Bermuda grass slicing

We are still battling the Mid-Atlantic weather swings. Two weeks ago, we had frost, and three days ago it was in the mid-90’s, and now it is somewhere in between. This can present challenges in trying to time and execute different aspects of our agronomic programs on the golf course. One such practice that we first tried back in 2015 and have now made a regular occurrence is slicing the Bermuda grass.

We originally sliced the Bermuda grass back in 2015 to help the sod following construction on holes 3, 15, 16, and 17. We saw positive results and you can read more about our initial attempt and theory here. Last year, building off the results of 2015, we expanded our slicing to include all of the fairways. Now, in 2017, we increased our efforts again. This year, we not only sliced all of the fairways, but also all of the Bermuda grass tees and the Bermuda grass soccer field. We were able to accomplish this over a day and a half of steady slicing that started on May 15^th.

The slice lines are visible

As the previous blog post from 2015 states, the slicing is a way for us to cut the Bermuda grass and increase its density and lateral growth. This is VERY similar to verticutting, which we do later in the summer. The key difference is that verticutting removes large amounts of material and slicing does not remove any material. This is the reason we begin the year with slicing versus verticutting. As the Bermuda grass breaks dormancy and begins to grow, the tissue is young and fragile. Also, the fairways are just beginning to fill in. This would not be an ideal time to remove material from the fairways. Instead, we slice, creating new growth points at each cut, and disturb as little existing tissue as possible.

Initially, after slicing, the Bermuda grass can look worse for up to a week. However, based on our experience from year’s prior, we know that the turf will rebound and be better than it was prior to slicing. As mentioned, we knew there was a stretch of very warm weather approaching the week of the 15^th, so our timing was deliberate. Now, a week later, the Bermuda grass has turned the corner and begun to fill in and hide the slice lines. Although the weather has cooled off, the soil temperatures are warm enough now to sustain the healing of the Bermuda grass and continue to aid in creating density.

Being too aggressive too early with the Bermuda grass can backfire, causing a regression early in the season right as we want the fairways to flourish. However, by slicing, we find a middle ground that is just aggressive enough, but not detrimental to the young Bermuda grass.

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

Please don’t take any type of full swing on a putting green. Damage from spikes or divots may occur.

See you on the course!

Joe

jvillegas@bwrc.org