First Hole is Complete

A month after this project began, we have the first hole finished.  The par-4 Fifth hole is now completely landscaped with over 1000 new plants.  All the turf surrounding the tees has been removed and replaced with sand.  Border areas and slopes on both sides of the hole have been dressed with 3-4 inches of dark brown mulch.  There's a new path around the back tee that leads to the restroom, a often requested addition using more compacted sand in an area which used to be water-loving grass.  This project is moving along nicely and it feels good to have an area complete.

The crews spreading mulch and sand are now busy on the sixth hole and soon will head to #4 where irrigation is ready and planting is nearly finished.  Ahead of the planting crew are irrigation installers and ahead of them are a handful of guys running trenches for the hard pipe portion of the drip line.

The project is on track to complete holes 3 thru 8 in the second week of July.  We will then move on to the back nine for approximately six weeks.

You may notice some dried out sections and some traffic zones that have turned brown during this project.  This is an expected result of a construction project and these areas will recover very quickly.  A little water, fertilizer, and some venting with an aerifier can get bermuda to green up and bounce back.

When you get to play these completed holes this coming weekend, we'd like you to keep your carts out of the new areas as much as possible.  There are a couple zones where carts can cross through the sands to get to the fairway, so feel free to do so.  However, if your ball lands in the mulch, please walk to that location and leave the carts behind.

More updates coming soon.

Nearing a finished product (on one hole)

Number five is where this process started and that hole will be the first to be completed.  We are actually pretty close, just a few weeks since the project began.  All the old turf has been removed, the soil has been rototilled and then compacted, flags have been placed to designate locations of plant material and now the crew is installing irrigation.

The drip system uses sub service delivery in 3/4 inch pipe.  The only part that comes above ground is the emitter to water each plant.  Trees will get soaker hoses in a couple of rings, but besides that, we will not have any hoses above ground.  This allows us to use a bunker rake to dress up the area periodically without damaging any drip line.  Also, players will not encounter drip lines when playing out of the native zones.

There are many hundreds of feet of drip line trenches on each hole.  This is a pretty time consuming task, but with 4 trenchers going at once, it's moving faster than I had expected. Once the irrigation is installed, the plants will go in and the compacted sands and mulch will be spread as a final piece.  The sand will be compacted with hand and mechanical rollers and the area will be finished.  

The first shipment of plant material came in today, mostly larger items like 36" box sycamore trees, 24" box pink malaleucas, and some 15 gallon 'after dark' peppermint tree.  It's going to look pretty sharp out there.  

Update and artist rendering

Below, is a representation of our finished product.  One of the priorities of our plant selections was to bring some color into our landscape.  This isn't an official plant map, so don't be too concerned about the specifics.  More than likely, we will have thinner plantings between tee and fairway, heavier plantings as you move towards the OB lines and homes.  

Baccharis pilularis, called Coyote Brush

Notice the contrast provided by the grass against the compacted sands bordering the mulch on the slopes.  Within the mulch areas are thick ground covers like acacia and baccharis pilularis, or coyote brush.  We are considering 22 different plants to be used in the plan including a variety of trees, bushes, ground covers, and grasses.  I will share the complete list when we've confirmed availability of all plant types.  As you may suspect, getting drought tolerant plants is fairly difficult with all these projects occurring at the same time.

Today, some flags are being placed on hole number 5, to mark plant locations and the dividing line between mulch and sand.  Turf removal on holes 4 thru 8 will be completed in the next couple of days and soon we will be digging up heads on the rest of the course which was sprayed with herbicide one week ago.  You can already see the effects of the treatment on this large portion of turf between the 9th tee, 2nd fairway, and the driving range.  This is a great example of useless turf that will be replaced by much more attractive low-water plantings.

Finally, last week BHCC hosted the Women's Member-Guest Tournament in the middle of a very messy project.  Instead of complaining about the dust and less than perfect conditions, our members used the opportunity to showcase our efforts to reduce water usage and beautify the club.  The staff and I received so much praise for our work in making the course as presentable as possible.  Of course, everything was mowed, the bunkers were raked, detail areas trimmed, and the greens cut and rolled.  However, the unusual work was plentiful, like a new walk path to the 3rd tee box.  It had been rototilled the day before to a depth of 8 inches and walking to the tee box would have been very difficult.  We shoveled up the mess, lined the path with some shredded bark, and marked the entrance with some cobble stone.  

In just a few weeks, the entrance to this tee box will take on another design... attractive, permanent, and drought tolerant.  

Turf Removal Update

The demo portion of the turf removal project is well underway.  Holes 3 to 8 have been sprayed out two times and the turf is being stripped.  The first cut is completed with two passes of a sod cutter followed by a crew with shovels and a skid steer pulling the mess away from the grass that will remain.

Other workers are digging up sprinkler heads and pipes, preparing to shrink our irrigated area.  When we finish up, there will be 33% less turf on the golf course.

Every hole south of Bernardo Heights Pkwy will be getting treated with herbicide next Monday.  The lines are all marked and the course will be closed so this very important application can proceed quickly and smoothly.  We have marked off a couple locations to use the sod in thin locations and to replace non-bermuda turf.  Two weeks after cutting, the bermuda will leaf out and we will treat with herbicide prior to removal.

To the left is a photo of a sample of the sand that will replace some of the turf coming out.  It isn't a granite-based product, so we can stop calling it DG.  Until we think of a more clever name, we'll just call it sand.  This product compacts well, has  great color, and is free of rocks, so no dings in your clubs.

We will also be using mulch in many locations.  The material is a dark brown stained mulch, very similar to the landscaping on the 11th hole around the pump house.  I will place samples of both products outside the proshop to give you a better look.


So far, one of my favorite changes is the par four 6th hole.  This is a fairly short and simple dogleg right that has always seemed a little bland off the tee.  You can punch a hybrid or 3 wood out to the left side and not think twice about it.  I hope the new shape makes you think as it looks like more of a carry than it is.  The fairway is well defined and the left side will become more than a pasture of turf.  Simply put, this hole looks more interesting than it ever has.  Wait till we get some plants in the ground.

I'll have some examples of plant types in a future post.

Turf Reduction Project Begins

On May 4th, Bernardo Heights Country Club received official notice of approval for the Turf Rebate Program funded by Metropolitan Water District.  We will be removing 33.42 acres of turf over the next few months, greatly reducing our water needs while beautifying the course during the same period.

Since our initial approval, we have sprayed herbicide on 10 acres on holes 3-8.  This is the first portion of the course we will renovate while the other holes remain open for play.  Weekend play will continue as normal and major tournaments will go on as planned.  However, a project of this size does require some concessions from all parties involved.  There are days our contractor will have take the day off, and there are days the members will not be able to play all 18 holes.  Each golf group will be impacted, but at the end of this summer, we will have a much better golf course.

I've received many questions about the grass we intend to remove, mainly, "Aren't you going to remove the sod to plant in an area of rough that needs grass?"  This does make sense, and we will do this when possible, but it is important to kill the plant completely.  If we cut sod right before renovation, we will have bermuda popping up in our new landscape for years.  We want to reduce maintenance on the course, so the herbicide application is very important.

 Since we are starting on 6 holes, we will cut sod from some sections of the other twelve holes and spray them later on.  The sod will begin to grow again in 2 weeks, giving us enough time to cut, regrow, and then spray.

The first herbicide application was applied by our spray tech Abel and me.  It's a little uncomfortable rolling around the course with a tank of glyphosate (roundup), but we are pretty happy with the results.  Take a look at the third hole and imagine the new look we will have.

The brown grass will be replaced with a sandy mix, like decomposed granite, but more sandy in nature.  I'll put a sample in the Golf Shop when it comes in.  The sand areas will be planted with grasses and native plants.  The cart path will be hidden from view.  The hillsides, which always struggle due to the slope and a lack of fertilizer and weed control will be well landscaped, attractive, and sustainable.

It's time to get excited because there are some big changes coming to BHCC.  Many updates coming up.  Check the Twitter feed as well @alwinejr

Say Goodbye to Ryegrass

As we continue our transition to bermudagrass, the importance of removing competition cannot be overstated.  We do not want ryegrass hanging around, stealing valuable nutrients, water, and space in the root zone. It also grows at a different rate making for bad lies and poor aesthetics.  A full stand of ryegrass is beautiful, but a bunch of clumpy rye in a stand of bermuda is an unsightly mess.

The problem is, ryegrass is stronger than you may think.  Sure, in the middle of the desert it will naturally succumb to high temperatures and fade away, but in San Diego, it will survive year-round even with water cutbacks, high sodium soils, and bermuda competition.  We've opted for a very quick transition using herbicides that will wipe the slate clean.  No more clumpy ryegrass or Poa annua in the fairways and most of the rough (some cool season grass will remain under trees).  Even the kikuyu grass is getting beaten back along with any weeds that came up with the winter rains.

Below is a before/after of some clumpy rye in a hybrid bermuda portion of #15 fairway:

These clumps of ryegrass look insignificant after they are sprayed.  There will be no void remaining, like a divot that needs to be filled.  The bermuda will fill the space as the ryegrass decomposes.  If the whole fairway looked like this, I would have sprayed all of it back on February 2nd.  However, the south portion of this fairway is shaded with some trees and hosts a higher population of ryegrass.  It will not be spared, but we will wait until we are ready to pull some sod from other areas to replace thin spots.  The results shown in this post take a month and the turf is still playable, just off color.  We will spray the rest of the fairway soon and map out areas to be sodded.  

In the photo to the left, our application zone is obvious and you can see the darker ryegrass in the background near the trees.  There is plenty of bermuda here as well, but sod will be used in any areas that will not fill in quickly.

This program to eradicate cool season grasses is not limited to the fairways, in fact, this year the main focus will be the rough because the fairways are nearly finished.  Below, you can easily see the ryegrass that remains around the green and bunker on #3.  I was not comfortable spraying any closer to the green, I wasn't even comfortable spraying this close to the green.  I am happy with the results.  There was no tracking onto the putting surface and the bermuda under all that rye looks as good as we expected.  

These locations were thoroughly mapped out last summer before any cools season grasses could take over.  We have already sprayed over 6 acres of rough and will continue through the warmer seasons.  A mono stand of bermuda looks so much better than a Heinz 57 mix of grasses.  Playability and consistency will improve and summer heat will not be an issue.  

Stay tuned for more notes about killing and growing grass.  One is nearly as important as the other.

Office Hour Notes

Last Saturday, the club hosted a session we call Office Hours, which is a short presentation followed by a Q&A dealing with course conditions and maintenance.  Today, I'd like to share a summary of the topics discussed for those of you who were not able to attend.

For the new subscribers, this post is many times longer than a normal post.  We covered a massive amount of information, much of it fairly technical.  I'll try to keep this as short as possible.

Fairways

Yes, this is the main topic of debate at Bernardo Heights Country Club and for obvious reasons.  There are many thin lies in the fairways since bermuda is not growing well during the winter months.  We just passed the worst of it with five days of heavy frost near New Years Day.  Some members are wondering why the fairways look this way however I'd like to explain why the fairways have never been better positioned for the future.

The bermuda fairways are young; some have only been pure bermuda for four months.  By pure bermuda, I mean that there is no other grass growing in the fairway.  There is no perennial ryegrass leftover from our overseeding days and there is no Poa annua that has been allowed in during winter months.  Most of our fairways are pure bermuda and will only get better as temperatures increase.  

The par 3's and holes 13 and 15 have not been sprayed to eliminate the cool season grasses, but they will very shortly.  By the end of this summer, we will have 100% bermuda fairways.  We have made it past the ugly conversion stage and can now enjoy the maturing process that will produce the carpet-like bermuda we've been waiting for.  I've been smiling lately because it's closer than you think.

Take a look at this picture of the fairway on #2 that I took this morning:

Now compare it to a photo taken on the 14th of January just a few weeks ago:

Hopefully you see a difference and an improvement.  We've moved from a two grass cycle to bermuda year-round.  Overseeding is really successful in Palm Springs, but we are not Palm Springs.  We do not receive a return on a ryegrass investment.  It is much better to suffer for a month or two and enjoy excellent conditions the rest of the time.  Once the bermuda is matured and filled in, by the end of this summer, next winter will not be so bad at all.  We originally promoted the fairway conversion as a three year process back in 2012 and we are right on time.  Get ready for some beautiful fairways this year.

Greens

Just like the majority of golf courses in San Diego, our greens are mostly Poa annua.  This includes Torrey Pines, Rancho Sante Fe, and San Diego Country Club.  I would love to play those greens on a daily basis.  Stop being afraid of Poa because it is truly a remarkable putting surface.  

The greens at Bernardo Heights are starting to roll very well with the bentgrass waking up with warmer temperatures.  We have a blend of bentgrass and Poa, and they are really starting to even out and blend together.  Soon, we will begin light topdressing to fill slight imperfections and the occasional verticut to control puffiness.  This morning, greens were rolling around 10.5, a bit faster than they've been in previous weeks.  We plan on keeping the greens between 10.5 and 11 on the stimp meter, a very reasonable speed for our greens.

Sodium issues that come about from our irrigation water are under control, especially with the nice rains we received in December.  We need more of those rains to flush salts through the root zone.  Toward the end of last summer, we changed the way we flush greens and now feel we have a good handle on this practice.  Read about that and some changes to the fertilizer program in this previous blog post: Adjustments to the Greens Program

Collars

Another major topic at Saturday's meeting was the condition of the collars around the greens.  We have paspalum collars and have to live with that grass type for now.  In the winter, this turf will go dormant and lose a lot of it's leaf tissue.  This results in a very thin stand of turf, sometimes right down to the soil.  Last year, we scalped the collars down to the soil and overseeded with ryegrass.  This made the collars look nice, but they did not play very well at all.  There are varying opinions on this year's strategy of using colorants and no seeding, but the overall consensus is the collars play better this way.  The paspalum is beginning to green up again and we are mowing it low to knock down the tufts of ryegrass leftover from last year's seeding.  

The collars just passed the center of winter and low point of growth potential.  Like the bermuda fairways, they will only get greener and smoother as temperatures warm.  

Well Water

We've been tracking the water level of our new well since last May and readings have been very positive.  In May of 2014, the water sat 310 feet below the ground.  The fracture from which we pull water sits at 980 feet.  Our pump sits at 600 feet below ground.  The last reading, taken on January 30th was up to 307 feet below the surface, three feet higher than May of last year.  

We are committed to maintaining this source of water in a sustainable fashion.  Without overseeding, we will be using very little water throughout the cooler months.  We have and will continue to remove turf from areas out of play.  Over five acres were removed from the irrigation grid over the last two years and we are exploring a turf reduction program to remove up to an additional 15 acres.  

Water quality is not excellent, but it is manageable.  Regular water tests have shown the well water to have the same amount of sodium and bicarbonates (bad things for turf) as when we first started drawing water.  We expect the levels of salts to remain constant and we have found the proper maintenance practices to grow turf in spite of less than perfect water.

Since the time the well was put into operation, the club has saved over $560,000 minus electricity costs.  We also have saved the City of San Diego over 90 million gallons of water by utilizing an untapped source of water that would not be useful in most situations.  I think we can be proud of this investment, both for the dollar savings and the reduction of the draw on our drinking supply.  Water is a precious resource and we are dedicated to using every drop as efficiently as possible.

Rough

Now that the rough is back on the fertilizer program and undesirable grasses are being removed, we are getting very close to where we want to be.  Last Monday, I sprayed over two acres of rough with a product that will eliminate ryegrass tufts.  We will continue to spot fertilize thin spots and push our bermuda stand.  Once we eliminate the tufts that cause most of the bad lies, we will have nothing standing in our way.

Summary

You may be hearing a common theme in most of these sections: ryegrass is in our way.  Overseeding has caused us many pains.  The bermuda was weak, bare spots emerged in late summer, and a huge cost was imposed on the club for good winter conditions.  San Diego's winter is so short, it kinda blends with the other seasons and today, it was 80 degrees.  

We have direction now.  The fairways will be bermuda.  The rough will be bermuda.  The green surrounds will be…..  you guessed it, bermuda.  This grass type takes less water, handles sodium, and can provide excellent playing conditions year round.  

For the last two years, half of my job has been killing turf.  I'm good at it.  If we never get rid of the ryegrass and poa that have starved the bermudagrass, the conversion can never take place.  Well, we are almost out of grass to kill.  

To wrap up the longest blog post I've written in five years, I like where we are sitting right now.  We have a stable water source that saves us money.  We've converted to a grass that wants to grow here.  We have a  fantastic layout and some members who really love being here.  And shame on me for not mentioning my wonderful staff last Saturday or until the final section of the blog.  They care about this course, they are really excited about the bermuda fairways, and they are the best Turf Maintenance Soccer Team in San Diego.

Thanks for reading.