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