Time to de-thatch

Recently, many locations on the fairways have turned a little brown for a unique reason that has little to do with water.  As the bermuda in the fairways becomes thick and dense, it also becomes spongy and thatch ridden.  When our fairway mowers pass over these thatchy locations, the blades dip down and scalp the turf, leaving some brown turf.  These areas can take a few days or even a week to green up before they are mowed again with the same result.

The way we combat this scalping is by removing thatch and tightening the surface.  We do the same thing on greens when we verticut to smooth the surface and promote upright growth.  A fairway verticut is much more aggressive and messy.  Heal time is about 10 to 14 days, but it varies by location.  Normally, the turf will get a little brown and just a bit thin, but playability is not greatly affected in the short term.  Once the turf heals, playability can be greatly improved with firmer surfaces, young healthy shoots on the bermuda, and more upright than lateral growth.  Bermuda really loves this process.  

In addition to the improvement in fairways, verticutting creates many bermuda stolons that can be planted in thin areas.  We are experimenting with this process to the right of 18 fairway with more locations in the coming days.

Your patience is appreciated as we work to transition to bermuda as quickly and painlessly as possible. The trouble we are going through is already starting to pay off with improved conditions.

New look for #7

As reported in the Scorecard, a few months ago, the rough left of the cart path on the 7th hole is being converted to decomposed granite.  We'll also mix in some pine straw, some rocks, and some drought tolerant plants to dress things up.  Decomposed granite offers a lot of good benefits.  It is permeable, so rain passes through to tree roots and standing water is uncommon.  It compacts nicely and stays put without much maintenance.  Weeds can be controlled easily by hand removal, pre-emergent, and the occasional backpack of glyphosate.  You can drive on it, walk on it, and play on it.  It also is an attractive color that makes the grass on the other side (of the cart path) look greener.

Here are some photos of the project from the last few days:

The previous week, we sod cut and reused any turf that was worth saving.  The rest, mostly kikuyugrass and weeds was sprayed with herbicide.  The crew sod cut the dead turf and removed the spoils with a box blade and a front-end loader.  The area was graded by hand and was ready for the first load of DG.

This part went quick and we soon ran out of our stock of DG, just short of completing the prepped area.  More DG is on order and we will continue with the rest of the left rough.  Because we have many projects going on at the same time, it is much easier to work in stages than to knock out the whole assignment at once.  After all, we also have grass to grow.

The DG will be watered and rolled to produce a firm, smooth surface.  Most of this area slopes back to the turf, so shots from here will not be too common.  However, you do not get relief, so take your medicine and get the ball back to the fairway.  Happy golfing!!