Spraying weeds on tees

Now that the temperatures have dropped to consistent lows, the Bermuda grass is dormant. Contrasting against the brown Bermuda grass are the green weeds. The weeds are especially apparent on the tees.

Between 2 harsh winters affecting the Bermuda grass as well as many tees being newly sodded, the weeds on the tees are the worst they have been in several years. The winter weather weakened any grass that survived, allowing weeds to infiltrate and establish. We elected not to treat for weeds over last winter to reduce any possible chemical hindrance to the Bermuda grass.

Although many herbicides are labeled safe to spray on dormant Bermuda grass, all herbicides in general affect anything they are applied to regardless. Plants that are “safe,” merely metabolize the active ingredient better than other plants and are thus not damaged. However, not killing a plant is one thing, but forcing a plant to metabolize a chemical when the grass is already weak (from a tough winter) and not growing (dormancy) can lead to slower recovery. This was the reasoning behind skipping this past year’s application.

Now that we made it through a season much healthier, we will resume limited spot treatments on tees to eradicate the weeds this winter. To ensure the Bermuda grass is in its most dormant state, we will wait until later in the winter to begin. Applications will be made with a backpack sprayer and will only treat the weeds, rather than a broadcast spray that would hit target and non-target surfaces. While this is certainly the slower of the two methods, it will result in less chemical use as well as less stress on the Bermuda grass.

The weeds on the tees are unsightly. We are aware of the issue and will be implementing a recovery plan as soon as possible.

As a reminder, we are only posting once per month from November thru February.

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

Please don’t play on greens that are partially or completely covered in snow.

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

Deep tine aeration

Today we will be deep tine aerating the greens. This is the final cultural practice of the season for the greens, but one that has an impact for the entire year.

This process is similar to other aeration procedures in that holes are made in the greens. However, the important aspect of this particular occurrence is the depth at which we go down. The tines are 10 inches long and reach into the soil about 7-8”. At this depth, the tines drive well past any layers, compaction, or other soil problems that may have accumulated in the upper profile. We have been performing this deep tine aeration regularly since 2015 and you can read our initial post covering the topic here.

As another benefit, water and oxygen can penetrate much deeper into the soil profile also. This is great for drainage over the winter, when there is more water that needs to move through the profile because less evaporates. Roots find their way down into these newly created deep channels as well and deeper roots lead to healthier plants.

Finally, after the aeration, we will roll the greens and topdress them with sand. Topdressing with sand is not something we have consistently done during this deep tine aeration process in the past. We will spread a medium layer of sand across the green and drag the sand so that it falls into the holes created by the machine. This is a critical step that we started last year and will continue regularly. Allowing the sand to fall into the hole and accumulate several inches below the surface ensures that access to deeper soil layers stays open for water movement and root growth.

Impacting the surface of the greens every 2-3 months with one type of cultural practice or another keeps the greens performing at their best. After a full year of multiple activities, we have arrived at our last for the season.

As a reminder, we are only posting once per month from November thru February.

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

Please stay off all grass surfaces during a frost delay.

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

Another bunker renovation update

We continue to move forward on our bunker work. Although there have been some slow periods of progress, we are nearly complete on #14.

Waiting for sod has been our biggest challenge, as we discussed last week. However, 3 of 4 bunkers have now been sodded and the grass for the last bunker is on site and ready to be laid. We will get the last bunker wrapped up early this week.

This is another example of the sand build-up
around the edges of the bunker. The red line
to the right is where the bunker edge
was before we started working. The red line
to the left is where the original bunker edge
was constructed. 

Another view of the sand build-up.

Once all the grass is down, we will give the new sod a few days to root into the soil before we spread the bunker sand back out. This keeps the bunker as Ground Under Repair and minimizes the foot traffic on the new sod. It is especially important that golfers don’t attempt to climb up the steep face of the bunker because the new sod will not easily support the effort.

As we wait to reposition the sand on #14, we will head down #15 and begin moving sand and removing old sod on all the bunkers on #15. The process will be exactly the same and as the Grounds staff gets more comfortable with all the steps, it should be faster as well.

As a side note, our green deep tine aeration is currently scheduled for 11/18. This is something we added to our agronomic program several years ago and you can read more about it here.

Also, November thru February will have only one post each per month. Thank you 

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

Now that it is legal to leave the flag in for putting, please be extra conscious to not damage the lip of the cup when retrieving your ball.

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

Bunker renovation update

We have been working on the renovation of #14 bunkers for just under a week. The project has been moving along very good. Our first load of sod is coming as soon as possible, so some of the exposed soil will be covered.

Stripping away the old sod

Unfortunately, an issue that we will face this year that we have not faced in other bunker renovation projects, is the availability of sod. Normally, we have a sod supplier that is just down the road from us. We can have sod delivered, but we normally go pick it up ourselves, which saves a delivery fee. We also can get it quickly if needed. For example, say we finish our other work early and have time to do some sod work. We could call up the sod farm, order, and be back with some sod in less than an hour total.

A finished edge of the bunker. The
old sod and built up sand has been
removed.

This year, however, this local sod farm is out of sod for the season. Due to the extensive rain last year, their fields of sod for the upcoming years did not mature well. The field that they used this year is now empty and they don't want to sell immature turf. So they have stopped selling for the season. This means we have to order our sod from another supplier that we trust. But this supplier is on the eastern shore of Maryland. It takes much more coordination to get the sod here when we need it. We also try to split the delivery fee with someone else who wants sod around the same time as us, so only one truck has to come for both companies.

Removing the built up sand around the
edges of the bunker.

This arrangement works, but it may lead to exposed soil slightly longer than we would normally like. However, we will do our best to keep every step of the process as short as possible.

Thank you for your patience.

Also, November thru February will have only one post each per month. Thank you 

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

Now that it is legal to leave the flag in for putting, please be extra conscious to not damage the lip of the cup when retrieving your ball.

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

Bunker renovation preview

Features on a golf course have an expected life that they can last. Tees and greens can last many years. Fairways even longer. But bunkers’ expected life is much shorter because of the shifting sand, debris clogging drains, and creeping in of sod edges. Typically, we try to keep our bunker renovation on a 5-8 year timeline. This year (and actually started last week) we are renovating the bunkers on holes 14, 15, and 16.

The yellow paint line indicates how far out
from the bunker we will cut
and remove sod.

We will continue to post updates as the work progresses. This is a process we have already carried out on all the bunkers on holes 4-9. You can read specifically about the work on #7, starting with an overview here, and a recap with many pictures here.

The biggest issue for bunkers is the way that the sand gets into the sod edge and gradually the edge moves in closer to the middle of the bunker. The shape of the bunker can change as well as the overall size. There is also a pronounced build up of a lip immediately around the edge. These are all detrimental to the playability of the bunker and are the key factors to determining when a bunker needs to be redone.

At the bottom of the picture you can see
some tan Bermuda grass, just
inside the yellow line, that we will be able
to remove during the project.

Occasionally, the bunker sand in a particular bunker may also be so contaminated with finer particles that it no longer drains properly. The water gets hung up in this thicker material and sits in the bunker much longer than it should. This requires the total removal and replacement of the sand. Luckily, we don’t see this issue in any of the bunkers we are working on this year.

For this year's work, we will be removing the old sod around the bunkers. We then scrape away the built up sand and soil that was not originally part of the bunker shape and remove it.

Lastly, after we have re-established the proper edge of the bunkers, we put down new sod. With this new sod, we can remove poorly performing areas of green surround rough and replace with fresh, healthy turf, and remove patches of Bermuda grass. Some bunkers require

more sod to be laid around them than others, depending on how many other issues may surround a bunker.

This will be weeks-long project, with the bunkers we are currently working on being temporary Ground Under Repair. Thank you for your patience.

Also, November thru February will have only one post each per month. Thank you 

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

Now that it is legal to leave the flag in for putting, please be extra conscious to not damage the lip of the cup when retrieving your ball.

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

Drought

Notice the ring of brown grass around the tree.
From the base of the tree out past the drip line,
the tree roots are out-competing the grass roots
for water.

September was a very dry month. One of the driest over the last two years. It has been a while since we have discussed what happens when it is very dry.

At this time last year, we were discussing how wet it was. 2018 was a record year for rainfall throughout the area. Water was seeping out of the ground across the property. Our mowing schedules were all out of whack and we had several storms damage bunkers and the soccer complex.

While the ground water was certainly replenished by all that rain, the surface can dry out again. This is where we find ourselves right now. We would love to be able to store up rain from a wet time and use it in a dry time, but it doesn’t work this way. September was a time we could have used some extra rain. We finished 3” under our normal rain totals for the month.

One of the first things you can notice as the soil dries out, is the brown grass underneath trees. Tree roots compete with grass roots for the same water. Tree roots are larger, more extensive and more capable of extracting the water, so they win the battle. The result is drought stressed grass.

An example of how dry the soil is. The brown
lines veering off to the left is where the
old cart path used to be. It is visible
now because of how dry it is.

We also must heavily rely on our irrigation system when conditions are this dry. Our system is very capable, but any system would show inefficiencies when used this much. Having to irrigate as frequently as we have recently, overly wet and dry areas start to appear. Certain areas that have irrigation coverage from more than one sprinkler start to get soggy. We adjust how long certain sprinklers will be on, coordinate to only run one or another at any given time, and rotate through our irrigation programs, but problems still arise. Similarly, areas that receive poor coverage from sprinklers can also continue to be dry. To combat this, we will run the sprinklers that best impact the dry area for extra time, or multiple times in a day. But no irrigation system has coverage and consistency like rain.

We were extremely wet last year and now the pendulum has swung back in the other direction. We look forward to some upcoming showers and hope that we get out of the drastic weather shifts.

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

Now that it is legal to leave the flag in for put

ting, please be extra conscious to not damage the lip of

the cup when retrieving your ball.

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

#17 green drainage project recap

We wrapped up our drainage project on #17 green last week. Things went as planned and on schedule.

You can read about the plan we executed in last week's blog. Basically, we have a very poorly draining, small section of #17 green. Over the last several years as the intensity and volume of rainstorms have increased, the condition of the turf has declined. We decided it was time to insert drainage into this area.

Here are pictures outlining the process:

Removal of grass from green.

Using trencher to cut into green.

Completed trench being cleaned out.

More trench cleaning.

The original gravel layer of the green. It
was buried over 17 inches deep.

You can see our aerification channels
extending down into the old
native soil. (White vertical lines)

Trench with pipe and gravel complete.

This shows the gravel base, pipe, more
gravel, and the sand over top.

Ready for sod to be replaced on trench.

A partially completed trench.

Replacing sod on trench.

Partially repaired trench sod.

Continuing to replace trench sod.

Trench leading to drain behind green.

Working on trench to existing drain.

Replacing and tamping soil on trench
that leads to drain in rough.

Sod replaced on trench in rough.

Sod complete on rough trench

Finished

Finished

Once we get the sod level on the green and consistent with the rest of the putting surface, the right side of #17 green will be usable like any other area. 

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

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

#17 green drainage project

The drainage project on #17 green starts today. We will be inserting two short drain lines into the green to alleviate the severe water retention problem on the right side of the green.

A shot of water sitting on the green
after a storm

The far-right side of #17 green has 4 small pockets that are very low elevation compared to the remainder of the green. These spots also perform very poorly internally draining water after nearly all rainstorms. Many of you have probably seen standing water on this green after storms. And most of you have likely seen our very large fan out blowing directly on this side of the green. We have struggled, especially in the last two years with keeping grass alive in these specific spots. The soil is waterlogged, and the roots of the grass plants cannot get enough oxygen. The result is turf death.

An example of the damage caused
by excessive soil moisture in
the summer

We have attempted to raise the profile of these low spots by adding additional sand every time that we topdress, but the deficit in height is too great to make up in this way. We have also attempted additional aeration of these areas to allow water to infiltrate and percolate better through the soil profile. But again, we were not able to improve the movement of water significantly enough. We are left with adding internal drainage to the green as the only other viable solution.

We will install 2 drain lines, one each running through the worst areas of the green. The two lines will meet in the rough behind the green, reduce to one line and then run to an existing drain. We will trench into the green, place pipe in the bottom, cover with gravel and then sand, and then replace the existing sod. Though we will be deliberate and especially cautious because we are working on a green, the process is not complicated and it is not a large scale project. While we will lose time and labor to maintain the rest of the course as we work on the project, we do not expect it to take longer than a week.

A rough drawing of how the drain lines will be cut into the green

Please be aware that we will be working during play and that the right side of #17 green will be ground under repair throughout the duration of the project.

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

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

Early order

Every year around this time we have a busy tournament schedule, busy work schedule, but we are also busy planning for the next season.

We don’t wait to think about what we could do different until this time of year. When something positive or negative happens, when we have a new idea, or just want to try something, we make a note immediately. When we can, we make changes during the current season. However, once the heat of the summer has subsided, from September forward, provides a great time for consolidating all those thoughts and laying out a sketch of how we want to tackle the next season. This includes planning our chemical program.

September is our start to the budget season. Supplies, labor, projects, and chemical budgets are all projected. Lucky for us, October is also the month that our chemical and fertilizer suppliers have designated as the time for early orders. We order a vast majority of our chemical and fertilizer needs for the next year in bulk during October. The companies make it well worth our time to place our orders in October, providing anywhere from 4-16% rebates per company depending on which items are selected and quantities purchased. Often, products are also cheaper than there in-season price at this time too.

Like building a budget of any kind, we work methodically through scenarios for the upcoming season. We know exactly what we used in the current year, we have a general idea about what the weather will be like at certain times (May probably rainy, July will be hot, etc.), and we know what changes we want to make.

Where this planning is especially pertinent is with our chemical program. We project nearly every single application we will make for the entire upcoming season, right now. We select chemicals that will provide protection against the diseases we know we will have at various points during the year. We know precisely the size of the areas that we will be spraying and can thus calculate the total volume per application. Then, taking the number of applications we make to a certain location and how much of a certain product is used in each application, we can calculate the total volume of each product for the season. Doing this for every product that we will use gives us our budget. Even better, this also shows us what we need to order early.

We do leave room in the budget for unexpected situations. Sometimes a disease is abundant in a season and we may need more of a specific chemical. So, we don’t spend all our allotted money right now. But making our purchases now is convenient, cost-effective, and takes a lot of the guess work out of the next year.

Having a framework for the next year is helpful to anyone who needs to create a budget. The same is true for the Grounds department. We are also able to save a significant amount of money by using that framework to quantify our chemical needs and order early.

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

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

Tournaments, leaves, and frost

We are nearing the end of summer officially, though there are a couple of 90-degree days in the forecast still. We are looking forward to a busy upcoming golf schedule and the start of leaf cleanup, greatly reduced Bermuda grass maintenance, and frost days.

We continue to maintain the course at a high level for the September tournament schedule. The Stroke Play Championship wrapped up this past weekend and Men’s Member Guest comes soon. As soon as we get past that, we will be decreasing the maintenance of the Bermuda grass. Although we make Spring Dead Spot chemical treatments and specific fertilizer applications, the best program for the Bermuda grass is to stop beating it up. As strange as it is to think about, because it is so routine, mowing is damaging to turf grass. The plants do become accustomed to the practice, but the overall wear and tear adds up. Just the weight of the machines is a stress factor. This is true for every type of grass, but we work to protect the Bermuda grass more so than the other species come fall. Therefore, we raise the mowing height, drastically reduce the frequency of mowing, and let the Bermuda grass plant naturally prepare for winter. This also helps us redirect our labor to leaves.

Leaf cleanup hasn’t truly started, though we have had the blowers out a few times now; the worst is still to come. Working to stay on top of the leaves is one of the most trying times of the year. The sheer volume, the wind alternately working with and against us, and attempting to stay out of the way of golfers all makes for a long fall.

Lastly, here is an early-bird warning on frost delays: they are coming! We will post a more in-depth piece about frost later. But just as the grass must start preparing early for cold temperatures, golfers should start preparing early for frost delays. There may not be frost at your house, there may not be frost on the grass near the Proshop, but if there is frost on the golf course that will be damaged by play, we will stall the first tee times.

Early morning on the course looking back down #10 and
across to #1. No frost yet!

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

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

Green surround rough

We continue to battle the rough surrounding the greens. We are in a better position this year than years’ past, but we still have a long way to go.

We have written before about the deficiencies in the irrigation system. There are also some issues with the irrigation around the greens. The sprinklers water in arcs, aimed away from the greens. The specific rough sprinklers are adjustable, to keep extra, unwanted water from hitting the greens. However, there is an inherent problem with the entire setup: the edges of the arc are straight lines that do not wrap around the curves of the greens. What we are left with is some small and some large triangles of grass that receive no irrigation.

A crude representation of #7 green. The blue
lines represent the straight lines at the
end of the sprinkler arc. The red shows where
the water does not hit. We hand water the red areas.

To combat this, we instituted a hand watering program. This year we spent more time hand watering than we have in any other year. By using a hose and watering the first 10 feet of rough surrounding the green, we saw a definite improvement. However, we are unable to water on every single “irrigation day” (days without rain and separated from previous rainstorm). We watered 2-3 days per week as needed throughout the season and it helped improve the rough, but it was still short of ideal. We don’t currently have the man-power to water every single day required. The rough held up much longer but by the end of the long summer, it is beginning to decline again. We will continue the hand watering effort and look for creative ways to accomplish the watering while still completing all other necessary tasks.

We also will be seeding the rough again this year. Seeding is another of our programs that has helped conditions. We use tall fescue seed which is heat and drought tolerant. As we incorporate more tall fescue, the percentage of other, weaker grasses is lowered. As the weaker grasses are eliminated, more healthy grass remains through the season.

Lastly, we think there may be a previously undetected or newly arrived insect hurting the rough as well. The Annual Bluegrass weevil is a very destructive pest on our collars and sometimes greens. It has become one of the most devastating pests in the entire Mid-Atlantic and East Coast. It is not supposed to eat the roots of taller grass like rough. Our greens are almost entirely Poa annua, or Annual bluegrass, which it loves and finds readily. We also have annual bluegrass in the rough, which it may be using as a supplement. We are not finished testing this theory yet, and may not find definitive proof this season, however we have reason to believe this pest may be doing just enough feeding to aid in the collapse of some of the turf around the greens. Thus, we will be making a few adjustments to our pesticide program for next season as well as increasing our monitoring in the rough.

We are not making excuses, nor do we think the problem is solved. We continue to tweak our programs and adjust based on past observations and current conditions. We are working on the issues regarding the rough around the greens in order to make as good as it should be.

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

USGA Mid-Amateur and a look ahead

This week we take a look back and look forward.

Last week Bretton Woods was the site of a local qualifying tournament for the USGA Mid-Amateur. It was a tough stretch of weather, but the Grounds staff and the course performed well.  100+ of the top amateur players in the area played and, by most accounts, everyone loved the course. The rain and thunderstorms made for an eventful lead-up as well as conclusion. There was a playoff, which was then interrupted by the day’s second storm, then postponed due to darkness. The players then returned early the next morning to resume where they left off: in the middle of 18 fairway. It was an exciting end to an exciting day (and the next morning!).

Morning of the Mid-Am

Morning of the Mid-Am

Morning of the Mid-Am

Hopefully the weather doesn’t impact September’s schedule quite as much. Coming up over the next month, we have a busy event schedule. Several outings are booked in September. The Stroke Play Championship is decided on the first weekend after Labor Day. Also, coming this month are the Men’s and Women’s Member-Guest or Member-Member or Guest Days. Regardless of their title, these two events are important dates for the Grounds staff. Lastly, sandwiched in among everything else is the IMF Multi-Sport Day, which is another busy day for the Grounds department and the entire staff of Bretton Woods. We will be preparing golf, mini golf, soccer, basketball, volleyball, badminton, and several other sports for participation that day.

Finally, once all the dust settles from this, we will turn our attention to fall projects. We will be inserting drainage into the far-right side of 17 green, stripping and re-sodding bunker edges on holes 14, 15, 16, and 17, and seeding rough.

 The drainage project is overdue. 17 green has struggled with excessive moisture for the last 2 years and we will be making the necessary corrections.

The bunker work will be identical to fall bunker work we have done in the past. You can read about 

that work and our process here, here, and here. This scope will consist of all the bunkers on #14 and 16, plus greenside bunkers only on holes 15 and 17. These holes were all renovated 5 years ago now and bunkers last between 5-7 years. Because we don’t have unlimited funds or a large staff, we break up the bunkers to be done over the course of several years, based on when they were renovated last.

We will cover each of these projects more extensively in subsequent blogs. Needless to say, we have a lot planned over the next couple of months.

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