Leaves and projects

We have had our first few frosts and the Bermuda grass is going dormant quickly. But what hasn’t happened yet is the full onslaught of leaves. The last few cold mornings have expedited the color change and leaves should come in earnest the next few weeks, albeit later than past years. Our projects are also nearing completion.

The point where we connected our new
irrigation pipe to the existing pipe
at #1 approach

We expect the leaves to start raining down over the next few weeks. Blowers will be a constant around the course. We blow as many leaves as we can into the taller grass native areas to get rid of them, but in some cases that isn’t possible. Our other tactic is to use our vacuum. The leaves that we must collect in place are blown into piles, and our vacuum patrols the course cleaning these piles.

The connection point and new pipe
at #1 approach

We have completed the final touches on our two projects from the last month also. All of the pipe is in on the drainage project on #12. The water is finding its way to our drains and is exiting the course without causing any more issues. We still need to tidy up our work area a bit more before we call the project 100% complete, but the majority of work is done.

Start to end of trench for new
irrigation pipe at #1 approach

Also, we are nearly complete adding the new irrigation pipe and sprinkler heads on #1 approach. We added 2 new sprinklers and about 180’ of pipe. Although with the rain this year, our irrigation system as a whole had a lighter than average year, we still identified this area as an area of need. The new heads were added in the wide approach area that swings to the right of #1 green towards the pond.

Adding these two heads will allow us to more effectively and efficiently water this particular area. 

We have individual control over these new sprinklers and therefore can water the area in need without having to use sprinklers that are not ideal. In the past, the sprinklers that we would have used were two far away and would not water the area well, but we had to use them in order to get some water into the spot anyway. Previously, these other sprinklers would have also made areas too wet by adding water where it wasn’t needed. Now we have better control over where the water ends up.

Luckily, we wrapped our projects ahead of the major leaf cleanup work. We will have a lot of labor directed to blowing over the next few weeks. 

Please note, we will be switching to once per month posts for November thru February. Thank you

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

Please leave bunker rakes inside the bunker once you are finished.

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

Refresher on frost

It is the time of year for frost. The Grounds department likes frost delays about as much as golfers, but we all have to deal with them. Below are a few reminders regarding frost as we get into the colder months.

Here is a link to a previous blog talking more generally about frost. Here is a post about fall frost in general and how they differ from frosts that occur in the spring. Since we are in the fall season now, this is particularly pertinent.

Frost by itself is not damaging to turfgrass, especially cool season turf. The damage occurs when the frozen cells inside the plant are ruptured from pressure. This damage occurs from walking on frosted turf or driving carts across it. This is why frost delays are for the entire grounds.

Bermuda grass is not injured by frost either, but the cold mornings expedite the onset of dormancy. So, over the next few weeks, the Bermuda grass will be losing its green color, but this is not a sign of any issue.

It is also important to note that sometimes frost is not visible as you stand at the clubhouse or pro shop. The frost may be either down in the turf canopy or it may be only on certain areas of the course. Frost will always form in the most open areas and lower areas first. So, there may not be frost up on the hill near the clubhouse, but down lower, in the rough near #3 and #15 it may be very heavy.

This leads to the last point: the course does not need to be blanketed by frost for there to be a delay. We make every effort to allow play as early as possible, but even if the frost is only in the rough in a few places, that still necessitates a delay. It is not possible to expect people to stay out of the frosty areas but allow them to play in the other areas. Therefore, we are forced to close the entire course.

We keep a very close eye on when frost conditions exist as well as monitoring as it lifts. Each time, we make sure to allow play as early as we can.

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

Please leave bunker rakes inside the bunker once you are finished.

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

Green surround seeding

We will finally be getting our seeding done around the greens this week. We started the process last week, but equipment issues and rain delayed the project.

The rough grass around the greens is one of the most difficult areas on the property to manage. Imagine 25,000 people walking across a home lawn, all in a 5-15 foot section. Add in mowers and environmental stress and it is clearer why there can be issues with our rough.

Very few areas receive the stress of this particular zone. Every golfer who walks their round, walks in virtually identical areas. Many cart riders walk in some of those spots as well coming and going from their cart. This repeated foot traffic adds up over the course of the year.

There is also the traffic from our mowers to consider. We mow this section 2-3 times per week for 8-10 months a year. Mowing itself is damaging to turf grass. While the grass has adapted to tolerate being cut, and it is not life threatening, it still adds pressure. But the more destructive aspect of mowing is the physical driving of the machine over the grass. Turf can be beat down or torn by the tires and the weight of the mower.

Lastly, is the environmental stress. Water and temperature stress are very detrimental to all turfgrass. Coupled with the above-mentioned stressors and the rough takes it about as hard as any other area of the course. We manage the water content of the soil as closely as we can. We want enough moisture for the grass to survive, but not too much that it is wet. But being on that edge, it isn’t hard for things to get too dry or too wet, which leads to issues. There is also the heat and humidity to deal with. The heat can just directly kill the turf. The humidity leads to diseases, which are very difficult to manage 

as well.

We continue to introduce stronger, more tolerant turf grass species and varieties. We also continue to adjust our management practices to improve and sustain these areas. The seeding this week is part of those improvements.

Please note, we will be switching to once per month posts starting in November thru February. Thank you.

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

Please leave bunker rakes inside the bunker once you are finished.

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

#12 drain project update

We continue to work on the drainage repair on #12. While it hasn’t gone exactly to plan, we are making progress.

We found an existing, working drain pipe on the left side of the cart path on #12. It just wasn’t in the lowest area as you would expect. It also did not continue further up into the wet area as we had hoped. However, our overall plan is still viable, with some minor tweaks. We will be running our new pipe in the opposite direction from what we expected and there will be a different layout of lateral drain lines than first thought. The trench that we have already completed is collecting water and funneling it in the direction we want, so the plan is working.

With work on the left side nearing completion, we have already started trenching over on the right side. This trench will go all the way to the drains that are part of the 12 and 13 fairway bunker complex. This is a much longer trench, but it is much simpler also. The entire project should be completed by early next week.

Also, as we move deeper into fall, please be aware of our leaf cleanup work that will be ever-present for the next month and a half. Blowers and our leaf vacuum will be out all of the time trying to stay on top of the mess.

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

Please leave bunker rakes inside the bunker once you are finished.

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

More water issues

Blogs from this season can be grouped into two categories: Bermuda grass health and rain/water issues. The first half of the season related to the bermudagrass and its struggles coming out of winter and spring. Now, we have been talking about the unprecedented rain and the related issues. Last week, we discussed the drain project on #12. Before we could even get started, it rained more, and we had 3 entirely new drain issues arise.

Since the project on #12 was going to be a slower, longer project, we put that on hold to address the newest problems. You may have noticed one or all of these open holes during the week. We had a problem in the rough on #10, #1 fairway, and #13 fairway (we also had 3 separate irrigation system breaks concurrently, but that is a different topic!).

Once we dug a hole in the wet area on #10, we found some very old (original?) terra cotta drain tile. The water was still flowing in the pipe as well as following in the trench but outside the pipe. Both of these are positive. It means in general the drain is working, capturing and directing water. However, the problem we found was that this terra cotta line ended in the middle of the rough, not connected to any continuing drain line.

The water was left to empty back into the soil and this year the soil was not able to handle it. So, we attached plastic pipe to the end of the terra cotta, trenched a line 20 feet further to a newer, old drain that had been put in before and gave the water an exit.

Next, we headed over to #1 fairway. This problem was in the swale that runs across the fairway, just at the bottom of the hill. There was water suddenly bubbling up that we knew was not related to irrigation. As we explored, we found another existing drain pipe that had been partially crushed by the installation of the cart path. In normal years, the pipe was able to handle a moderate flow even through a reduced opening under the cart path. But this year exposed that problem and forced us to give the water an alternative.

We attached a piece of pipe that comes straight up to the surface. Water can still drain under the cart path when flows are light. But if the water needs a different route, it can come up this standpipe and it will trickle out right at the edge of the cart path and run across the path at the surface.

Lastly, there was a wet area in #13 fairway. We opened 3 large holes, each about 3 feet deep and found nothing to explain the water. Each place we dug, the soil was drier the further we went down. We exposed the irrigation line and it was not leaking. The soil only seemed to be wet right at the surface. In the end, we discovered nothing to explain the water other than simply very, very saturated soil. At this point we have filled our holes back in and will have to wait for a clearer indication of where the water is originating before we open more areas.

What has been unique about this year is, because of the volume and consistency of rain, drains that have worked well for years and years, are now failing. The amount of water has overcome the capacity of the drains and wet areas are the result. No one likes digging holes in the mud and rain. Even worse, some or all of these issues may not even be apparent during an average rainfall year. But, since they did arise, we were able to hopefully find solutions that will aid us in the next tremendously wet season.

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

Please leave bunker rakes inside the bunker once you are finished

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

Please note, we will be switching to once per month posts starting in November, thru February. Thank you.

See you on the course!

Joe

jvillegas@bwrc.org