Aeration and Bermuda grass update

March is here. Trees have started to bud, daffodils are up and growing, and the golf season is just around the corner. The turf has started to break dormancy and we have had some very spring-like temperatures over the last few weeks. With all that being said, as I write this, it is 17 degrees at the club!

Just to get everyone up to speed on our spring, we aerated greens this past week. We had the smallest of windows and the smallest of staff, but everyone did a great job and we aerated holes 1-18. We intend to do the practice greens later this week. While this is three weeks ahead of our scheduled aeration dates, it is the exact same time we were able to aerate the greens last year. Here is an excerpt from a past post discussing our reasoning for early aeration:

There are two main reasons for us wanting to start aeration as soon as we can. First, if the weather is conducive to allowing aeration then it will also be conducive to allow healing. By aerating sooner we will allow for more healing time and less impact on the start of the golf season. Second, by aerating early, we would be able to separate our aeration procedure from our seed head control program. You can read more about seed head control here or more about aeration healing and seed heads here. Bottom line is, if we aerate early enough, one practice won’t impact the other. One might wonder, then why we don’t just schedule aeration for an earlier time? We can’t count on the weather being favorable enough to plan aeration for too early. If it’s too wet or too cold and we miss our scheduled time, then we are stuck trying to fit it in around the early season golf. So we stick with our mid-March schedule and hope for earlier. This way, if we can’t do it early, but we are able to do it at our regularly scheduled time, the members are only impacted exactly as it was scheduled to happen and no worse.

So, while the temperature was cold this past weekend, overall, the trend looks normal or slightly warmer than normal, so healing should proceed nicely.

The Bermuda grass was also affected by the warmer than normal February. We spotted green Bermuda grass leaves on 2/12, which is the earliest in several years. By the end of February, there were visibly green patches on some of the southern facing slopes. The cold snap we experienced this past weekend will stunt any progress, but we are off to a fast start. But before we all get our hopes up of having green fairways by mid-March, we should expect a few more surprises in March (like the dusting of snow we had this past Friday morning). Nevertheless, any progress in February and March should help us towards earlier than normal green Bermuda grass.

Also, we will be returning to weekly posts March thru October. Thank you.

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

Please do not walk around the lip of a bunker. This can cause the sod edge to slide into the sand. Instead walk through the bunker and rake your disturbance on your way back out.

See you on the course!

Joe

jvillegas@bwrc.org

Winter weed control

Faint blue spots are weeds sprayed
by hand

Each winter we make an effort to remove as many weeds from the Bermuda grass as possible. This year was no exception. The only difference this year is the scope of our program. Through a little bit of planning, some good weather, and a lot of luck, the weed totals this year are far below what they have been in any of the past few years.

Our general program in the past has consisted of hand spraying dormant Bermuda grass tees and approaches with round-up, the non-selective herbicide that can kill all types of plants. We would then follow that up with a broadcast spray application of the same chemical, Roundup, across all of the dormant Bermuda grass fairways to kill all of the weeds in those areas. Finally, we would make one more broadcast spray application with a selective herbicide, once the Bermuda grass has begun to grow. This herbicide does not hurt the Bermuda grass, but kills all of the other weeds.

Blue spots are visible here as well

Similar to years past, we started with hand spraying. If you have played over the last couple of weeks, you will have noticed the blue spots on the tees and approaches. This was the grounds staff spot spraying the weeds on the dormant Bermuda grass. We target the tees and approaches with hand spraying because it is too dangerous to get the big sprayer in such tight areas using chemicals that will kill all of the grass. We can be much more effective, efficient, and safe by using the small sprayer.

Next, we would have normally needed a full or spot spray on all of the dormant Bermuda grass in the fairways. However, this year, there are so few weeds that we won’t be making this application at all. There are probably several reasons that the weeds are so few this year, with the most important being the health of the Bermuda grass headed into last fall/winter. The fairway turf was thick and healthy so there were not any thin areas for weeds to establish.

Lastly, later in spring, once the Bermuda grass has begun to grow, we would make our selective herbicide application. Again, though, due to the lack of weeds, this will be adjusted this year as well. This normally has been a full application on all Bermuda grass. However, this year, our plan is to make only spot applications. We will use our large sprayer, make up a full tank, and drive across all of the fairways, but only spray where there are weeds. This is another opportunity for us to be more effective and efficient.

By reducing the amount of weeds in the Bermuda grass with healthy turf and some good fortune, we will eliminate one entire application and reduce another by more than 50%.

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

Winter cart path only rules are designed to protect the dormant Bermuda grass. It is not dependent on if the fairways are too wet or not.

See you on the course!

Joe

jvillegas@bwrc.org

Winter projects update

“The relatively mild start to winter has allowed us to get a good portion of this project completed already. Mother Nature will put the brakes on us soon enough, but we will pick back up before the golf season kicks off next year.” This was the last line of the post from early December regarding our progress of raising sprinkler heads. Well, as you have noticed, Mother Nature hasn’t really put the brakes on yet.

We finished our initial phase of raising sprinkler heads around the greens by January 1^st. We skipped holes 11, 12, and 13, but 1-10, 14-18, and both practice greens have newly raised sprinkler heads. The sprinklers around 11, 12, and 13 will be addressed during construction next summer. We raised 44 sprinklers total. This was a “winter long” project, meaning we hoped to finish before the golf season started, but we finished well ahead of schedule. We expect to see improved efficiency and distribution when watering, as well as improved playability around sprinklers.

Another project that was slated for the entire winter was continuing our tree trimming program. This winter we planned to trim trees starting at soccer, working through tennis, along the road by the maintenance facility and pool and out into the open field at the front of our property. With the mild weather, we are again ahead of schedule. Trimming was finished last week and cleanup is half way complete.

We are now moving further down our to-do list as we complete other projects sooner than expected. Surely, winter will hit eventually, but for now we are utilizing our “extra” outside time as much as possible.

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

Please avoid walking through overly saturated or puddled areas on greens if possible.

See you on the course!

Joe

jvillegas@bwrc.org

Raising sprinkler heads

Happy Holidays.

Sprinkler head that needs to be raised

During the slower months of the winter, we try and tackle some of the projects that can’t be easily done during the summer. Repainting tee markers and ball washers are two indoor tasks that aren’t easily accomplished during the busy months because those accessories are needed on the golf course. As the weather allows we also work on some outside projects, like trimming trees, that are easier when there are fewer golfers on the course. This year, another outside task that we have started is raising sprinkler heads.

Another angle of sprinkler head that
needs to be raised

Over time, sprinkler heads settle into the soil or the soil around them is raised through topdressing and they become too low in relation to the surrounding area. This causes a couple of main issues. First, the coverage and uniformity of water distribution is severely compromised. The stream of water that flows from the nozzle can be deflected by the grass and soil that surrounds the sprinkler. This leads to poor coverage, some areas don’t receive the intended water because it is knocked down, and then it flows to an area that was already receiving water and that area becomes too wet. The wet areas are usually right near the sprinkler and a puddle will even sometimes form, impacting maintenance and golfers. Second, this wet area affects playability. The puddle that forms around the head can lead to poor conditions from which to hit or walk. The rules of golf provide for relief from standing water, but not form soggy soil where no water is visible, so we are working to eliminate overly wet areas that are a result of sprinklers.

There are roughly 1,100 sprinkler heads on the golf course. We are by no means attempting to raise them all. Most of the sprinklers on the course don’t need to be raised and it would take too long anyway. To start with, we are focusing on sprinklers around greens only, since these have the most impact for agronomics and playability; the most important turf to water on the course is the putting greens and the most important shots hit on the golf course are on or around the putting greens. Selecting these particular sprinklers first allows us to finish a segment of the irrigation system. Rather than start on the first head on the first tee and slowly work down the first hole, we are zeroing in on our most important area. If we simply worked in order it would take at least one full off-season to complete all low sprinklers on an entire hole, so it would be many years before we reached a problem sprinkler at 13 green for example.

Completed sprinkler

As mentioned, this project would be difficult during the busy golf season because our staff would constantly be in the way of the golfers. However, working on this project in the winter can be equally as challenging. Frost slows us down and frozen or snow covered ground stops us completely.  So far this fall/early winter we have raised 28 heads around greens and we are finished through #9. We will skip 11, 12, and 13 greens and save those sprinklers for construction time, so our goal is to finish all of the greens’ sprinklers by spring.

Another angle of completed
sprinkler

The relatively mild start to winter has allowed us to get a good portion of this project completed already. Mother Nature will put the brakes on us soon enough, but we will pick back up before the golf season kicks off next year.

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

Please do not try and remove a flagstick that is frozen into the cup. Turf damage may occur.

See you on the course!

Joe

jvillegas@bwrc.org

Bermuda grass incursion on putting greens

You may have noticed that we have some Bermuda grass that has grown its way onto the putting greens. At this time of year it is especially noticeable. While it isn’t an immediate threat to the putting greens, it is concern we will address.

We have several tactics to deploy against the Bermuda grass. However, everyone must remember two important things: 1. Bermuda grass is almost 100% indestructible. It can be severely retarded and even killed down to the very deepest roots, but it will ultimately come back; 2. We are in no danger of Bermuda grass becoming the dominant turf grass on the surface of the putting greens. The putting green maintenance, combined with the weather is far too harsh for the Bermuda grass to tolerate.

Same photo as one to the left. The red line marks
the edge between ryegrass collar and
Bermuda grass approach. The Bermuda grass has moved
from the approach into the collar.

Now, we need to clarify that there are two separate circumstances related to Bermuda grass creeping towards, and sometimes onto the greens. First, there is the Bermuda grass that is coming from the approaches where Master Plan work has been completed and Bermuda grass sod was laid. This is Riviera Bermuda grass and is the same variety as the fairways and new tees. However, this is not the Bermuda grass that is creeping onto the greens. This Riviera Bermuda grass is moving in lots of directions, including towards the greens, but it has not reached yet, and we are working on keeping it away. Everywhere there is Bermuda grass that has reached the putting surface is a different scenario.

This second scenario is a completely different variety of Bermuda grass. It is a common Bermuda grass and has probably been on Bretton Woods property for many years, even probably prior to any Bermuda grass being seeded in the fairways. It takes a significant hit every winter and then coupled with the greens maintenance program, it has taken a very long time to reach the greens. But it had already reached the greens for at least the past 3 years (my tenure) and probably back into Bryan's time as superintendent as well. This past summer was a tremendous summer for Bermuda grass, so it reached in farther than it had in the past and was thus more noticeable, but it did not accomplish all of this solely this year.

Same photo as one to the left.
The red line marks the edge between ryegrass
collar and the putting green. The
Bermuda grass has moved from the collar
to the green.

Both situations are issues, and we are working on, or have developed a plan, to tackle each problem. The Riviera Bermuda grass that is moving in from the approaches is being dealt with in two ways. First, this past week, we seeded Bermuda grass spots in the collars with ryegrass. The seeder is 5 feet wide so only areas where we could fit the machine in were done, but we made passes straight across nearly every approach to sharpen the line between collar and approach. This is the first time we have tried this and the results will take time and even then may not be enough. So, we are also formulating a plan to sod out the Bermuda grass from the collars. This is the plan for the very narrow areas of collar where the seeder will not work. Our first step will be to salvage the ryegrass from the large approaches on 11 and 13 next year during construction. We will then replace Bermuda grass in collars with this sod. This will not complete all of the necessary areas though. Next, since ryegrass sod is not readily available for purchase, the plan is to use Kentucky bluegrass sod, which looks very similar, and then seed ryegrass directly into the sod. Using sod will give the instant completion, but Kentucky bluegrass does not perform very well in this region, so we will immediately get ryegrass seed in as well. If the seeding we did does not perform well enough, we will sod some of those areas as well by the same process. Sod work that is not completed using repurposed grass from holes 11 and 13 will wait until the fall of 2017 and beyond.

Same photo as one to the left. The red circle
shows where the Bermuda grass that is currently
in the collar originated. The Bermuda
grass started in the rough and did not
come from any sod associated with
the Master Plan.

Our more immediate tactic for targeting the Bermuda grass that has actually made it onto the putting surfaces will be in progress over the next few weeks. We will be physically cutting and removing the Bermuda grass that has stretched onto the greens. We waited until now because we want to use the cold weather to our advantage. In the summer, we cut (verticut) the Bermuda grass to invigorate its growth and doing the same thing in the cold weather will either entice the Bermuda grass to try and grow or leave it vulnerable to damage from cold temperatures. Either way, the Bermuda grass is injured significantly, possibly even more so as winter wears on, and thus set back next year. We will fill in the voids with a mix of sand and bentgrass seed. Again, we will not be able to remove all of the Bermuda grass, but what we don't remove is hopefully stunted next year, and what we can remove is replaced with bentgrass.

Unfortunately, there is no curtain that will entirely prohibit Bermuda grass from moving in different directions. This will be an ongoing issue that we have to manage. However, we do expect to be able to manage the issue as we move forward.

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

Winter cart path rules are now in effect in order to protect the dormant Bermuda grass.

See you on the course!

Joe

jvillegas@bwrc.org