Bermuda grass health

The Bermuda grass is struggling so far this spring. There are myriad reasons for the lag.  We are aware of the impact to playability, and we are working to remedy the situation. We have taken several steps towards improving the conditions and we have several more steps planned for the near future.

As you may recall, the winter was colder than several of the last few years, with temperatures in the single digits on more than one occasion. Prolonged cold can be damaging to Bermuda grass. Next, this spring has been near record cold. We have had very little warm air. Daytime highs have been well below average and nighttime lows have been well below average. Due to this cold air, we have also struggled to build up soil warmth. Bermuda grass is warm-season grass, meaning it thrives in warm weather, so the cold winter coupled with a cold spring has been damaging. These are not excuses but do impact the health and emergence of the Bermuda grass greatly.

Tees, approaches, drainage swales, and sod from construction in previous years are the worst areas. We expect the tees to recover with time. Because of their sand base, they get drier in the winter and therefore get colder. This in turn requires more time and warmth for them to regain the soil temperatures needed for growth. As for the other poor areas, we are taking a different tactic or several tactics for recovery.

We cannot control the weather, but we are actively working to improve the areas that we can control. Sod has been laid in 3 initial areas already: 3 approach, 14 approach, and 18 approach. These areas were identified very early as showing very little signs of life, so the decision to sod them was made quickly. We will also be developing a plan and budget to sod more areas soon.

Early in the spring we applied a slow-release fertilizer to give the Bermuda grass a slow, consistent supply of food. This fertilizer begins to release as soil temperatures warm, in much the same way the Bermuda grass begins to grow with warmer soils. This fertilizer is now available for the turf and will continue to be for about 6 months. We also have in stock a rescue application of fertilizer for any areas that we need to boost immediately. We expect to start these applications in the next 2 weeks. Finally, we have in stock sprayable fertilizer for the Bermuda grass as well. This is available to use at any point and we will lightly feed the Bermuda grass with this material throughout the summer.

Last week we applied compost to the Bermuda grass. This application covered the fairways and the tees. This will provide warmth to the surface to help with soil temperatures. It will provide a small boost in fertility. It will also help in the long-term battle against all of the issues affecting the Bermuda grass currently, and that affect it every year.

Our initial cultural practice for the Bermuda grass will be to slice. Several years ago, when some construction sod was slow to emerge, we sliced it, and the recovery was quick and noticeable. You can read more about slicing here. Since then we have used this tool as our first way to get some lateral growth and density going in the fairways. We will start this process May 14^th. We will do the fairways, approaches, and tees over the course of a few days.

Our last effort will be to sprig healthy grass into the areas that are not recovering and that would be too large to sod. This process will involve aerating a strong, healthy area (likely #12 fairway), removing the material that we pull out, spreading it in the poor areas, compacting it into the soil, keeping it moist, and waiting for this new Bermuda grass to grow. At this point, we can’t say for sure where those areas will be or when we will do it. However, we are not going to wait forever to begin the project. We will provide an update prior to commencing.

We are as concerned with the state of the Bermuda grass as you all are. We are not taking anything for granted or throwing our hands up and moving on. We will continue to work to make things right.

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

The broken tee boxes are not trash cans. Thank you.

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

Bunker etiquette

See you on the course!

Joe

jvillegas@bwrc.org