Leaf discussion

 

We are knee deep in leave cleanup right now. A few cold days have triggered the process and leaves are falling across the property. We do not so much try to stay ahead of the leaves as much as we try not to get buried.

Windy days (we have had several), rainy days (only a couple), warm days (above average for October), or cold days (some) can all contribute to leaves falling off the trees. At this time of year, sometimes looking at the leaves will make them fall. This makes managing the cleanup particularly difficult.

You can read more about our overall process here, but here are a few things to keep in mind:

• ·        If it is frosty or wet, we may have to wait until later in the day or for another day entirely before we can resume cleanup. Similarly, if it is windy, trying to corral the leaves is nearly impossible. We may choose to skip trying to clean the playing surfaces until a calmer day. So, playing through leaves may happen.
• ·        Blowers will be running for several hours or more each day. They cannot stop for every golfer that is within earshot or we would never finish. The same is true for the vacuum. Please be patient.
• ·        We make piles for the vacuum in the most efficient places. For example, blowing a large amount of leaves the entire length of a hole does not make sense. We make the pile where most of the leaves are already located. Sometimes this will be near the line of play and balls can easily be lost in the piles. Unfortunately, this is a fact of fall golf. We will make every attempt to keep our piles away from play as much as possible.
• ·        Lastly, while leaf cleanup overwhelmingly dominates our course prep attention, we do have other tasks we are trying to accomplish (e.g. #3 and #17 bunker work). We must balance our efforts.

Blowing leaves can be frustrating (a big gust of wind comes and completely undoes your pile!) but keeping the course clean is the goal. It takes several weeks to work thru most of the leaves and we are amid the worst of it now. Thank you for your patience.

 

Also, our bunker renovation work is progressing well. #17 has been completely sodded. Look for the greenside bunkers to open early this week and the fairway bunker to follow likely by the end of the week. Work has already shifted to #3 and we will follow the same process as #17. The final bunker that we will work on this year will be the practice bunker at the Chipping green.

 

Starting in November, and running thru February, we will reduce our posts to once per month. Thank you.

 

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

Frost discussion

It is frost season again. We have been lucky that we have had very few cold mornings so far, and the ones we have had have not resulted in extended delays. Nevertheless, it will happen soon, and everyone should be prepared (More reading to be found here, here, and here.)

Frost is frustrating for everyone- especially the Grounds department. Our ability to prepare the course is reduced or eliminated entirely, all the frosted turf is susceptible to damage, and trying to manage the golfer’s expectations along with the weather is difficult.

We make every effort possible to provide the best conditions each day. This does not mean conditions are the same every day- the course will not play the same on a rainy spring day as it does on a dry, early summer day- but our goal is to make each day the best it can be. All our maintenance is aimed at improving turf health and providing good conditions. Frost makes this particularly difficult.

Typically, a frosty morning happens before a day of nice weather and busy golf course. We have lots of people wanting to enjoy the course and the Grounds department is not able to adequately prepare the course due to the delay. We achieve everything we can, but sometimes it is not feasible to fit an entire morning of maintenance in between when the frost lifts and when golfers are ready to play. This is hard to manage.

We also must be weary of causing damage to the turfgrass. We must wait also. While our time is not wasted while we wait (there are ALWAYS things to do!), we still are not able to start our regular morning routine. We cannot get our machines on the grass and most times we cannot even walk on the grass (the exception being when the frost is in some areas but not others). Protecting the turf is important, so we wait just like the golfers. All of this comes to a head when the frost starts to break: we hurry out and try to get the course prepared as quickly as possible, but we also try to let the golfers go at the earliest possible moment. Care must be taken not to rush back onto the grass though.

We cannot control the weather- including frost. We want the delay to be as short as possible just like the golfers. Educating everyone on the reasons for the delay can help in tempering golfer’s expectations of when they may get to play. We walk a tightrope between what we want to accomplish, letting everyone enjoy the course, but protecting it also.

 

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

Upcoming tree work

Keeping up on tree maintenance is a never-ending task. Trimming and removals require time, labor, and expertise. We contract this work out so that it is done efficiently and effectively.

Over the next few weeks, we will be working on trimming select trees as well as removing dead trees on holes 5-9, and 11. Although no one likes it, trees die. Removing those trees is necessary for safety and aesthetic reasons. Sometimes healthy trees need to be removed on golf courses for playability and turf health, but at this point we will only be removing dead trees.

A large concentration of work is centered in this area of the property and will allow for the most efficient use of the contractor’s time. Stumps will be ground as work progresses and we have seed and soil ready to place back into the stump hole to get grass growing as soon as possible. We have done this kind of focused tree maintenance in the past, which you can read about here and here.

A few notes on the upcoming work:

-Several large oaks along the right side of #5 will have dead branches cleaned out of them. These are very large, nice trees and taking the unsightly branches out will improve their look.

-Several dead/dying maples will be taken out to the right of #11 tee. Not only are these trees in decline, but they also limit the amount of light that reaches the Bermuda grass on the tee boxes. Ugly trees will be removed, and we will gain more sunlight for struggling turf.

While this work only consists of taking trees out, we do have a strong tree planting program highlighted here, here, and here. Aside from those linked posts, we have planted many, many more trees on the property. Accordingly, the next priority planting location is up and to the right of 5 green where the hole abuts 7 fairway. We will likely plant between 7-9 trees in that location alone, which will make up for about half of the removals from this round of maintenance.

Golf is played on turfgrass, but maintenance of a golf course entails much more. Maintaining and removing trees is a large part of the property’s overall upkeep.

 

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

4 and 15 drainage projects

 Two weeks ago we finished the drains on #9 and #8 greens. Our next goal was to get drains put in #4 and #15 greens. We finished both last week.

Following the same process as before, we added a drain line to the far back left of #4 green. This area had been a trouble spot in the past, where water would puddle and suffocate the turfgrass. But this year, with excessive rain timed with oppressive heat and humidity, the turfgrass failed worse than it ever has. We had been planning for some time to add drains to #9 and #15, so adding this to the list made sense.

We only had to excavate about 10 feet onto the green and then extend the drain line about 30 feet straight away from the putting surface. No connections or turns made this a very easy addition to our project list. From stripping the sod to drain line done and replacing the sod was less than 4 hours.

The drainage issue on #15 green had been on our list previously. We knew that there was a small drain on the green near the location we wanted to improve. However, this drain did not extend anywhere else onto the green: it just had an inlet 6 inches onto the green. Our first step was to determine that this existing drain line was functional (it was) and then determine how best to attach our new line to it.

We extended the new drain line several feet in each direction from the existing inlet, following the bend of the lower left-hand side of the green. Now water that flows down the slope of the green will have an escape route instead of puddling. We were also able to finish this drain on the same day as #4.

These poor areas- #4, #8, #9, #15- where we have added drains are not the only areas that could use help in moving water. We simply picked the worst on the list. We will continue to identify and plan for the next areas as they arise.

 

Also, a few things coming up:

-          We will be starting our bunker renovation work this week. This year’s scope is holes 3, 17, and the Chipping green practice bunker. As we progress, bunkers will be occasionally marked as Ground Under Repair.

-          Leaf season is here. We will be working diligently to keep everything clear. Blowers and the vacuum will be out. Please be patient with the process. Thank you

-          Frost delay season is also here. We hate frost more than golfers. It interferes with our work and our ability to produce a great golf course for the members. Nevertheless, we all must stay off all grass during a delay or damage can occur that will be noticeable all winter. Please check the website or call the Golf Shop for frost delay updates. Thank you

 

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