Upcoming Bermuda grass plans

The cold weather (and 2 especially cold nights) have really disrupted the green-up of the Bermuda grass. Nevertheless, the Bermuda was off to a good start and has only been delayed not reversed. So, several key agronomic practices for the Bermuda grass will take place in the next few weeks.

The spring had been kind to the Bermuda grass up until 4/17. We had an overnight low of 28 degrees. It was a shock to the tender, new growth. Some of the fairways turned almost completely brown again. While this will not kill the Bermuda grass, it certainly set its progress back a couple of weeks. On top of that, we also had two more cold overnights, one of 32 degrees and one of 34 degrees. Simultaneously, the daytime highs have only been in the mid to upper 50’s.

The Bermuda grass will bounce back and based on the conditions before the cold snap, it looks as though it weathered the winter very well. In order to aid its progress and improve its health, we will be making our annual spring compost application this week. We have been doing this for several years now and have finally settled on a winning combination of timing and product. The product we use is fine enough to fall into the canopy, but not dust that just blows away. We have also had great luck with making a light application in the spring and then a slightly heavier application in the late summer.

The compost will give a boost to the Bermuda grass in the near and long term. It will help warm the top layer of soil slightly, which any warmth for the Bermuda grass is a plus. It will give a small, quick boost of fertility. But the overall point of the compost is to aid in reduction of spring dead spot, the most devastating disease for our Bermuda grass, and all indications are that the compost is having a very beneficial effect. So far this season, we are seeing the fewest patches of spring dead spot of any of the last several years.

In the next few weeks, we will also slice the Bermuda grass. Again, this is another practice we have been doing for several years (2015; 2017; 2019). The results have continued to impress. It is a minimally disruptive way to indicate to the Bermuda grass that it is time to get going! With our slow-release fertilizer already in place, the new growth will have all the food it needs. Getting a little warmth and rain from Mother Nature (or irrigation from us!) and the Bermuda grass will be set up for a good summer.

The cold weather was a hurdle for the Bermuda grass, but not a roadblock. A few inputs and practices from us and the turf will be ready for the season.

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

In addition to repairing your own ball mark on every green, please repair at least one other as well.

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

What are we behind on?

How has the virus affected the Grounds staff thus far? We are all healthy, but some work was pushed back. We had a layoff of 18 days where our staff did not come in to work. We then slowly added hours back into rotation. We are starting this week back to regular hours but are behind in a few areas.

The flower/landscape beds on the course were weeded and edged in early March. Then we lost the staff and we were unable to continue working on the beds. Weeds have reemerged and we have not been able to spray them yet. We also have not been able to freshen up the wood chip mulch in any of the flower beds either. There are some washed out areas from heavy rains, places where the mulch has just deteriorated over time, and there are a couple of new beds that need mulch added for the first time.

We also got an early start on the clubhouse landscapes and then were interrupted. Weeds have begun to infiltrate in these flower beds. Now that our staff is starting back to a full schedule, we will make weeding the clubhouse beds a priority. There are also no flowers in at clubhouse right now. We pulled our winter flowers out, but it has been too cold to plant our summer flowers. We have them here on site and are waiting until after the last frost to get them in the ground.

Lastly, one other aspect on which we are behind is general course cleanup. There have been several windy days over the last month and many sticks have blown down. Other than cleaning off greens to mow, we have not spent much time at all picking up and removing this debris. This will be a continual process, as it always is, but we are getting off to a slower start than usual.

The staff layoff we had was 18 days. We still completed some very basic work to keep the semblance of a golf course, but that was it. This inevitably led to some things being skipped or delayed. We will work very hard to get back on track, but when golfers return, there may be a few aspects of the course below our standard.

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

In addition to repairing your own ball mark on every green, please repair at least one other as well.

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

Spring progress

The Grounds staff started back last week on a limited schedule. We eased back into being around one another again, while still maintaining our distance. So far everything has progressed well, and we will be increasing hours this week, looking towards the following week to resume our regular schedule. It is just in time to be getting everything back in gear (safely) because the grass is growing, and the pool area needs work.

The golf course is off to an above average start. The Bermuda grass is greening up nicely across the course. There are a few areas of concern, but nothing like we have seen in the past either in severity or distribution. Even these bad areas look better than they have before and are showing signs of life. The cold stretch we entered at the end of last week and look to possibly dip in and out of for this week also, will slow the Bermuda grass progress though. It may even take some of the color out of the grass, but it won’t injure it permanently.

Likewise, the rough has come out strong. We have put an initial cut on rough immediately adjacent to fairways, about 30 yards on each side, to get started. We will get a complete mowing on everything starting this week. We have also made our first cut on green surrounds, with tee surrounds to be done this week also.

2 weeks ago we discussed the minimum maintenance programs we needed to complete while the staff was off. Each of those things has been completed or continued: our seed head control applications continue on schedule with above average results; the pre-emergent weed control has been applied to all areas of rough; the post-emergent herbicide has been applied to the Bermuda grass; and our first 

Annual Bluegrass weevil insecticide application has been made to the greens.

Taken early last week, this shot looks from 12 green back
down the fairway. There is another 5-10% more green Bermuda
grass now than in this picture.

Looking forward, our focus will be on the pool area. As discussed, we must expect a reopening at some point, and we intend to be ready. We will continue to clean the pool grounds and lay new sod. The pool covers were taken off last week. The remaining work will take our staff several hours each day once we finish our morning tasks on the golf course.

The Grounds staff looks forward to getting back to a normal schedule and working hard. We are mindful of balancing safety and maintenance and preparing for our eventual reopening.

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

In addition to repairing your own ball mark on every green, please repair at least one other as well.

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

Staff return

We continue to adjust on the fly as the coronavirus pandemic rolls along. This week we are bringing our staff back on a limited schedule so that we do not fall too far behind in maintenance of the property.

We will be taking things one week at a time, but for now we will have just a few guys a day so that we are not gathered as a full staff in a group. Those few staff members will keep their social distancing habits and will work alone whenever possible. We will sanitize often-touched surfaces in and around our shop and equipment.

Minimum maintenance will still be the goal. We are lucky that the Bermuda grass is not in need of daily attention, but several other aspects of the course are now. We have made it this far without having to mow the rough, but it is now to the point that it must be cut. We have also skipped raking bunkers over the last couple of weeks. But allowing them to sit unattended much longer will make them much more difficult to get back into shape. Lastly, we must get the pool grounds ready for the summer. While a pool opening date is uncertain, we still must prepare by removing the covers, cleaning up debris from the winter, and laying new sod in several areas.

It is our goal to accomplish these tasks while keeping our staff as safe as possible. However, the grass does not stop growing and it is time to start tackling our spring to-do list.

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

In addition to repairing your own ball mark on every green, please repair at least one other as well.

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