Stretch of heat

This past weekend was a tough stretch. It was good Bermuda grass weather, but it was not good cool season turf weather. Overall, our preparation for the summer has still been successful, and the stress is not over, but the recent heat did take a toll. Mother Nature won this round, and we suffered some small areas of turf decline.

The turfgrass on the greens is capable of surviving the heat of the summer, but not thriving. It prefers 45-55 degree nights and 65-75 degree days. This past weekend was most definitely not in those ranges. Even the bent grass, which can tolerate much higher temperatures compared to the Poa annua on the greens, still had a tough time.

While none of the damage is permanent, some spots will take longer than others to heal. We are scheduled to aerate in one week, which will help. We will also make a few other small tweaks to make sure that the weakest areas recover as quickly as possible.

We are in the hottest week of the year. We continue to strive for the best conditions possible and we often must work against, or at least around what the weather is doing. We took the last few days of heat head-on and did not come out unscathed, but we will make sure that the turf bounces back.

 

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

When parking your cart at a tee or green, please keep all 4 tires on the path.

This is the same etiquette reminder we posted in April, but after seeing carts all over the grass around tees and greens it felt like time for a reminder.

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

Summer Bermuda grass update

We continue to work on improving the Bermuda grass across the course. Luckily, most of the turf is very healthy and growing vigorously. Our focus has been on the areas that are still struggling.

Additional fertilizer is still being applied to all weak areas. Based on recommendations from our agronomic consultant, we are feeding the turf every week. Making sure that the grass has enough food to grow as much as possible is key. Without energy, healing will take much longer.

We also recently sliced 5, 7, 8, and 11 fairways again. This was our 3^rd time across these holes. You can read more about the process here and here. While it easy to focus on the damaged areas (we do it too), the turf is improving. Stolons, the new growth of the Bermuda grass that is on the surface, are moving towards the center of the damaged areas. Every day the bad spots get smaller and slicing the healthy grass creates more growing points. Although the fairways look bad for a few days immediately after the slicing work, the progress gained is worth it.

Plugging healthy Bermuda grass directly into the bad spots is also ongoing. Though it is a slow and tedious process, over time it does provide a benefit. We will continue to plug until the Bermuda grass ceases growth for the season.

Lastly, we are already planning for our Spring Dead Spot (SDS) chemical applications for this fall and beyond. We stay up to date on the most current research. We monitor soil temperatures, which are the key to timing when the applications are actually made. We have also started looking at alternative chemicals for our SDS sprays in 2023, as new chemistries become available and university research concludes if any are better options than current products. The chemicals are just a small part of our program because we cannot actually prevent SDS with the products, but severity can be reduced, so it is still a beneficial aspect of our defense.

The weather plays the biggest role in what happens to the Bermuda grass the entire year. We must take whatever weather cards are dealt for the season, and give the Bermuda grass all the advantages we can. From the moment the Bermuda grass breaks dormancy, until it goes back into it, we are using many different tactics to make the Bermuda grass better.

 

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

When parking your cart at a tee or green, please keep all 4 tires on the path.

This is the same etiquette reminder we posted in April, but after seeing carts all over the grass around tees and greens it felt like time for a reminder.

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

Delicate balance part 2

Almost all the equipment we use is gas or diesel powered. Both will kill grass rapidly, but each is necessary. Recently, we had a gas can tip over in the back of a cart and spill across #13 approach.

Battery powered equipment is much more common than it was 5 or 10 years ago, and there are many products out currently. The battery technology has come a long way, but it is expensive and converting a whole fleet is very difficult. The batteries do a great job for light duty or homeowner use, but for professional use, the batteries can still run down a little too quickly. We will likely convert eventually, and we have purchased a battery blower and tested a battery pole saw. But for now, occasional mistakes and damage are something we must work through.

Some of our jobs take several hours to complete- in this case changing cups and rolling greens. Over the course of the task, the roller needs additional fuel to finish. Instead of returning to the shop, say from 13 or 14 green, the operator takes a small can of gas with them. In the case of #13 approach, this can tipped over in the back of the cart, dribbled out the tailgate, and then once the cart was parked, continued to leak in one spot. This is the reason for the long trail across the approach and then the large dead area over to the far right.

This picture was taken just after
the gas was spilled and the grass
had not completely died yet. This is the long
strip that was dripped out of the tailgate.

As of this post, we have already repaired the large dead area. Since it was such a large patch of dead grass, it is much less likely to heal from the surrounding healthy grass. The smaller spots did not receive as high of concentration of gas on them, and still have green tissue mixed in with some dead grass. This will recover, and quite quickly cover the dead grass. Similarly, the long trail is such a thin strip of damage, and resulted from drips rather than a dousing, the grass on either side will grow in. Although it is very unsightly, the Bermuda grass will heal, and the damage was limited to only one approach.

Pictured here is where the cart parked and
the large dead area occurred. This section has been
repaired already.

Fuel is a necessary tool for us to complete our tasks. All the hours our machines spend on the course, and the refueling cans we take with us, and a mistake is bound to happen. We must balance the knowledge regarding the damage the fuel can cause with the fact that we must keep using it.

 

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

Delicate balance part 1

As we head to the peak of the difficult weather here in the Mid-Atlantic, every decision can have consequences that we must live with for the rest of the summer. Making sure the greens are taken care of in every regard is our highest priority because they would not heal quickly from damage. Similarly, the rough, collars, and even Bermuda grass need monitored closely. At this time of year, it is a delicate balance making sure everything is in the best condition possible.

Footprints coming off #18 green,
through the approach.

Historically we have had a problem with goosegrass on the putting greens. Goosegrass has recently become one of the most difficult to control weeds of all. It is especially difficult to control on putting greens because of the sensitivity of the putting green turf. A new product came out several years ago that does a fantastic job of killing goosegrass. We tested and tested it for use on putting greens and it has shown to be very safe. In fact, we have been using it on greens now for 6 years. However, one of the drawbacks of this chemical is that it is also very toxic to Bermuda grass.

For most courses, with all cool season grasses, a chemical that kills goosegrass and injures Bermuda grass, would be a godsend. Two of the most troublesome weeds on a lot of courses, managed with one spray. But we don’t want to injure our Bermuda grass so we must apply the chemical with as little overlap into the Bermuda grass as possible. We can minimize the amount that touches the Bermuda grass, but some inevitably still does

Up close picture of the
bleached Bermuda grass

We spray the chemical at VERY low rates- .06 oz per acre. Put in terms that might be more relatable: we mix 6 mL, or about 1.25 teaspoons, in 225 gallons of water and those 225 gallons cover 3.75 acers of turf. At this low of a rate, it is safe for the greens, but still damaging to the goosegrass and Bermuda grass.

Bermuda grass is very difficult to kill- cold weather is about the only thing that can really keep it in check. Most herbicides will only set it back, including when we treat the greens for goosegrass. When the chemical does get on the Bermuda grass it turns it bleach white. Some of you may have noticed the white marks in #18 approach. These were made from me walking off the green after spraying for goosegrass. A small residue stuck to my feet and as I walked through the Bermuda grass approach, it was still concentrated enough to bleach the grass (Don’t worry- this only happened due to it being immediately after the spray was applied- chemicals are not sticking to everyone all day!) The Bermuda grass will grow out of this, it wasn’t a high enough rate to really injure the turf. But this is just one example of how fine of a line we are walking during the heat of the summer. Too much chemical or sprayed in the wrong place and thousands of square feet of Bermuda grass could be as white as these footprints.

In the end, we have developed a program and the goosegrass issue on putting greens has been reduced to an occasional nuisance. Nevertheless, we continue to treat for the weeds, so they don’t return to a bigger issue. In doing so, we balance between keeping the goosegrass out and making sure the Bermuda grass doesn’t turn white.

 

Happy 4^th of July

 

 

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

When parking your cart at a tee or green, please keep all 4 tires on the path.

This is the same etiquette reminder we posted in April, but after seeing carts all over the grass around tees and greens it felt like time for a reminder:

If you don't park your car like this in your
driveway, don't park your golf cart like this here. Thank you

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