Bermuda grass over seeding

With the damage that occurred to our Bermuda grass this past season, we are working to find any improvements that are possible. While most of the damage was unpreventable, it is our plan to do all we can to give the Bermuda grass the best chance at survival. One step we will be taking this year is starting a multi-year test of over seeding some tee boxes.

One unique factor that damaged the Bermuda grass last year was desiccation. The winter of 2017-2018 was very cold. It was also very windy at times, particularly a stretch from late December through mid-January. Dormant Bermuda grass still needs water in the reproductive parts of the plant that are underground. Dehydration can cause these tissues to die just as easily as other factors. Moreover, the tee boxes are sand based, which allows for excellent drainage. In the case of this past winter, the tees drained just as they were supposed to and the wind dried out the rest. We believe this desiccation was an additional detriment to the tees that was not seen or was much less severe on other Bermuda grass around the course.

Enduring as much rain as we have this year, it can be hard to imagine that we would need to add more water at any point. But part of our strategy is to keep the Bermuda grass more hydrated as it enters dormancy. Once we shut down our irrigation system, we cannot add any more water, but we are maintaining a certain level of moisture in the soil for as long as we can.

In addition to more hydration, we will be over seeding with annual ryegrass, 4 individual tee boxes as a test. This test will be a minimum of 3 years so that we can accurately judge its effectiveness. 

However, the test may need to be shortened or extended depending on our results; 3 years is not set in stone. If the winters prove to be benign and there is no or very little Bermuda grass damage in general, then an accurate assessment of the test cannot be made. Similarly, if the 3 winters of the test are all too different to compare to one another, more years may need to be added. Lastly, if after 2 years, we see that we are making the Bermuda grass worse by over seeding, we may also end the test.

This test does not constitute the beginning of a new standard. We are not guaranteeing an over seeding program. We are also not planning any over seeding of fairways at this time. The cost of such a program would far outweigh the benefits as we currently stand. Also, of the many causes of Bermuda grass damage on fairways, we do not believe desiccation played as great a role in the fairways as it did on tees.

The other factor that over seeding may help mitigate is traffic stress. Foot traffic is highly concentrated on tee boxes compared to fairways where it is spread out over a much, much larger area. Dormant Bermuda grass cannot heal itself from divots or foot traffic damage. On over seeded Bermuda grass, the stress is lessened or absorbed entirely by the ryegrass rather than the Bermuda grass.

Our plan is to over seed #1 white tee box, #9 red tee box, #11 black/blue tee box, and #15 white/gold tee box. Each of these tee boxes are in slightly different environmental pockets as well as different amounts of traffic. By selecting these tee boxes, we will get a better understanding of how the Bermuda grass responds in different situations because the selected tee boxes are generally representative of the different conditions of all of our tees.

Over seeding is not the silver bullet to the damage that we suffered last season. Several courses around us, as well as many courses further south, regularly over seed and they endured damage anyway. Rather than idly standing by and waiting though, we want to know if this program could help us in our unique set of circumstances here at Bretton Woods

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

When parking your cart at a tee or green, please keep all 4 tires on the path

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