Continued Bermuda grass discussion

As May ends, the damage to the Bermuda grass is fully evident. Nevertheless, as May has progressed healing has continued.

3 fairway damage visible May 1st

Same shot of 3 fairway taken May 26th.

The damage to the Bermuda grass was not limited to one or two factors, nor was it limited to Bretton Woods. Stories of damage from Tennessee over to South Carolina, and as far north as Bermuda grass has been planted, illustrate the difficulties this winter. While this doesn’t change our situation, it is clear that it was weather driven rather than agronomics. Last week we had a regional turf agronomy consultant visit the course. He reiterated the non-discriminatory nature of the winter towards Bermuda grass. He has seen several varieties of Bermuda grass, in many locations, and under numerous management strategies show damage this spring. You can read his written report for Bretton Woods at the end of the blog.

We are formulating a plan to sod tees, approaches, and the large area in 18 fairway. In the meantime, we continue to fertilize the current turf and push it to heal more and more. While everyone’s eye is drawn to the worst areas (our eyes too), the bad areas have shrunk and the mediocre areas have nearly filled in. This is encouraging. The health of the existing Bermuda grass is excellent, and apart from #5 fairway, the spring dead spot incidences this year were minimal and have nearly all healed.

Inside the red line is shade damage

Another example of shade damage inside
the red line.

This year has forced us to evaluate all growing conditions for the Bermuda grass. Drainage, shade, desiccation, traffic, and other factors contributed to the death of Bermuda grass this year. Some of those factors can be controlled, other cannot. While we have made nearly all drainage improvements necessary, the other factors still contributed to decline this year. One of the more obvious has been shade. We have dealt with below average Bermuda grass in shady areas in years past, but this year, the below average grass turned to dead grass. Several very prominent semi circles of shade are noticeable around the course. At the right time, you can see the shade falling exactly along the line of healthy and unhealthy turf.

Most of the area outside the red line has now healed. Inside the red
line was damaged from shade and has not recovered yet.

Due to this, we have identified several areas that are recurrent problems that need to be transitioned to rough grass. The trees in these locations are healthy and integral to the specific hole. In these areas, we will remove Bermuda grass and add tall fescue. This will narrow the fairway but will allow the tree to remain and reduce the damaged Bermuda grass. This will be a gradual process. We will be working to get the majority of Bermuda grass healthy first. Then over time we will work to make necessary rough additions.

There are also some trees that have impacted the Bermuda grass that are declining in health or are less crucial to the playability of the hole. These trees are candidates for removal, with a replacement being put further away from the Bermuda grass, or planted in an entirely new location. Again, we are not going out anytime soon to remove trees, but as we assess the ramifications of this year’s Bermuda grass issues, trees are a big component.

14 approach damage on May 1st.

14 approach on May 26th.

It will be a long slow process to get the Bermuda grass to a level that we all expect. We will continue to implement strategies for recovery as often as needed. Have a good Memorial Day.

Report Prepared for Bretton Woods Recreation Center

Turfgrass Disease Solutions, LLC

May 19 2018

On May 15 2018, I visited Bretton Woods Recreation Center to discuss agronomics. The main topic of the visit focused on Bermudagrass winter damage/kill. This summary will highlight the major topics of the visit.

The winter of 2017/2018 was severe causing significant damage to Bermudagrass throughout

the Mid-Atlantic region. The fairways, tees and approaches at Bretton Woods are Riviera

Bermudagrass. While it is impossible to tell the exact reason or time frame when the Bermudagrass damage occurred, it was likely December 27th 2017 through January 12th when the air temperatures never rose above freezing and the wind was greater than 20 miles per hour (sustained wind speed). The spring weather has been cool until the recent week and recovery has been slow in many locations.

Bretton Woods is not the only golf course facing winter damage issues in the Mid-Atlantic. I have visited more than 15 golf courses that have some level of winter damage to Bermudagrass fine turf areas and there are many others experiencing it. The newer hybrid Bermudagrass cultivars, like Riveria, in Maryland can provide an excellent playing surface during summer months when cool season grasses typically are under environmental stress. Typically, Bermudagrass also requires less fungicides and insecticides when compared to cool-season grasses (i.e. bentgrass/ryegrass). One downside of Bermudagrass as we are currently observing throughout the region is winter damage. Winter damage to Bermudagrass is typically a one in 10 to 15 year event. Typically, when it is observed it is complex and unpredictable.

My Short-Term Suggestions are:

1.) Be patient, significant recovery will occur naturally from underground structures of the

Bermudagrass. Some areas I could not find any plant tissues that were alive but there will be

recovery over time. As you mentioned on the visit, the areas look better and better each day.

We discussed using quickly available nitrogen fertilizer to push the recovery of the Bermudagrass

2.) Sod as much as possible over the next 3-5 weeks where it is thin and unresponsive.

Specifically, sodding the highly visible areas or those areas important for playability on

fairways, collars and tees. When sodding, after it is striped make sure you solid tine aerate the

soil to aid in rooting and establishment.

3.) I would not worry about any weed control until there is 100% coverage by Bermudagrass and spraying herbicides, even on the healthy areas of fairways would not be suggested until

complete recovery occurs.

Long term suggestions:

1.) Financially, plan for winter kill and have some funding available to sod or repair from winter

damage each year. Some courses budget for $20,000-25,000 in case of this

emergency, more could be added if needed. I know this is a small amount compared to what

you are planning for but it does help take some of the major concerns out of it like a small

insurance policy. If the money is not used for Bermudagrass recovery, that money could be

allocated to other issues, like sodding the edges of cart paths, green surrounds or other areas

that need repair.

2.) This year we again observed that tarping Bermudagrass will reduce the winter damage by about 60-70%. I understand it is not logistically possible to tarp large fairway areas, but some tee boxes could be tarped each winter- especially undersized ones or Par 3 tees which could need a little increase in recovery. Many courses that have Bermudagrass driving range tees had

success this winter by tarping them in mid to late December and leaving the tarps on until mid-

March. Tarps can be costly and the labor to move them onto the turf and remove them during

the slower parts of the season can be issues. Tarps help to insulate the turf from direct

temperature damage and wind damage- they will not aid in drainage and shade situations. You

may experiment with some tarps to see the feasibility for Brenton Woods. When winter

damage is not observed, the Bermudagrass under the tarps breaks dormancy earlier.

3.) Over-seeding with ryegrass is also an option to aid in Bermudagrass fairway playability in the shoulder seasons but this comes with risks as weed control in the two-grass system is

challenging. The ryegrass is placed down in October and then it should be killed out in

May/June once the Bermudagrass resumes normal growth. One additional concern with

Over-seeding is that it shades the ryegrass in the spring months typically overtime reducing the

vigor of the Bermudagrass. Bermudagrass requires 100 days per year of ryegrass free growing

conditions during the summer months. The advantage to this two-grass system is if there is

winter damage to the Bermudagrass, the ryegrass is present and can provide a playing surface

until summer months when Bermudagrass typically will recover in a lot of areas. This is risky

and should only be used as a last resort long term option for the Bermudagrass fairways.

Let me know if you would like to schedule a follow up visit to discuss recovery options. Thank

you for your support of my consulting program.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions.

Steve McDonald, M.S.

Principal, Turfgrass Disease Solutions, LLC

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