August update

 

We continue to battle the rain. We had to reschedule aeration and we are falling behind on mowing. Here are a few updates on what is happening: 

1.       We are now at 11.5” of rain since July 22^nd. Some heat has continued, and overnights have not been cool yet either. This has not allowed for true recovery of turf yet. It also severely hampers what we can do on the course. Heavy mowers must be very strategic just to cut something. Cutting all the rough has been virtually impossible. Greens, tees, and fairways are also very difficult to maintain when they are that wet. We will continue to work hard to get things back under control.

2.       Though we had to reschedule aeration, the new dates went well. We were able to complete all our tasks, on time and without major interruptions. Compost was applied to the Bermuda grass as well and now healing can begin.

3.       We have started to work on recovery for the poor areas on greens and collars. All the bad spots on the greens have now been seeded. Another round of seeding will be done in a few weeks. This week we will also start seeding the collars.

4.       In between rains at the end of the week we were also able to aerate both soccer fields and seed the upper field. This is the time of year that we regularly close the upper field for an extended period of maintenance. Aeration, seeding, and sod where necessary are all part of the plan. In normal years, it also provides a break from play for the field after a long spring and summer. The field reopens in early September refreshed and ready for the fall season.

5.       Lastly, here are a few pictures to follow up from the discussion a few weeks ago. We tried to mow greens when they were borderline too wet. We came across a wet area on the chipping green that is not normally wet, it was mowed, and scalped. That was the determining factor for deciding not to mow any more that day. We expected the turf to suffer, and it has. The point, though, is that spots similar to these could have been on every green instead of just the chipping green (though we do have bad areas on other greens, most are not directly a result of mowing the turf when it was to wet). So, the greens were long, and putted very poorly. But most of the turf did not suffer like in these pictures.

It continues to be a difficult stretch of weather and turf conditions. We are committed to continuing the repair effort and dealing with whatever Mother Nature gives us.

 

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

Please be conscious to not cut corners with your golf cart. The inside edges of turns are easily worn out after repeated traffic.

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