Busy week

Due to power and internet outages, this report was not posted until Monday afternoon. Therefore, it was not sent as part of the regular blog email at 10am. Thank you.

 

This past week we had a list of many small tasks to keep us busy. some of these things are minor or are of very little consequence to golfer. But many small, seemingly minor jobs added together help to improve the entire operation.

First, we cleaned and organized our chemical storage area for the season. We must wait until we are past the threat of cold temperatures before we can accomplish this (though this coming week has a couple of cold nights forecast). Once we are through the worst, we bring our liquid products from inside the warehouse and organize them by type and place them in their respective spots for easy access during the year. We also purchased another pallet rack for our dry chemical storage. We now have 2 racks that we can put our less frequently used products up on to free up more space below. Having these areas clean and organized is helpful during the season when things get hectic.

We also had a nice rain day mid-week. This was perfect timing for new sod that had been laid at the lower driving range tee and on the collars. It was also perfect timing to trim sprinklers, drains, valve boxes, and yardage plaques. Keeping sprinklers and yardage plaques trimmed and clear helps golfers to quickly gain information regarding the distance to the flag. It is also much more attractive when neatly manicured. Keeping the drains and valve boxes trimmed is more for the Grounds department’s benefit. Allowing grass to grow over the drains reduces their effectiveness and can lead to puddling and poor draining of water. The valve boxes are the locations of all the shut-off and isolation valves for the irrigation system. We keep these clear so that they are easy to locate. If we have an irrigation break and water is gushing out onto the course, we need to be able to quickly find and access the correct valve box. If it is overgrown by grass this becomes nearly impossible.

After the new sod was complete at the lower driving range tee, there was a little extra leftover. We took this opportunity to spot-sod a few locations on the property. We almost always have a list in the shop of miscellaneous areas to sod. This list comes in handy in times just like this: when another project leaves a small surplus of sod, we must quickly find a place for it so that it is not wasted. We repaired a few green surrounds areas, some tee walk-on areas, as well as 3 stump holes at tennis. We managed to find a place for all the extra sod.

Lastly, we started our annual spring bunker sand addition work. Every spring we rearrange the existing sand in bunkers so that it is evenly spread within the bunker. As part of this process, we record which bunkers need additional sand so that there is adequate depth. In most cases, nearly all greenside bunkers need at least some new sand, but we check everything to be sure. We dispersed a full load of bunker sand last week and we have 2 more coming this week to finish up.

Each of these on its own is no enormous change or improvement to the course, but taken together, along with our other practices, they can make a difference.

 

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

 

See you on the course!

Joe

jvillegas@bwrc.org

Frost and seed head review

Now that spring is officially here, we thought it was a good time to review some relevant topics.

First- Frost delay. We had some very nice golfing weather last weekend that was preceded by very cold mornings. This inevitably leads to many golfers lingering around the clubhouse, practice areas, and pro shop. It is important to remember that during a frost delay, the entire Grounds are closed. If there is frost in one place, it is everywhere. If the course is closed, the practice areas are closed, including the driving range tee. Also, the clubhouse lawns have frost on them and will be damaged from foot traffic. Here is a past post with more information on frost.

Second- Seed head control. Our greens are predominantly Poa annua, annual bluegrass. It can be the worst grass- a weed in most other situations. It can be very intolerant of heat and stress. It can also be the one of the best grasses- it can provide very firm and fast putting surfaces. For us, the turf performs very well, but not perfectly. One if its Achilles heels is the seed head production in the spring. The plant is an annual as the name suggests, so each spring a new seed is produced. These seed heads are unsightly, and very troublesome for putting in particular. There are several strategies and chemicals to mitigate this flush of seeds, and in fact the first step actually starts in December of the year prior. We then work through early spring timing our applications based on Growing Degree Days (GDD). Here are two related posts for seed head control: GDD model and seed head control test.

We are happy to be into spring and ready to get the growing (and golfing) season underway.

 

 

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

 

 

See you on the course!

Joe

jvillegas@bwrc.org

Lower driving range tee

Just as the collar sod replacement project was wrapping up, we started renovation of the lower driving range tee. With another good week of weather, we should be laying sod soon.

Previously, the bottom of the driving range had a small, unsightly teeing area that was rarely used. Then 2020 happened and the explosion in use of all facets of the golf course, including the driving range. Through last year, the lower driving range tee became the de facto tee for lessons and clinics. But it was not designed or maintained for this increased use. With no end in sight to golf’s renewed popularity, the club decided it was time to improve this area.

The old tee was too small, unlevel, and poorly constructed. The new tee needed to be professionally built and designed to maximize the area available. So far, we have checked off those necessities. The new tee is four times larger overall. The area for synthetic tee mats has been reconstructed level, with a concrete pad for a new teeing surface, that will more than double the hitting mat area. The grass hitting area will also be level and provide several thousand square feet for practice, which will be three times more than what was previously available. The teeing will have square edges to match the design of the golf course so it will look as though it has always been in place.

Overall, the lower area also suffered from poor drainage. A great deal of water comes down the driving range and 18 fairway and ends right at the base of this teeing area. By reshuffling the existing soil, water will not puddle at the tee, but instead will be directed efficiently through swales on each side of the new tee. One of these swales will also tie-in nicely with our new equipment wash pad.

When we are finished the entire lower end of the driving range will respectable. It will be ready for the continued high levels of use as we approach the new golf season.

 

Also, starting today 3/15 and all non-holiday Mondays going forward, the golf course will be closed until 11am for maintenance. Thank you

 

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

Aeration and collar sod

We worked around some very cold mornings and lengthy frost delays to accomplish our spring greens aerations last week. Though it is later by about 10 days than our timing from the last couple of years, we still were able to hit a preferable window.

Aerating soil provides a needed boost in oxygen levels for the plants. Over time soil oxygen levels are depleted though normal processes. By introducing the aeration holes, oxygen can reenter the soil and the cycle can start over.

We also like to perform our spring aeration as early as possible to avoid conflict with our seedhead suppression program. A more in-depth discussion regarding the timing can be found here. Also, more information regarding seedheads can be found here.

The biggest obstacle this year though was the weather. For the past several years we have had a very nice window in mid to late February, with warmer temperatures and slight or non-existent frost delays. Not this year though. Most of February was snowy, wet from rain or freezing rain, or just too cold.  So we were forced into early March.

The days we eventually were able to get the work done all started of cold though, with frozen ground as well as frost. We had to wait until the frost was gone, but also for the ground to thaw, which took significant time each morning, causing delays of 3 hours or more. But with a solid staff and a couple new tricks up our sleeves, we were able to get the work done.

The second unique aspect to this year’s work was aerating alongside the new collar sod installation. We were able to maneuver our operation around the contractor and avoided either team having to wait for the other. However, since the new sod was so new, we could not aerate it as we normally would have in other springs. So, we made the adjustment of doing two loops with our aerator on the edge of the green first and then finished the interior. This ensured we did not tear any of the new sod out during our work.

A quick note about the collar sod also: that work is now finished, and the sod should heal in nicely over the next couple of weeks, depending on temperatures. It is ok to walk on the new sod and even putt off too. We do ask that you avoid chipping from the new sod to avoid any taking of divots.

All in all, despite the weather and concurrent project, we were able to get the job done. Once temperatures start to consistently warm up, healing will get going and we will be ready for the season.

 

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 a link to a video teaching proper on course etiquette. Please take a moment to watch:

Ball Marks - How to properly repair

 

See you on the course!

Joe

jvillegas@bwrc.org

New collar sod

We have been planning the renovation of our collar turf for several months. At the end of last week, we finally got started and are halfway finished.

The collar is the narrow strip of grass that encircles the green, plus the wider section in the fronts (and sometimes sides) of the green. We have included a crude sketch for reference, with the lightest shade of green representing the entire collar:

The old collar consisted of several types of grass: bluegrass, ryegrass, Bermuda grass, but none of them were the best type for the situation. And during the summer, the weaknesses of each type of grass would lead to poor conditions. Heavy traffic, heat stress, drought stress, and insect damage would all contribute to the decline. So, we decided to renovate the collars to bentgrass, which was the best option for our circumstances.

Bentgrass is a much more heat and drought stress tolerant species, especially the particular variety we selected. It will stand up much better to the traffic stress. And while the insect issue will remain- bentgrass is the second choice of the annual bluegrass weevil, second only to annual bluegrass, our dominant species on greens- the bentgrass is able to withstand the attack much better.

At the end of last year, we repaired a few poor areas on the course using this same bentgrass that we are using again now. You can see those sections on holes 5, 11, 12, and 14. We also did a large portion of #9 during the drainage installation we did on that green. Lastly, at the end of the year, we renovated the entire chipping green collar as part of our bunker renovation work at the practice area.

Work started on February 26^th after several weeks of delay due to weather. But with increased labor from the contractor, we were able to get off to a great start. By the end of the first day, all the old sod on the collars had been cut and 12 of 19 had been cleaned up. The next day we laid a full truck load of new sod, which covered 9 holes. More weather issues are expected, but we will finish as soon as we can this upcoming week, likely in only another day or two.

Cutting the old sod first.

It is labor intensive work. The old
sod is removed by hand.

This is how the final prep stage looks.

New sod

More new sod

The new sod will take some time to heal in, longer if temperatures stay cool. However, getting the work done now will ensure that the collars are healed in before the heat and stress of the summer.

 

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