Just a normal Monday

A few Mondays ago, we did some work on the greens to maintain the current speed and improve smoothness.  The greens have healed up nicely from aerification and are responding to warmer temperatures with better color and growth.  However, the surfaces can get a little bit puffy if they are not groomed properly.  We like to go after this problem before it is a problem to maintain our current conditions.

Above, we have Tomate (that's his nickname, but I don't know why) verticutting the greens two directions while Ricardo cleans up any debris left behind.  The photo shows the effect of this light, vertical mowing.  We follow that with a dusting of sand and broom it in to finish the process.  The sand fills in any imperfections and the slits we cut into the green.  The result is a much smoother surface on greens that were already stimping around 11 feet, now closer to 11.5 with very true roll.

On the same day, Elidio was out with the Wiedenmann aerifier, punching some holes in the green surrounds.  According to the staff, this is the first time this area has received a traditional aerification in it's entirety.  This will improve water infiltration and reduce the amount of water required to keep the green surrounds in good playing condition.

Solid Bermuda

On March 3rd, I spent about 45 minutes driving around with a tank full of herbicide and knots in my stomach.  I was about to spray some fairways with a product that kills any grasses that are not bermuda.  I was nervous about the application because much of the bermuda was covered with poa annua and ryegrass that had been growing through the winter while the bermuda was semi-dormant.  Some locations look like solid cool season grass and I can only hope that bermuda lies beneath.

The fairways that received this treatment were #'s 6, 7, 10 and a portion of 18.  In the coming weeks, we will spray #'s 5, 8, and 17.  Other holes will be sprayed as bermudagrass fills in and the poa annua and ryegrass weakens from summer heat.

The beauty of this product is the slow rate at which the cool season fades away.  For the first week, growth stops, but color and texture remain the same.  About 10 days in, grasses that are not bermuda start to yellow and they are browning up at this time, 17 days after the application.  The grass is still very playable and will not fade away completely for a few more weeks.  During this period, we fertilize the bermuda grass and encourage growth without any competition.

My fears of spraying are usually relieved when the bermuda starts growing through the dead grass.  There is plenty of bermudagrass on these fairways and they will fill in quickly.

A mono-stand of one species of grass is so much prettier than a hodgepodge of turf types.  Most of our fairways have ryegrass, poa annua, hybrid bermuda, and common bermuda in patches and different percentages throughout the playing surface.  Wiping out the rye and poa will really clean up the appearance and provide better playing conditions year-round.

 If we do encounter a thin or bare spot, we will mark ground-under-repair and maybe sod the location if recovery time is too great.  This application is an aggressive technique, but like you, I'm tired of waiting for this transition to take place naturally.  We are on the fast track now and the fairways will look like you've never seen at BHCC.  The last few photos show a portion of #6 fairway that is loaded with poa annua.  Last summer, this area was nearly all bermuda and will be all bermuda once again.

Yellow and dying poa annua covering bermudagrass.

Closer inspection shows some green bermuda within the dying cool season grass.

Here I've pulled up on the bermuda runners that will fill in this area.

Green Aerification

As I usually say, our green aerification is one of the most important days of the year.  This is one of few opportunities to open up the surface, remove some thatch, and add some important nutrients to the soil.  The drainage is improved, the roots are given some room to travel downward, and oxygen is delivered to the plant and microbes in the soil.

 Our process uses a smaller size tine, 3/8 of an inch with very close spacing, meaning many small holes instead of a few big ones.  The greens can sometimes lift up during using this technique when the root structure is not very good.  Our first go around with this setup was October 2012 and the greens heaved up nearly 4 inches.  The crew thought I had ruined the greens, but they can be rolled and pressed back down.  This year, there was no heaving at all, indicating better soil structure and increased rooting.


For an early start, Izzo and I came in on Sunday night to get a couple of greens punched before a grueling Monday.  In the photo to the left, you can see some very long shadows and Izzo enjoying the cool comfort of freshly pulled plugs.  This saved a few hours of labor and allowed us to finish the entire course by 3:30 PM, our earliest finish ever with next to zero overtime.  The crew would have liked the overtime, but they seemed happy to put the shovels away at the same time.

The key to the sanding process is to make sure that all the holes are "capped" with sand.  Many players feel that we put too much sand on the greens, but the cardinal sin is applying too little sand.  If we leave the surface clean and green, the dimples that are here this week will last for well over a month.  Be patient and the turf will grow through the sand and return to a smooth and firm surface.

You can expect healing to take just under two weeks.  The greens are being watered nightly at this time to help the sand work into the holes and to encourage the healing process.  The softness makes them susceptible to big ballmarks, which are YOUR responsibility to repair.  We always have trouble with players ignoring this task because, "the greens are all torn up anyway."  They will heal faster if you fix the damage caused by your ball.  Please help me help you.

Rain Report

This weekend's storm will double the rain totals we've received at the course since early October.  Needless to say, this is much needed moisture that will help to hydrate our landscaping, trees, and turf throughout BHCC.  As of Saturday morning, we've picked up 1.5 inches of rain at our weather station. The slow and steady pace allowed the ground to soak it up.  The sodium that piles up in the greens has been dropped by 50%, which is just what we need going into aerification.  This is a great way to start our spring season and get the course growing and greening up.

Have you ever wondered what the maintenance staff does during a rainy day?  We've been waiting for this opportunity to address some shop work.  We cleaned up all our storage areas, re-organized equipment, and painted three sets of tee markers.  The guys were set up like Santa's elves, scrubbing down tee markers and adding a fresh coat of paint.  The red tees had been painted a few weeks ago by Genie Brown and company, a much appreciated assist from our ladies' groups.

When the rain took a break in the early afternoon, I headed out to survey drainage issues and take note of any down trees or branches.  The course is a little messy and will get a full cleaning on Monday.  We only lost one tree, a half dead tree on the first fairway that was marked for removal.  We will be cart path only for the weekend, but those restrictions will be lifted as soon as possible.

Today, Ramiro and staff were able to mow greens, which are actually pretty firm after the nice rain-powered flushing.  They will do their best to clean up the mess, but bunkers will take some time to get into shape as they need more than a quick raking.  We gladly will accept the little bit of hassle for the huge benefits of this rain.

Fill Up Those Divots

Today, the maintenance department is spending 16 man hours and a small truck worth of sand to fill up neglected divots.  The fairways are not too bad, but the first cut of rough is terrible.  I played this past Friday and the first cut of rough is the favorite landing spot of every one of my tee shots.  I first thought the rough was just clumpy with old rye and underlying, semi-dormant bermudgrass.  I then noticed that all the holes were in the same direction and were actually divots that had not been filled.

Perhaps some people believe that divot sand is only for the fairways.  I would like to encourage you to use divot sand anywhere you remove a chunk of earth.  You will be replacing your divot with much better soil, the healing process will be faster, and other balls are less likely to end up in a hole.  There are refill stations located at every single tee and we try to keep those filled up.



If we can get the golfers to take care of properly raking bunkers after play, filling divots, and fixing ballparks, we would free up well over 20 hours of labor per week.  We have a very lengthy to-do list, so if you can take some weight off our back, we will not waste the extra time.

Bunker Rehab

The bunker master plan is off to a great start with the recent renovations to holes 5, 6, and 7.  Those changes not only improved playability, but also improved upon an already solid design.  The redesigned green complexes are now more attractive and promote some creative golf shots.

Sand screening back at the shop

We can't renovate all the bunkers at once, so our other bunkers will need some in-house rehabilitation.    The main complaint is a lack of sand.  Sometimes this is the case and a club will find the underlying clay bottom, or hard pan as golfers like to call it.  However, many areas have plenty of sand, but it is aged, broken down, and contaminated with clay.  Do you know what clay plus sand equals?  Well, that's the simple recipe for concrete and that's how some of our bunkers feel.  Adding brand new sand is a foolish waste of money and no argument will ever convince me otherwise.  New sand is quickly mixed with old sand and thousands of dollars result in very little improvement.  The USGA recommends that all sand is REPLACED every five years.  I think we can get by with a few more years, but adding sand year after year is not a sustainable practice.

Compaction work on #3 green-side bunker

The maintenance department is surveying the course to find the worst of the green-side bunkers.  We are looking for areas with very little sand, inconsistent amounts of sand from one location to another, and other problems like roots or very poor drainage.  Since we never get any rain (sad, but true) the drainage is not the greatest concern.

The sand we are using to touch up the bunkers has been removed from the renovated bunkers on 5, 6, and 7.  We have delivered this sand to the maintenance yard and built a screen to remove any gravel, clay chunks, roots, or other debris.  The screened material is very consistent with the existing sand in our bunkers and is blending nicely.  We have already touched up over 20 bunkers throughout the course.

Roots remove from #17 bunker near path

When it comes to bunkers, there is a fine line between too soft and too firm.  If sand that has not been properly compacted, the result is fried egg lies.  If you recently saw me driving around in a bunker or two, that is the reason why.  Our staff, which has pretty much taken control of this project, returns to the shop in the late morning with a report of which bunkers need some work.  The next morning, I inspect the bunkers with a few golf balls thrown at a reasonable angle, a wedge to test playability, and my cart to get the right compaction.  I think the bunkers we have worked on are now playing much better.  The sand is firm, but there is sand and it is pretty consistent.

If you encounter a thin area, find a root, or plug a ball, please let the Proshop or maintenance worker know of the problem.  We are eager to make these hazards as friendly as possible.  However, remember that word: hazard. It's supposed to be difficult and you're supposed to stay out of there.  Good luck!!

Winter's Woes

The blog has been quiet, thought about taking the winter off, but I'm not so sure this is winter any more.  I was optimistic that rain would come in January.  The Farmer's Almanac is usually right, somehow, but here is the January forecast for Northern California:

JANUARY 2014: temperature 53° (1° below avg.); precipitation 8" (5" above avg.); Jan 1-3: Clouds and occasional drizzle, cool; Jan 4-10: Heavy rain, then sunny, chilly; Jan 11-14: Heavy rain, mild; Jan 15-16: Showers;Jan 17-19: Heavy rain, mild; Jan 20-24: Rainy periods, cold;Jan 25-27: Sunny, cool; Jan 28-31: Rainy, cool.

Unfortunately, not a drop of rain has fallen this entire month.  I've been getting a lot of questions about the impact to the course concerning the lack of rain and higher than normal temperatures.  We like the rain to flush out salts, take some pressure off the irrigation system, and get some deep watering to the trees and landscape.

The sodium content in the soil has not piled up too badly and we are managing like we would in the summer months with no real problem.  Our irrigation system is running as normal and we are staying below our budget with no issues.  Most locations only need a weekly watering.  The trees and plant material on the slope could certainly use some irrigation so we are working to repair those stations that have been out of use for a few years.

 We normally do not have to worry about checking moisture throughout the course or even turning on the irrigation more than a few times a month during a normal winter.  This year, we are seeing signs of summer even though it's six months away.  To the left, the fifth fairway has some severe signs of hydrophobic soil.  This is all bermuda grass and some of it is dormant and brown while the rest is still green.  The green portion has some water in the soil, the brown part is bone dry.  Tomorrow, we will spray a wetting agent to correct the problem and reduce surface tension to help the soil accept water again.










Just as unusual, we normally don't need to use wetting agents on the greens this time of year because regular rains keep the soil hydrated.  Number 18 green this morning was showing some dry patterns and will need a treatment tomorrow as well along with the rest of the greens.

As far as the temperatures, the warmer than normal weather has been a good thing.  The roots in the greens are as good as we could expect this time of year and I'm sure the lack of frost and warm days have helped that cause.  Many bermuda locations are still semi-green and others are greening up early.  This is not a problem as long as we don't get hit by a heavy frost.  We don't want the bermuda to go in and out of dormancy and waste it's carbohydrate reserves, much like you don't want trees blooming too soon.

More updates coming soon, thanks for reading.