Summer preview

As we end May and start looking towards summer, the Grounds department eases into our maintenance routine and prepares to play defense against the weather.

The springtime is usually great weather for the cool season turf: greens and rough. It maintains nice dark green color, grows vigorously and is relatively stress-free. Many of our cultural practices are concentrated during this time of year. We aggressively verticut the greens, which uses a vertical blade to rip down into the turf canopy and remove thatch. We aerate and seed rough. And we try to mow the rough more often because of its increased growth rate.

Though the calendar flipping to June 1^st is not a guarantee of warmer weather (it is 49 degrees right now!), in general it is a good point to start transitioning to summer maintenance. For the cool season grass that means less aggressive treatment. We stop verticutting the greens during the summer because the aggressive nature of the process is too stressful when combined with the heat and humidity of the season. Instead, we start our needle-tine aeration program. Though we will not start until next week, we must plan ahead to give the turf every opportunity to survive the summer stress.

As the temperature climbs the rough also starts to slow its growth, especially if we get into a dry pattern. Though it takes a very dry stretch to reduce our rough mowing frequency significantly, it may be possible to slightly lessen the frequency. Regardless, we can at least keep up with the growth rate and occasionally get ahead. Instead of excessive growth between cuts, the turf has grown only enough to warrant another cut. This makes for a cleaner cut and reduces clippings left lying about. It is also easier on the plant when we are cutting less of it off at a time.

While the Bermuda grass is just about to hit its stride, the cool season turf is settling in to battle Mother Nature. We are doing our best to set the turf up for success.

Enjoy your Memorial Day.

 

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

 

 

See you on the course!

Joe

jvillegas@bwrc.org

Dry, sod

We laid 1 pallet of Bermuda grass sod this past week. It covered a few bad areas on #1, #15, and #18. This brings two things to mind: First, only one pallet of sod is a far cry from where we were in 2018; Second, the sod arrived very dry because it is VERY dry everywhere in the area right now, unlike 2018.

New sod on #15 fairway

The winter of 2017-18 was brutal for Bermuda grass. Not only here at Bretton Woods, but nearly all of the transition zone as well as may areas further south. Cold temperatures, no snow cover, wet days followed by cold nights, all played a part in causing widespread damage. If you can stomach it, here are some links, with some pictures to the carnage: initial observations, recovery plan, issues, sod plan, recovery. In total, all that work required 3.5 acres of sod, which is a little more than 150,000 square feet. The one pallet we laid last week totals 500 square feet.

New sod on #1 approach

While the pallet we laid by no means fixed every weak area, we were able to clean up 4 of our worst areas. A portion of the pallet was used in #1 approach. Two small spots were sodded on #18: one in the approach and one in the fairway. Last, all the sod that remained was used for the large bad area in #15 fairway. We have been diligent in keeping this new sod adequately watered because it arrived to us very dry, which is how our region has been for the month of May.

May is typically our wettest month. So far this year, we are almost 4 inches under normal and the rain we have received all came in the first 10 days of the month. Unirrigated rough is turning brown, dry circles around trees are enlarging as the trees out-compete the grass for water, and we are well into our hand watering program for the season already, including watering the new sod.

But……. what about 2018? Well, 2018 would eventually become the wettest year on record, with May being the wettest month on record! Again, here is are some links to flashback: rain, rain, go, away. We can add water, but we cannot take it back, so drier is better then too wet. However, too dry is not great either. We are working carefully to keep everything hydrated.

It seems that a true spring never arrived, and we are working to keep up. The Bermuda grass is getting back on track and the rain will come eventually, at which point we will ask it to stop!

 

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 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

Bermuda grass update

The Bermuda grass has had a roller coaster start to the season. We will get to the conditions that everyone wants, but it will still take some time.

Bermuda grass needs warm, humid temperatures for vigorous growth. We have had a few warm days, though not really much humidity at all. But what the Bermuda grass needs most of all is warm soil temperatures and warm overnight temperatures, neither of which has happened yet.

The soil temperatures started to climb, we even hit the mid-60’s for a few days (it even prompted a few early cicadas) but since then, the top layer of soil has dropped right back down into the mid-50’s. 55 degrees is about the minimum that Bermuda grass can tolerate and still grow some, hence why the Bermuda grass is green and growing (barely). However, the Bermuda grass can not thrive or grow aggressively in these cooler soils.

We have also had some warm days, including a couple of days near 90 degrees right at the end of April. Yet, there has been no consistency. We have also had just as many, if not more, days in the 50’s. Spring is a changeable season, so this is not really abnormal; however, regardless of normal or not, it is not prime conditions for the Bermuda grass.

The cold overnights have been the biggest culprit though, in hampering the Bermuda grass. Not only have we not had any warm evenings yet, but we have also had a lot of downright cold ones. We had 3 nights in the last week of April that all produced frost on the Bermuda grass and we have had 2 nights in just the last week that were in the mid-30’s. Though there was not any frost in the Bermuda grass, it is still a major roadblock for growth.

The good news is the Bermuda grass is generally healthy and ready to grow, it just needs some help from Mother Nature. Fortunately, the forecast looks positive: a few much warmer days, but more importantly, the overnight temperatures should not get too cold for a while.

It can be hard to wait on the Bermuda grass. Patience is the key; once the weather is right, the turf will do what it knows how to do.

 

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

 

See you on the course!

Joe

jvillegas@bwrc.org

New trees

Most of our new trees were planted recently. After having to skip a planting season in 2020, it is nice to see some new specimens.

Two new oaks were planted in the pool parking lot. These are both replacements for dead trees that were removed in the last few years. They will provide nice shade for patrons parked at the pool during hot summer days.

Three crepe myrtles were planted on the hillside between the clubhouse parking lot and miniature golf. One of these was a replacement for a pine tree that died in 2019 and we added two more for aesthetics. Now, the three trees make a nice line across the hill, giving some separation for mini golf and providing nice summer color for everyone who arrives at the club.

Lastly, we planted four trees out around #5 green. A new maple was placed back and left of #5 green. This tree will be the eventual replacement for the rapidly declining oak that is more directly left of the green. Planting this tree now ensures that when the time comes to remove the oak, a tree has already been growing in a similar location for continuity of the landscape scene.

Three new cedar trees were also planted in the rough behind #5 green, adjacent to #7 fairway. These trees provide a very nice backdrop to the green, are a great screen to errant shots coming from #7 tee and are an overall great addition to the property because we do not have any other of this type. We will also be planting five more maple trees on the hill to the right of #5 green, but there was a mix-up at the nursery, and they sent us the wrong trees. We expect the correct ones to come in any day.

Nine trees were planted, with five more to come, for a total of 14 trees this year. We are making good progress on our tree planting priorities.

 

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

See you on the course!

Joe

jvillegas@bwrc.org

Cart path edging

The grass is always growing. Sometimes it slows down, or even pauses (dormancy), but we must stay on top of it constantly. It even grows where we do not want it sometimes, too. This is the case with the cart paths, so we will be working on edging all of them this year.

Most of the time we are working diligently to make sure the grass is healthy and dense. Rarely do we want to eliminate grass, but along the edge of cart paths is one such instance. Over time, small amounts of soil accumulate right along the edge of the cart path where it meets the rest of the turf. Slowly, new grass starts to grow in this soil- whether it be Bermuda grass creeping out, or seeds deposited there by chance. As the grass progresses, we slowly lose sight of the true edge of the cart path. 8-foot-wide paths narrow by a couple of inches on each side, then another inch on each side, until 6 inches or more disappear in total.

Because this grass is growing just above asphalt, it does not do well. It gets too hot or too dry or golf carts and maintenance vehicles smash it. The cart path also looks sloppy, with unkempt edges. These areas along the sides can also very easily turn to mud after a storm and then the aforementioned carts can make a huge mess.

So, slowly but surely, we are working on trimming this overgrown grass back and re-exposing the covered asphalt. We gain the several inches of usable driving surface back as well as create a nice crisp looking cart path edge. We have a special edging machine with a wire brush that is designed not to damage the asphalt when cutting the overhanging turf. Then we use shovels, string trimmers- whatever tool necessary- to finish cutting the grass and removing it. Blowing the cart path clean is the last step.

As the opening line states- the grass is always growing. This will be the third time we have edged cart paths in the last 6 years! The first time we did it over the winter and it worked great: very few golfers to disrupt and much less other work to accomplish on the property in the off-season. The only problem was by early to mid-summer everything had grown back over, and it was almost impossible to tell we had done anything! So, the next time we did it during the summer and it was slower, but the results were better. We started this round a couple of weeks ago, working our way backwards.

It will be a season-long campaign to get it all done, but once complete, it is well worth it.

 

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

 

 

See you on the course!

Joe

jvillegas@bwrc.org