Leaf season is here

With October here now, the next biggest task on the Grounds staff agenda is leaf cleanup. For the next 6 weeks, keeping the course clean will take a significant portion of our time.

One of the most difficult parts of leaf cleanup season is how long it lasts. Leaves have already started to come down, though slowly, and will continue until Thanksgiving. Getting the course clean one day and then showing up again the next day with leaves everywhere as if we never blew them at all, can be discouraging. Add in windy days where the leaves can’t be corralled where we want them no matter how hard we try, and it leaf season can really drag on.

We do have several powerful blowers that do a good job of moving the leaves off fairways, tees and rough. We use smaller blowers for greens and bunkers. It takes a coordinated effort for everyone to work together: smaller blowers move the leaves off the greens, through the bunkers, and out far enough from the bunker edge that the bigger blowers can pass through and continue to push the leaves out further. At that point, it depends on what day it is and what the golf schedule looks like to determine our next step.

We have two distinct processes for leaves. First, is simple cleaning of in-play areas. We blow greens, tees, fairways and bunkers so that golfers aren’t battling through all the leaves just to play. We do not use this strategy as our leaf removal process. Cleaning like this would be for end of the week and weekends, or days when we may have an outing or tournament. This is meant to be faster and allow for the best playing conditions possible. Our second program is where we focus on leaf removal. We still blow all the surfaces, but we don’t focus on making them perfectly clean for playing. Instead, we work on rounding the leaves into piles so that our vacuum can suck them up and haul them to our waste areas. When we are removing the leaves, there will be areas of lower concentration that we skip right over to focus on where the leaves are heaviest. Trying to work on removal during a busy Friday or Saturday would be counterproductive for us and terribly annoying for the golfers. We would be in everyone’s way, the playing surfaces wouldn’t be clean and golf balls would be lost, and we wouldn’t be efficiently managing our time.

Breaking our leaf program into two parts makes it easier to communicate with the staff about what work is to be done. And it provides golfers with the best experience during this fall season.

 

 

We will be reducing down to 1 post per month starting in November. Thank you

 

 

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

Please rake your entire disturbance within the bunker, including all of your footprints, not just the area from where you hit.

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

Approaching our first SDS application

Maintaining Bermuda grass in our region is very difficult, because our climate is colder than the Bermuda grass would prefer. Luckily, our variety has become accustomed to the weather and can tolerate the cold, but not without some well-timed assistance from the Grounds staff.

The most crucial aspect of our program for ensuring healthy Bermuda grass all season is our Spring Dead Spot (SDS) fungicide applications. Reading back through some of our old posts, you can see that our program has evolved as we have learned more about dealing with the pathogen. Research has ramped up in the last 7-10 years as Bermuda grass has pressed further and further north, where protecting against SDS has become even more difficult. Along with the new research, new pesticides have come along that work significantly better than older products. We now make better targeted applications which have produced better results with less inputs.

So, what have we learned? First, soil temperatures are paramount. Although the pathogen is in the soil always, it does not become active until soil temperatures drop below 70 degrees for 5 consecutive days, with 65 degrees being the optimal time for the first pesticide application. This is much cooler than previously thought and has pushed our applications later into fall. Second, and equally as important, because the pathogen is down in the soil, the pesticide must be watered down to the pathogen. If the pesticide residue dries on the leaf tissue, it will never reach the target and be completely ineffective. So, it is recommended that .125-.25” of water be applied immediately after the application. Watering afterwards has always been a best practice, but now a much stronger body of evidence supports it, and a target volume has been established.

So, measuring the soil temperatures, finding time to make the application and irrigate around golfers and events, and squeezing around any potential weather delays, are all the factors that must align. We are rapidly approaching the time for our first application, and we are working on scheduling.

It is exciting to be nearing the time for our first SDS application. Knowing that this is one half of the most critical part of making sure the Bermuda grass is healthy gives it a great sense of importance. It is hard waiting 6-8 months to know if we were successful, but putting the right plan in place gives us confidence that we are preparing the Bermuda grass as best we can.

 

 

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

Please do not climb up the steep face of the bunkers.

 

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

September work shift

The golf season is entering what some would argue as its prime time of the year. The weather is near perfect, the course has recovered from a tough summer, and playability is near peak. This time of year is also when the Grounds department shifts gears to different work priorities.

The first, and most noticeable shift will be leaf cleanup. There is not much new to say about this work , it takes a lot of our time, and it is an inconvenience  to everyone! Nevertheless, the time is coming, and it will be a focus for the next several weeks.

At this time of year, winter preparation for the Bermuda grass is paramount also. Our Bermuda grass had one of its best seasons this year, notably coming out of a winter that caused a lot of Bermuda grass damage in the region. Luck plays a large role, but any help that we can provide must take place now. We monitor soil temperatures to determine timing of our Spring Dead Spot fungicide application. Our first spray will likely be in the next week or so.

The Bermuda grass especially starts to grow less, and the rough too to a certain extent, which means we are mowing less. This naturally allows that time to be used blowing leaves instead, but it also allows for project work to start. We will be installing new drains as well as renovating bunkers just like we have over the last handful of years. We have a long list of possible locations for new drains, that we will narrow down soon- we have been waiting for a good rainstorm to guide the layout for the drain, but we haven’t had much rain recently! As for the bunker work, this year we are tackling holes 3, 4, and 17. The process remains unchanged from past work, and the staff is very efficient, so the work should progress nicely once we start.

Once we finish out our main tournament schedule, we will start to outline timing for the projects. In the meantime, enjoy the fall golfing weather!

 

 

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

 

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

Significant dry weather

Although the weather has been pleasant, with comfortable highs during the day and cool nights, the lack of rain is significant. Last year, we had a dry fall. So far this year, we are drier, earlier in the year.

Last year, in September we received slightly below normal rainfall for the month. But then, October turned very dry, with less than .25” of rain for the entire month, which was 3.5” below normal. Unfortunately, it seems we are trending towards a similar autumn this year.

August 2025 was 2” below normal rainfall. Our last significant rain event was August 17^th, which means we are now just days short of a month without any meaningful rain. Last year, the drought arrived in September and then into October. Being dry in August can affect the turfgrass in different ways.

August is the start of recovery time from a long summer. Despite still technically belonging to summer, August tends to feel different than July. Day lengths shorten, we are usually afforded several cooler nights and sometimes cooler days too, and overall, the stress levels for the plants decrease. All of that was true this year, except we also turned very dry. A necessity for recovery is moisture, and we have been lacking thus far. We have supplemented with irrigation, but we are now refilling our pond after depleting the reservoir.

Being this dry at this time of year is also concerning for the Bermuda grass. The Bermuda grass is slowly transitioning to dormancy, although it is still green and growing, its growth has slowed. Adding a stressor as the plant prepares for its most stressful time of the year is not ideal. We are adding water as we can, but sufficiently irrigating all the Bermuda grass does not leave much water for the cool season turf, so we must balance letting the Bermuda grass dry out, so we have water in reserve. We have even been out spot hand watering the Bermuda grass, which is a first in my 12 seasons.

Overall, the course is playing about as good as it has all season. Greens are firm and fast, and the ball is bounding down the fairways. But keeping the turf healthy while the season changes and processes within the plant shift is still our priority. Hopefully, Mother Nature will send some soaking rain our way soon.

 

 

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

Please do not climb up the steep face of the bunkers.

 

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

Recovery efforts

Cooler temperatures finally arrived in August and September, so recovery efforts can finally commence. And we took full advantage over the last couple of weeks laying sod and sowing seed.

Although the season is not over, we have crested the toughest stretch and can start to assess how difficult of a summer 2025 was. May and July were both 5+ inches of rain over normal; the summer was warmer than normal overall throughout, but June had a stretch of extreme heat like we haven’t seen in several years; although August was cooler than normal, it was also abnormally dry. So, throughout the summer we had excessive rain, excessive heat, and drought. Our agronomic consultant placed 2025 as a top 3 hardest summer over the last 20 years, and we would agree.

So, after a summer like that, some turf loss is inevitable. No excuses- we could have made some different decisions- and we will learn from that. Nevertheless, repairing the damaged turf is vital.

-          Greens performed above average across the board. They handled all the weather extremes very well. The lone exception is a small area on the back of #16 green. Some of the stress placed on this particular location is self-inflicted and we have already made some corrections to limit the damage that we cause. We have also seeded this location, and the new seedlings have germinated, emerged, and started to grow vigorously. We should see full recovery here.

-          Collars performed below average this year. We will make some changes to our programs in this situation also. But right now, the focus is healing, and all the collars have been seeded as well. Like the patch on 16 green, the new seed on the collars is off to a great start. Also, larger areas of damage will be replaced with new sod very soon.

-          Green surround rough was another area of the property that had a tough summer. The repair of this rough is more nuanced than the greens or collars. We sodded out some of the worst areas immediately. That sod is rooted and ready for regular play. Golfers will still notice areas that are thin around the greens though. Those were areas that we deemed still viable enough to recover from natural growth and then supplement with seed later in the fall. There are two factors dictating why we are waiting on getting seed in the ground in the rough. First, we apply a pre-emergent herbicide in the spring to prevent summer annual weeds- namely crabgrass and goosegrass. This herbicide does a great job as evidenced by the lack of these weeds. But the herbicide will also prevent any new plant from emerging, including our new seed. It takes about 4 months for that herbicide to break down in the soil enough to finally allow new plants, so we must wait for that window to open. The second factor for the delay is that the seeding process is disruptive. There tends to be some collateral damage, the 1 step back for 2 steps forward idea. We use a large slit-seeder, and it does a great job, but it is aggressive. Some healthy grass will be cut and die. Sometimes some healthy turf will be ripped out of the ground and must be repaired. And sometimes the tractor tires can tear some grass also. All of this is manageable, and we have improved our ability to lessen the impact, but doing all this right before the Match Play Championship is unwise. The course is starting to heal itself with the shift in weather, so we are trying not to make it worse right now. The seeding will take place, but just later in the fall.

We want the course back to healthy as much as anyone. But making it happen can take some patience. Weather must cooperate, seedlings take time to mature, and other conditions must be met, but we are on the right track and have a plan to improve moving forward.

 

 

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

Please do not climb up the steep face of the bunkers.

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