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

Bunker repair

Although our last major rainstorm was 2 weeks ago, we are just getting the pictures out showing exactly what the bunkers look like following the rain. It takes a team effort to get them back into playing shape.

The brown silt on the surface must be
removed. Sand movement from
the edges can also be seen.

Initially as the rain falls, the bunkers can handle a great deal of water. However, as large storms dump more and more, eventually there is so much water coming down the bunker faces, flowing in from other areas, or puddling in the bottom, that the sand starts to shift. First, it sloughs off the edges but stays relatively close to its origin. But with additional water, the sand starts to shift and collect near the center (or lowest point) of the bunker.

As the sand recedes from the edges, bare soil is exposed. As rushing water and falling rain interact with the soil, it begins to erode. Being finer than the sand, and thus, lighter, it settles on top.

Once the rain stops and the puddles drain, a disheveled bunker is what is left. Soil has contaminated the sand and the sand is not where it is supposed to be. Shifted sand from rain is one of the leading causes of improper sand depths in bunkers and is why we must constantly check and move sand around.

Our cleanup process starts by blowing out any debris that has also collected in the bunker. Heavy rains often come with wind; falling leaves and branches may land in the bunker or be carried there by flowing water. We do not want to bury any of this organic material in the sand, so it is cleared away first.

Next, we must remove the silt that was deposited on top of the sand. As bunkers age, they drain slower. Contaminated sand is the reason for this decline. The finer particles of silt and soil intermix with the larger sand particles, locking tight, and preventing water infiltration and percolation. We carefully scrape just the top layer of sand/silt mix away leaving only clean sand. The layer we remove is hauled away and used as scrap dirt.

The sand near the front of this bunker moved
several feet into the center. It must be pushed
back to the edge.

Once the sand is clean, we start to move it back from where it came. Using shovels, our bunker machine with a small blade attachment, and rakes, we get the sand back up on the edges and spread around evenly.

It's easy to explain, but this process is very labor intensive and difficult. Some bunkers handle storms better than others. Factors such as age, location, and surrounding topography all play a role. Repair work can take 10-20 minutes per bunker. We have 71 bunkers, so this is a major undertaking involving the entire staff each time it rains heavily.

Although a hazard, bunkers take up a large portion of labor. When Mother Nature intervenes, they can become even more difficult to maintain.

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

Another Bermuda grass update

It is about time we deliver another update on the Bermuda grass. Lots of work and even more help from Mother Nature has the Bermuda grass performing at its best. We are not quite where we want to be, but the turf is trending in the right direction.

We have completed two seeding cycles thus far and will start our third this week. You can read about the process here. Each time, we added a bit more seed, sand and compost to the areas to promote more healing. The seeding has worked. We have seen several areas with new Bermuda grass growing in them. This third time around the course will most likely be our last as we will need to shift into Bermuda grass dormancy (!!) preparation.

Small Bermuda grass seedlings. 

While we have been pleased with the seeding efforts and results, nothing compares to the growth capabilities of healthy Bermuda grass and some warm weather. July was the hottest month on record, ever, and our region was no exception. While some of our turf can’t stand that kind of heat, the Bermuda grass thrives on it. Throw in some timely rain/irrigation and it’s off to the races in terms of growth. Many of the damaged areas have seen their healing aided from this growth. The surrounding Bermuda grass encroaches on these weak areas and fills them in on its own, with no help from the seed. We continue to fertilize the weak areas, and this too helps the Bermuda grass fill in.

Bermuda grass moving in from the outside. The
thick stalks that are pointing in towards
the sand are runners from surrounding turf.

We are slowly removing the small green and white stakes that denote the trouble spots. We are mowing more and more healthy fairway turf. With a warm August and possibly into Fall, we should near 100% healthy turf. We will continue to work hard on our end to get where we need to be.

Thank you for your patience.

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

#16 green damage

Sometimes despite our best intentions and our best efforts, we still fall short of our expectations. This past week we aerated greens and the process went quite smoothly. However, the weather was too good: it was hotter than we would have liked. We did not manage the heat as well as we needed to and a section of #16 green suffered.

Unfortunately, the aeration process is labor intensive, slow (unless you have an army of staff and equipment), and tasks must be completed in a certain order. The problem for #16 green was that it sat exposed for a long time while each step of the process was completed on other holes. We reached #16 as quickly as we could have considering, but with the heat already taking its toll, by the time we were ready to apply water, some of the turf had already been severely stressed. The result is some loss of grass, some heavily injured grass that will slowly recover, and some grass that only slightly wilted and has started to recover.

We have already taken steps to regain control of the situation. First, aeration itself, while partly to blame, will also aid in some recovery, relieving some stress on the surrounding turf. Also, we will be even more closely monitoring the moisture of this particular area to make sure no further drought conditions occur. A fertilizer application has already been made, with others to follow. We will seed bent grass into the damaged areas to re-establish grass. We will closely manage the equipment traffic, keeping all unnecessary machines off the damaged turf.

Lastly, one saving grace is the specific location of the damage. The very back of #16 green is one of the least utilized areas of the green, partly because of the mound in the back right. This is not a place that we can put a pin because of the slopes. The back left is usable, but we can keep yellow flags off this area or reduce the frequency with which they occur. It is also not a high traffic area, i.e., no one walks to the next hole across this spot, so golfer traffic should be minimal.

The loss of grass is below our expectations as well as yours. Rest assured, we will do everything possible to recover as quickly as possible.

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