Leveling low spots in the fairways

One task that has been on the list for many years is to level low spots in the fairways. There can be many reasons why there are low spots: old drain lines, irrigation lines, settling of past repairs, or even simply uneven ground. We are not looking to make the fairways tabletop flat, some natural undulation is welcome, but we do want to eliminate the unnatural dips and low areas as best as we can.

These low areas can be handled in different ways, but we are choosing to add sand over the top of the turf and slowly raise the low section to match the surrounding soil. The other most common way to handle low areas would be to cut the turf off the top, add soil beneath, and level the spots in that manner.

Cutting into the turf and leveling the soil below would be very time consuming. Hand digging each low spot, some being long drain lines would take a lot of labor and would involve tearing into the fairways amongst play. And anytime you disturb the soil, you risk settling unevenly afterward. Lastly, ensuring the grass is level at the surface is difficult too, and to be done correctly also takes time and patience.  

You can see sand added to low spots in the 
foreground and background. The most sand is
added to the lowest point and then leveled. The Bermuda
grass will quickly grow through this sand and raise the
low point up.

Adding sand over the top eliminates several of those issues. We don’t have issues with freshly displaced soil settling after we finish. And the turf is never removed so there are no problems with it being replaced uniformly. Although we can add sand fast and work through the course quickly, results are slow. But the results are also more consistent, and finer adjustments can be made.

Our goal is to make it around the course twice in the last few weeks of good Bermuda grass growth weather. We don’t want the Bermuda grass growing too slowly to move over the top of freshly added sand and have it sit at the surface for weeks on end. Then we will pick up the work again next year and continue until we are satisfied with all necessary low areas being raised to an acceptable level for the surrounding grade.

 

 

 

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

Please do not drive carts into the tall grass native areas. Because the carts are low to the ground, grass gets caught in the front bumper and then falls off back out on the course. 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

Golf Cart tips

 

 

 

See you on the course!

Joe

jvillegas@bwrc.org