Drought

We are in the midst of a drought, on the East coast, Maryland, and Montgomery County. We are fortunate to have Bermuda grass during times like these, but even Bermuda grass still requires water, and it is showing the indications of the drought.

From January 2026 through May 2026, we are about 5” behind our normal rainfall. Last fall, we had to recharge our irrigation pond due to a shortage. Luckily, with significant snowfall over this past winter, the pond was able to reach full capacity to start the season. But the shortfall of rain again this spring is creating water deficiencies that are becoming increasingly obvious across the course.

We work hard to manage the moisture on all turf areas on the course. Greens and the rough immediately around the greens take priority because they are cool season turf and of highest value. Using water and labor for these areas is paramount or the turf would suffer quickly, and recovery would be slow if at all. Beyond this turf though, we have a luxury with Bermuda grass being a very drought-tolerant species and having lower water requirements than other grasses. Nevertheless, when it gets this dry, even the Bermuda grass can show signs of stress.

Cool nights and relatively low daytime temperatures have allowed us to stretch our water reserves further than expected. There have been very few rainstorms rolling through, but some of them have come at just the right time to help us extend our water. These quick shots of rain help the Bermuda grass stay hydrated too and it can go longer between water events than other turf. But now the Bermuda grass is turning brown in many locations, showing the tell-tale signs of drought stress. Brown Bermuda grass can be seen on edges of fairways and tees where sprinklers don’t reach well or at all. Even areas that get good irrigation coverage are showing signs of stress just because they aren’t getting enough water. All these areas will rebound once there is ample water in the soil again (rain is forecast today) but it will take time.

We will continue to balance judiciously using our water supply while also maintaining the health of the turfgrass. Bermuda grass comes with a full set of problems at certain times of the year, but when it is this dry, we are glad to have the Bermuda grass.

 

 

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

Golf carts are capable of a very tight turning radius, but please don’t turn that sharply in the grass because it can tear the turf.

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

Golf Cart tips

 

 

See you on the course!

Joe

jvillegas@bwrc.org

Quick needle tine aeration

Cultural practices have been happening at a blistering pace recently. Last Monday we discussed the work we have been doing with the Verti-quake which has been ongoing over the last couple of weeks. That discussion prevented a discussion on the quick aeration we fit in on the greens just this past Monday also. We used very small, solid tines to open some pore space one last time before the intense summer stretch of late June through July.

The tines we use are nicknamed “needle” or “pencil” tines because of their small diameter, though they are wider than a needle and skinnier than a pencil! Nevertheless, their diameter is 1/8” and the goal is to open up some channels for air to enter the soil and water to move through the profile, which ultimately encourages roots to grow deeper.

This is typical timing for us to do this practice. We are right at the last point that the turf on the greens will be able to truly grow new and deeper roots. From here through the rest of the summer, roots will slowly shrink because of high soil temperatures. After early June, we would only do this again if there was some sort of failure in an area of a green that had become sealed at the surface and was no longer accepting water into the profile. Otherwise, there is not much benefit from the aeration during the summer because roots cannot go deeper anyway. And an even bigger concern is that because the roots are short and weak, the aeration can actually lift the turfgrass, separating the soil down deep from the plant and roots. This heaving can be very detrimental during the heat of the season, so we try to avoid it at all costs.

We were able to accomplish our aeration without any collateral damage, getting most greens aerated on Monday, and finishing the last few greens on Tuesday morning. A quick roll behind the aerator and the holes virtually disappear immediately, and with mowing and rolling through the week, the holes are gone before the weekend. It is a minimally disruptive procedure but can be of great benefit.

Timing is everything for us, especially when balancing accomplishing our goals not only around golfers, but also Mother Nature. Squeezing in our last aeration prior to August worked great. We have set the greens up as best as we can to handle the upcoming summer.

 

 

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

Golf carts are capable of a very tight turning radius, but please don’t turn that sharply in the grass because it can tear the turf.

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

Golf Cart tips

 

 

See you on the course!

Joe

jvillegas@bwrc.org

Verti-quake

One of our newest machines has been busy lately. The Verti-quake is a large, linear aerator, designed to cut deep channels into the ground. We have finished our top priority areas, and we will start an entire fairway soon.

We have briefly discussed the Verti-quake before here and here. Instead of a typical aeration that pokes holes in a grid pattern, the Verti-quake uses large knives that slice down into the soil for sub-surface disruption. Two of the main differences, and thus benefits, of the slicing versus the regular aeration are the depth we can reach and the total area impacted.

Surface area impacted is a function of tine diameter and spacing. If we use very large diameter tines and make holes really close to one another, we are impacting a greater area. And if we use small diameter tines and spread them far apart, the disturbance shrinks. For the Bermuda grass, we use ¾” diameter tines, spaced about 2” apart. This is a relatively average, typical setup and it roughly impacts about 7% of the surface. Where the Verti-quake stands out is because the knives cut a continuous path, unlike the aerator that only pokes a hole every 2 inches. We don’t have a specific percentage of surface disruption because the equation is not as straightforward, but the idea is that rather than only poking holes every so often, the Verti-quake is breaking up the soil along its entire path.

But the more important way the Verti-quake improves upon a typical aeration is the depth to which we can reach. Our regular aeration only reaches about 2-3” deep. The Verti-quake can work down to at least 10” and we are slicing about 4-4.5” deep currently. There are regular aeration machines that can match that depth, but they again are only poking holes at a certain interval. And if the aerator is working in poor soil, which we definitely have, then the regular aerator may not be able to penetrate the hardpan, and you will not accomplish the depths needed. Because the Verti-quake uses knives that cut through the soil instead of pounding down into it, it is capable of working through some extremely tight soil.

We had some top priority areas that we wanted to work through with the Verti-quake first: both soccer fields, 2-4 passes across all of the approaches (which includes several of the main areas of Bermuda sod work), and then historical weak areas on #1, #4, #5, #7, #11, #15, #17, and #18 fairways. All of that has been done over the last month. Next, we will tackle #8 fairway in its entirety, over the next couple of weeks. Our goal is to finish #8 fairway, and possibly one or two more this summer. But over the coming seasons, we will strive to finish all the Bermuda grass on the course at the current working depth, and then work back through everything again, pushing the machine deeper and deeper each time.

The Verti-quake will not replace our regular aeration program because it accomplishes different goals. The machine operates slowly, but working to shift the texture and structure of our soil is also a slow process. The Verti-quake is another tool for us to continue to improve growing conditions across the course.

 

 

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

Golf carts are capable of a very tight turning radius, but please don’t turn that sharply in the grass because it can tear the turf.

 

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

Golf Cart tips

 

 

 

See you on the course!

Joe

jvillegas@bwrc.org

More new mulch areas

Golf is played on turf and golf courses spend most of their resources maintaining the turf to the highest quality possible. But part of the experience of being out on a golf course is the aesthetic value not just of the turf but of the entire surroundings. Continuing the work we have been doing recently to improve our aesthetics, we are gradually adding some new mulch areas.

We don’t have unlimited labor and funds to manage every aspect of the property to the highest standards. Sometimes we must find ways to make things easier to manage, without compromising on quality. Similarly, we are also looking for ways to make the peripheral aspects of the course look better- the areas outside the main corridors of play. The stone work we discussed recently is a big part of this process. But we are also adding or extending new mulch areas to improve visuals also.

Many of the areas that we will be changing already have mulch in some capacity, either nearby that we are connecting to, or in the same place that we are just increasing. The mulch provides a nice contrast to the turfgrass, and this contrast is pleasing to the eye. We are also strategically adding mulch to locations that benefit our operation as well. Mulch beds are less labor intensive than grass. We only mulch once a season and managing the weeds in the mulch is very quick and easy. Comparatively, mowing rough is done at least twice per week, and takes labor and fuel. Not to mention, most of the areas that we are altering have poor grass coverage, lots of tree roots and are therefore very tough on our machines, which increases repairs. By reducing marginal areas that we must mow, we are gaining visual appeal and saving wear and tear on our machines. We have added other new mulch areas over the last couple of years. In particular, we added several to #6. This next phase of additions is a similar process but will focus a bit more around tee areas since we are working on stone nearby at the same time.

The new mulch areas provide a nice contrast to the turf. But they are also a benefit to our operation, saving us time mowing and machine repairs. Improving the aesthetics of our course and benefiting the Grounds department at the same time is a win-win.

 

 

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

Golf carts are capable of a very tight turning radius, but please don’t turn that sharply in the grass because it can tear the turf.

 

 

 

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

Golf Cart tips

 

 

 

See you on the course!

Joe

jvillegas@bwrc.org