Rough grass growth rate

We are in the midst of a stretch of weather that is nearly perfect for cool season grass growth. Noticeable growth in one day and clippings everywhere are sure signs of grass that is rapidly growing. We have increased our frequency of cut and are working on clipping management, but it will take some time for the growth rate to slow.

The last couple of weeks has been warm, but not too hot (minus the 1 weekend that as far above normal); good moisture but not too wet; and cool overnight, but not too cold. These are the ingredients that the rough need to grow. Sometimes we have 1 or 2 of the factors, but right now we have all 3 and the growth rate is a result of this. It is likely that some of you have seen your home lawns explode in growth over this stretch as well. The growth will taper off, but right now it can be a struggle to keep up.

We can’t cut every bit of grass on the course every day. We would need a person for every machine we own, plus guys to do the non-grass cutting jobs. This doesn’t work for several reasons: first is the labor cost, but as important, the wear and tear on the grass would be too much. It would suffer by the middle of the summer and likely die by the end of summer. So, we must space our mowing times out. But when the grass gets into stretches like it has been over the last two weeks, we do increase our frequency of mowing some. Increasing the times we mow per week keeps the grass at a manageable height both for our work and for golfers. Cutting more often also reduces the clippings because less grass is being cut off with each mowing.

Though it may seem like it, we are not suddenly mowing at a higher height of cut either. The grass really is just growing that much per day. Chopping off that much grass each time leaves clippings. Increasing the times, we cut can reduce it, but most of the time there are clumps regardless. For this we send out blowers to clean up afterwards. A few passes around each green with our tow behind blowers and the surrounds are clean.

Unfortunately, we don’t get the opportunity to mow the rough when it is dry and the clippings can just fall into the canopy. However, we are still doing what we can to minimize the mess and stay on top of the situation.

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

Please remember to remove any bunker sand that may be stuck to your spikes before walking on the greens.

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

Bermuda grass sod and healing

It has been an up and down spring thus far for the Bermuda grass. Intermittent spells of warm and cold have slowed the progress (we just had a weekend of low to mid 90’s but it has only been 12 days since our last frost!). Lately, we have been moving in the right direction, but we still had a few poor areas to address with sod.

We didn’t suffer the winter loss of Bermuda grass equal to the winter 2017-2018, but we still experienced above average loss this year. Between Spring Dead Spot (SDS) and winter kill (death from multiple possible causes that occurs over winter and is visible in spring) we have work ahead of us to get the Bermuda grass up to the level we all expect.

Thus far we have completed our spring compost and slicing which have already provided a boost. Our base fertilizer went down in March and begins releasing nutrients when soil temperatures reach the levels we are at now. We will begin supplemental fertilizer in bad areas either this week or next also. These are all tactics that we deploy to encourage the growth of the Bermuda grass.

Naturally, Mother Nature has given the Bermuda grass the biggest shot in the arm. Soil temperatures finally climbed out of the upper 40’s and low 50’s, which is critical for the Bermuda grass. Similarly, we finally hit a stretch of overnight lows staying in the 50’s or higher, another indicator of when the Bermuda grass can resume normal growth. Daytime highs have also risen accordingly, and it looks like we have left the coldest weather behind now.

Fresh sod on 15 fairway

With all that being said, there were still a few areas of concern. 3 approach and 14 approach are two high profile areas (right next to greens) that we were confident were not healing fast enough. We decided to sod these two spots along with a handful of other fairway spots, and a spot on one tee. We in no way repaired every poor area on the course, but we selected a few spots that were the highest priority. Other areas will be allowed to heal in normally.

The same spot on 15 fairway. This is a recurring trouble area caused
mostly by shade from the sycamore tree to the left in this picture.
You can see that we only sodded a portion of the bad area. This fall we
will adjust the rough line and make most of the remaining poor
spots all rough grass.

Despite the winter setback, the Bermuda grass has made significant progress in the last week. We will continue to work diligently to speed the healing process along.

 

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

Please remember to remove any bunker sand that may be stuck to your spikes before walking on the greens.

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

Poa removal from collars

Last year we renovated the collars on the course. Previously, they had been a mixture of several different grasses. We resodded them to bentgrass and the results after a full season are good. However, regardless of what grass the collars are, annual bluegrass or Poa annua, will invade. To keep the annual bluegrass from gaining a foothold we must remove it.

The collars are the narrow strip of grass immediately outside the green, between the green and the rough. Here is the post from when we started the project last spring. Before the sod, annual bluegrass was one of several types of grasses mixed in the collar. Annual bluegrass has many positives- our greens are over 90% annual bluegrass- but it also does poorly in some situations. The collars are one such situation where it was not ideal. Bentgrass is much better at handling the many stresses that the turf on the collars endure and was thus a major upgrade.

A very small plant just to the left
of the tip of the knife. Notice the small
seed heads.

However, annual bluegrass is highly adaptable and drops highly viable seed every season. This seed can make its way nearly anywhere: it gets blown in wind or from our blowers, it gets moved by our mowers, it can even be relocated by golf shoes. The seed does not need much attention or space to work, and it will start to grow. Poa annua grows fast, and in just a couple of months can carve out a spot for itself right in the middle of the bentgrass collar and continue to increase in size.

Slightly larger annual bluegrass plant

Our goal is to maintain the bentgrass collar without letting the annual bluegrass get back in. This requires constant vigilance. That small seed can become a plant the size of a quarter in a few months. Then it will continue to grow, set its own seed, and more plants will arrive. Soon you may have a half dozen plants in a small area, then they seed, and so on. After a season or two, there could be sections of a collar that are 25% annual bluegrass. Left unchecked, the annual bluegrass would likely make up 50% of the collar turf after several years, which would take us back to the situation prior to the renovation.

So, to keep the Poa annua at bay, this spring we started cutting out the small plants in the collar by hand. Many courses that renovate their greens, or any surface, to bentgrass will have spent some amount of time cutting small annual bluegrass plants out of the greens. This is a common practice, and though it can be labor intensive, it is quite effective. The key is to start right away, before the annual bluegrass plants mature and get larger.

Using a small knife, we cut just under the Poa plant and physically remove it. A small scar is left, but the bentgrass is growing strongly enough to fill in quickly. It will be impossible to get every plant, and even so, more would germinate the next season. But we get everything we can, and we do it every year at least once.

An annual bluegrass plant about the size
of a golf ball

There is nothing on the golf course that we can fix, or renovate, or improve, and then leave alone. No matter the project, upkeep will be required to maintain the new feature. The collars are no different. Manually cutting the Poa annua out of the bentgrass sod is one of the keys to prolonging the purity of the collar sod.

 

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

Please remember to remove any bunker sand that may be stuck to your spikes before walking on the greens.

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

Miniature golf upgrades

Our miniature golf course is somewhat of a hidden piece of the property. Although it is located adjacent to the clubhouse parking lot, not many people wander up there. Nevertheless, it was due for an update.

The pond before work started. Holding some water
but not enough to run the waterfall.

We had previously done some work at the mini golf complex several years ago, creating a recirculating waterfall with a pond. The problem was retaining water in the pond. When the waterfall was recirculating, we would constantly run out of water, sometimes after only two or three days. No leaks could be found. Our best guess as to what was causing the loss of water was evaporation: the water running in the full sun, over warm rocks, would evaporate very quickly. Regardless, the result was either a completely dry water feature, or one that had just enough water in it to make the pond unsightly, but not enough to run the waterfall. This year, we decided to remove the pond and waterfall so that we didn’t have to constantly monitor the water levels. We filled the pond in, graded, and landscaped the entire section.

Renovation work starting on the pond. Removing the liner
and unusable soil.

Taking advantage of working at miniature golf, we also decided to reattach the bricks that line each hole. In the past, the bricks had been attached with adhesive. This did not work well enough to withstand all the abuse the bricks can take: people walking on them, testing their strength by hitting them with clubs, or simply trying to peel them up. Many times, bricks ended up in the poorly functioning pond. So, to correct this issue, we set every brick in concrete this spring. Now, each brick is where it is supposed to be and will stay there for a long time.

Setting the bricks in concrete.

New hole number signs and posts were our next upgrade. We put new posts in place and stained them for protection. The previous hole numbers were routed into the side of the posts and painted. The numbers needed to be painted at least twice a year and we struggled to do it that often. The result was numbers that were very difficult to read. This year we had new plastic hole number signs made that were a great improvement.

Up close shot of the new signs

New post and sign

Lastly, we will be recarpeting each hole. However, it has still been too cold for the carpet adhesive to be effective, so we are still waiting. We will post another update when this stage is complete and the whole project can be wrapped up.

Final product

Even if miniature golf is one of our least frequented features, keeping it as nice as possible is still on our list.

 

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

Please remember to remove any bunker sand that may be stuck to your spikes before walking on the greens.

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

Bunker sand consistency

Bunkers are a hazard. As such, a golfer is not supposed to be in them. Of course, golfers are in bunkers all the time. We spend a great deal of time maintaining the bunkers but there are some important points to remember when discussing the consistency across the course.

First, as stated, the bunkers are not from where golf is supposed to be played. The bunkers are designed to shape a player’s approach to each hole and provide some difficulty. They can force players to make decisions about how best to complete a hole or where best to hit the next shot. But they are not the intended target in any circumstance.

There are many reasons that bunkers can be different across the course. There is nothing intentional that we are doing nor anything different in our treatment of each bunker that can specifically cause bunkers to be different from one another. We will cover some of the reasons that bunkers can be different but keep in mind that these are hazards.

First, the age of a bunker is important. We have bunkers that were built in 2007 ranging all the way to 2018. This wide selection of ages will lead to differences in a couple regards but contamination is a main concern. Regardless of our efforts, soil will slowly contaminate the sand. This can allow the sand to be compacted much more than straight sand. So, a newer bunker will have newer, cleaner sand and will therefore be softer no matter our maintenance.

We also periodically add new sand into the bunkers. For a time, this can create a bunker that is fluffier than others. It is expensive, but more importantly, very time consuming to add sand to every bunker all at one time. So, we break it up and only do a portion of the bunkers at any one time. We have a spreadsheet that shows where we have added sand, what bunkers are due next, and how much to add. This will also create some inconsistency, but it is short-lived, because the new sand integrates with the old sand quickly.

Water can also play a large role in how the sand feels. Bunkers that are regularly hit by irrigation can stay wetter than others. Even greenside bunkers can receive differing amounts of water depending on their location: is it set back from the green a little more? Or maybe it is on the shady side and the grass surrounding it does not need as much water so the sprinklers on that side run less? The sunnier bunker will also dry out faster no matter if the same amount of water is applied. On one hole, a sunny bunker will play different than a shady bunker even if everything else is the same.

Continuing with the impact of water, rain also plays a role in how bunker sand differs. The less times sand in any bunker is disturbed, the more settled it is. So, an area that washes out when we receive a heavy rainstorm is disrupted and areas that are not washed out aren’t moved. We must shovel the sand back into place to repair the bunker which automatically loosens the sand and makes it different than other sand even inside the same bunker.

None of this is meant to suggest that we do not aim to keep the bunkers as consistent as possible. Our maintenance is the same across the course. Yet, several circumstances mentioned are not related to our maintenance program but still can cause inconsistency. Overall, it is important to keep in mind that the bunkers are for strategy and not a primary playing surface, and that one can come across many differences during a round with which to contend.

 

 

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

Please remember to remove any bunker sand that may be stuck to your spikes before walking on the greens.

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