2). It was the same scenario on tees (trial 3) and with the step-cut (trial 4). The tees were mowed with an even lighter walk mower and the step-cut was mowed at the highest height of cut of all the sod. We also had 2 acres of Bermuda grass laid on the new soccer field (trial 5). This sod we didn’t touch. We spread compost on it and sprayed it for Spring Dead Spot control. But we never mowed it. Each trial was simply us doing our normal routine, but we learned something from each area.

Each area described above produced differing quality of turf this year. From this we gained some clues as to how we can aid the Bermuda grass sod survive the winter and come out in spring as healthy as possible. Everyone saw how poorly 3 and 15 fairway sod did early in the year. We are still just getting those areas into shape now. About mid-summer we began to see a distinct difference between the sod that was in the fairway and the sod in the approaches and tees. The approaches and tees began to heal and fill in much faster than the fairways. All of this sod was laid within a few weeks of each other; some well-performing sod was actually laid later than poorly performing sod. Lastly, the soccer field came through winter almost perfectly and it was laid the latest of all. Zero death from direct winter kill, the Spring Dead Spot instances could be counted on one hand and none bigger than a volleyball, all healed by the 1^st of July. Though there was zero traffic on the soccer field after it was laid, it still gave us some clues for management.

What was the difference? No two years are exactly the same in weather, conditions, turf or anything, so while we have gained some experience and we have new tactics, we cannot say for certain the definite causes of every circumstance. However, we were pretty clearly able to see that mowing with a heavy mower, at too low of a height of cut was very tough on the Bermuda grass. Through the remainder of the summer and into the fall last year, the sod was seemingly fine. It looked and played great, but was never able to store enough energy to survive the winter. Conversely, the approaches and tees that were mowed with lighter machines and at a higher height of cut stored ever slightly more carbohydrates and were able to recover sooner, as best illustrated by the soccer field.

What does that mean for this year? Armed with this new knowledge, this year we have not mowed any of the new sod with anything but our lightest walk mower. We have not lowered the height of cut too low and we have not mowed too often. This is why the new tee, fairway, and approach sod may seem a little shaggy at times.

While we will continue to provide the very best conditions we can the remainder of the year, we are looking out for the best interest of the sod for the future. Having the course play perfectly this fall provides a few weeks of great golf but brings with it the potential for damaging the Bermuda grass before winter, and setting us back months next year.

Etiquette Reminder of the Week

Please obey all signs on the course. Cart exit posts, “No carts” signs, “Please keep off” signs, “Ground under repair” signs, and others are there for the benefit of the turf and to help keep the course in the best condition possible.

See you on the course!

Joe

jvillegas@bwrc.org