Ground water

As we approach the end of summer, we continue to deal with an unprecedented amount of rain. Although, we have had some quick dry stretches, the overall amount of rain for the summer, along with large volumes in single storms, presents a problem that we have never dealt with. One such problem is the water that has been perpetually flowing across #10 approach.

Ground water has been trickling out in several locations since June. The wet spring, followed by the abnormally wet mid to late summer, have kept the water table higher than usual. The result is water in places that we didn’t expect.

Water flowing from near #11 tee is working its way to and across the cart path on #12 and into the fairway. On the right side of #5 fairway, water was coming up in the rough and the fairway and flowing down the cart path.

Similarly, water to the right of #11 fairway was flowing down the cart path also. Two spots on the high side of #4 fairway were flowing down the hill to the left side. Finally, the most difficult area is the water coming up in the bunker and across the approach on #10.

The front right bunker, green surround rough immediately in front of that bunker, and the approach on #10 have been wet since the end of June. The source is ground water, and with the rains we have sustained this year, the water table has been high enough to flow out in this location since June.

Some of the water is emanating from the bunker and some seeps out from the rough, but we are certain this is not an irrigation issue because we have no pipe close enough to cause this issue. And for a brief 2 weeks in June the water slowed down.

The first thing we have to do to correct the issue, is wait for a break in the flow of water. We would only create more of a mess trying to work in an area with flowing groundwater. Once the break comes, we will add another drain line in the bunker to help capture water there.

We will also tap into the bunker exit drain that flows into the pond. We will add a surface drain in the rough in front of the bunker so that any more water that reaches the surface will fall into our drainage system instead of running across the approach. Once all of the drains are installed, we will re-sod the affected area and start fresh.

Hole numbers are listed in black. The red circles are areas where water has been seeping out
of the ground. Somewhere in the blue shaded area is the source of the water.

While we have occasionally seen ground water pop up in a few of these locations previously, some are new this year. The duration that they have been consistently dribbling water has also been extraordinary. Once the water subsides, we will make some adjustments to help mitigate future issues.

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

Please enter and exit all bunkers on the low side. While this may result in slightly more distance to rake, it will keep the sod on the face of the bunker from tearing. It is also much safer! 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

Watering after rain

Deciding when to water after rain is one of the most difficult nuances of turf management. Wait too long, and the turfgrass can suffer from drought. Water too soon, and many different problems associated with over saturation come into play. This has been an especially difficult summer for making this decision.

Starting back in spring, the rain came often. This is a poor time for the greens to receive too much water. While springs are usually “wet”, above normal rainfall can be detrimental to plant development.  Ideally, in the spring, we force the roots to drive down into the soil to find more water, by controlling water availability and depth. Instead they easily found adequate supplies much nearer the surface because of the rain. The roots were “lazy”; they didn’t have to search for food and water so they never grew deep.

Flash forward to currently, and the roots are even shorter after a long and stressful summer. Traffic (golfer and maintenance), heat, humidity, pests, and poor oxygen exchange have all contributed to the ever-shrinking root system, which happens naturally during the summer regardless. We use all available strategies to keep as much root mass as possible for as long as possible, but by this time of year it is at its smallest and weakest, so the plant takes up all nutrients and water closer to the surface.

How does all of this correspond to watering after a rain storm? As the rain infiltrates the soil and percolates down through the profile, for a certain period of time it is in the rootzone, where the plants can access it. Once it is past this zone, the water is of no use to the turf. With the current short roots of late summer, the uptake zone is very small. So even though the ground may feel wet, or it may have rained only two days prior, the plants may still need some supplemental water because the rain water is no longer available.

With the heat and humidity of late summer, adding more water can be the worst thing to do. You can read here about what too much water can do and the diseases to which it can lead. However, plants that are suffering from drought stress need water to stay alive, no matter what other conditions may be present. So, we use all of the tools and resources we have to determine where water is needed and accurately apply it to those locations only and in only the amount needed for survival. The extra difficulty of this season arises from the fact that we have been fighting these watering decisions since the middle of July.  The volume of rain that we have received since the middle of July has been unprecedented and therefore caused a tough summer to turn into a very difficult summer.

Nevertheless, greens have held up reasonably well and have bounced back from aeration. Once we get a break from the humidity and get some cooler nights, recovery can begin.

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

Please enter and exit all bunkers on the low side. While this may result in slightly more distance to rake, it will keep the sod on the face of the bunker from tearing. It is also much safer! 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

Bermuda grass removal

Before new sod on #18

Bermuda grass is a very good turfgrass and it is an excellent choice for Bretton Woods. However, it is not perfect. Part of our recovery program this year included identifying areas where the Bermuda grass has performed poorly, and evaluating what is the best option moving forward. In a select few of those areas, the best option is to remove Bermuda grass and replace it with tall fescue rough grass.

Two of the areas that we recently sodded have struggled in each of the past 5 years, possibly more, not solely this past winter. In the past, the recovery was slower than other Bermuda grass, but it always recovered. This year, because the damage was so severe, recovery is still not complete. When we were originally assessing and developing the plan for healing this year, we identified several areas that needed Bermuda grass removed.

Before new sod on #18

This past week we re-sodded 3 of those areas: In the shade of a maple tree to the left of #4 fairway about 160 yards from the green; in the shade of maple tree to the left of #8 fairway at the corner of the dogleg; the left side of #18 approach.

The areas on #4 and #8 are chronically poor areas. The Bermuda grass does bad there in good winters and terrible in a terrible winter. Instead of continuing to struggle, we decided to switch species. Neither of these changes will greatly affect the design of the hole or how it plays, but will improve the conditions of the playing surface.

After new sod on #18

The area at #18 approach was a double-whammy of poor conditions. First, the area does not get near enough light to sustain healthy Bermuda grass. Some early morning sun shines on it, but by mid to late morning the sun is behind trees and remains that way for the rest of the day. On its own, the shade weakens the Bermuda grass, but may have been survivable. But, combined with the second factor, the Bermuda grass starts to die.

New sod on #8

A great deal of water travels down the cart path to the left of 18 green, then enters the approach and heads for the drain we installed at construction. Everything functions extremely well. The only problem is the excessive water really hurts the Bermuda grass, especially over the winter. Then, in the spring, which is also a wet time, the Bermuda grass never gets a chance to dry out and start to grow. This area may collect a few shots that are short and left of 18 green. However, those shots will now be chipped from tall fescue rough grass instead of thin or absent Bermuda grass.

Overall, we only laid 2,000 square feet of sod, 4 pallets, so not a great deal of Bermuda removal. But in the long run, we will have less difficulty with the turf conditions in these areas moving forward.

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

Please enter and exit all bunkers on the low side. While this may result in slightly more distance to rake, it will keep the sod on the face of the bunker from tearing. It is also much safer! 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

Aeration week recap

To recap the last week: we received even more rain, but we still managed to squeeze in aeration with almost no delays.

Since our last post, we received another 2.1” of rain, which compared to the totals leading into that timeframe, was relatively small. However, those 2’ added on top of everything else did not allow for much drying. We also had to work very efficiently and carefully around the rain to complete aeration. Luckily, the timing of each rain event was just right to allow us to sneak between storms.

Greens aeration in process

We monitor the weather incessantly. Leading into and during aeration, we increase our diligence even more. Most of the things we need to accomplish during aeration do not work if the ground is too wet or if rain occurs while we are working. Besides our own weather watching, we also employed our weather service to which we subscribe to help as well. This included a report 1 week before we started, another 3 days before, another the evening before, and another leading into our second day of work. All of this information helped us formulate our plan.

We were able to accomplish everything we planned on the front 9 greens and finished by 3pm. We aerated all of the fairways in just under 12 hours on Monday, finishing at 4:30pm, and as the tractors were driving to the shop, the rain started. Enough rain fell that had we not finished the fairways Monday, Tuesday would have been to wet to do any, so it was very lucky it all worked out.

Tuesday, however, was not too wet to finish the greens. We aerated the back 9 greens, again finishing everything we needed by 3pm. Rain came again that afternoon/evening, but it didn’t catch us while we were working. All greens and fairways were done by 3pm Tuesday.

Greens aeration cleaned area versus not cleaned

We have since also finished aerating tees. We still have both soccer fields to do, but they have been too wet the entire time. We need a good dry stretch to work down there. We also have half of our fairway compost application to complete. The fairways were too wet to drive a tractor on, so we had to wait. We expect to finish them Monday.

The next step is to get the greens back into good playing condition. The rain has made the greens too wet to mow for several days. Mowing wet turf is one of the easiest and quickest ways to damage it; mowing it when it is too wet in the heat of summer is an even surer way to cause harm, so we are not risking the damage. Once the greens dry, we will lower the mowing height back down and get them into shape for the busy fall season. The aeration holes are already disappearing and will only continue to close up in the next couple of days.

The rain also makes it difficult or impossible to mow most other areas also. We will continue to mow as much rough as we can, in the places that we can, until things dry out. The same goes for the fairways; once they are dry enough, we will mow again.

Through a little planning and a LOT of luck, aeration was completed around several inches of rain, almost flawlessly. We will get the course back under control as soon as we can.

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

Please enter and exit all bunkers on the low side. While this may result in slightly more distance to rake, it will keep the sod on the face of the bunker from tearing. It is also much safer! 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