Bermuda grass discussion

There have been some mild days lately, but overall the pattern has been cooler than normal. This has hampered the progression of the Bermuda grass. You must dig into the canopy to find green tissue, but it is there, and we expect over the next several weeks to see more.

Our weather subscription service noted that this past March was the coldest since at least 1996, with the final tally not quite yet determined. Regardless of what the outcome is, March was colder than normal. In the past we have seen green Bermuda grass as early as February, and certainly in mid-March. Not this year. The first green wasn’t seen until the third week of March and that took several minutes to find.

Another component of dormant Bermuda grass and its transition in the spring is managing weeds. You will notice many more weeds in our tees and fairways this year compared to the last several years. Unfortunately, this is due in part to the sod that was laid. Sod production and movement plays an integral part in pests of all types moving from one place to another, in our case weeds to our fairways. Due to the immaturity of the sod, we elected to not treat the weeds over the winter and instead will be treating in the next couple of weeks (weather dependent). In the short term, this means more visible weeds, but in the long term we hope it was beneficial to the overall health of the

Bermuda grass to not have two herbicides sprayed on it.

A picture of a weed infested area next to
a clear area on #5 fairway.

The same picture as on the left, with the
separation between weeds and weed-free
delineated with a red line. Mother nature
does not grow weeds in straight lines
like this. The weedy are was an area where sod was
laid last year.

This picture is from last year, just prior to the sod
being laid on #5 fairway. Looking closely, you can
follow a very similar line matching
where the new sod will be laid
and where the existing sod remained. This
corresponds to the same area in the
above picture.

Another angle of the same section of #5 fairway
where new sod had just been laid. Again, the same
lines are visible that match where weeds
are currently growing.

A slightly zoomed in shot of the above picture showing the
sod lines a little better.

Another current photo of weeds in #5 fairway.

The same photo as at left, with the weed-free area
marked out in red. 

We do not see any of the signs of last years devastation from the winter. While we can’t asses completely how well the Bermuda grass fared until it truly starts to green up, we are optimistic.

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