Golf Course Maintenance Newsletter
Donny Latham - Director of Agronomy
April is arguably the best month for golf in my opinion. The Masters, spring temps, azaleas are in bloom, the sun angle starts to get a little higher in the sky, and things just look beautiful after a long winter nap. Wow, did we have a long winter's nap. I am so excited to be wearing sunblock and shorts again. We did suffer some damage on our Weiskopf greens during the extreme cold snap . For many of you who have been actively playing golf, you've probably noticed there are some strange darker patches on greens Weiskopf #5 and #10. These areas suffered the most damage and I am sorry to say, I do not feel these areas will recover. Rest assured, my staff and I did all we could do to prevent this from happening but mother nature still can and will usually win over our best efforts. The areas that are darker and have not put on any new growth will need to be repaired. Weiskopf #5 will be the most disruptive as we will most likely remove the grass and have to re-sprig this green. This will cause us to be on a temporary green for approximately 90 days. I originally discussed sodding these areas with the Golf Shop staff, but I have decided to re-sprig the whole green. The reason is simple. Sod will look like sod for a very long time. It could take almost a year for the sod lines to disappear. Any salvageable sod will be stripped and used to sod the left side of Weiskopf #10 and any other small areas affected by the historic freeze and snowfall. Weiskopf #10 will be a little easier to patch into existing turf. This area is over to the side and although the square footage is similar, it is isolated to the left side. We will remove the dead turf and replace with new sod. This project should commence on May 3rd. I will create a temporary green for #5 that will certainly make this hole play differently but I ask for your patience as we repair these areas. Certainly we do not ever want to lose turf, but this is not isolated to Bentwater. There will be many golf courses across the state having to make these difficult decisions.
Other items of note this month... During the first couple of weeks of April, we will be fertilizing all three golf courses heavily to promote vigorous turf growth. I am pleased with how our fairways are starting to green up and recover from the traffic during winter dormancy and this heavy fertilizer application will continue to feed us through the next 6 months.
We will be stripping a large section of Miller #5 fairway where the Bermuda grass just can't seem to handle the shade and traffic. We will be removing the sod and planting roughly an acre of sod in the middle of this fairway with Zeon Zoysia. Zoysia will be able to handle the shade and we will restrict the traffic to this area until we are able to really establish this sod. I think this will add a nice touch to an already difficult hole.
Weiskopf bunkers have been repaired and are back in play. The contractor came out, repaired the torn liners and we put fresh sand over the areas that were "Ground Under Repair". My staff and I will work to continue to monitor the liner and repair as soon as we see anything that is in need. As always, feel free to email me with any bunkers you see where the sand is lacking or there is liner showing.
Overall, I am pleased with how we are coming out of dormancy. Certainly I never want to lose any putting surfaces, but being responsible for over 400,000 square feet of putting greens, losing 3-4,000 square feet due to unprecedented cold temps, snow, and ice... I am happy. Certainly could have been worse.
Please feel free to contact me at [email protected] with any questions or concerns. Have a great month.
Donny Latham
Director of Agronomy
FRIENDLY REMINDERS
From Golf Course Maintenance
- Keep an eye on the daily "Course Conditions & Information" pages on the website. You can save these handy links for daily access to the most up-to-date information about each course prior to play:
Weiskopf & Miller Course Conditions
- Another very easy way to keep up-to-date on all things "golf" is with the Bentwater Mobile App. Click here for details on adding it to your phone.
- Don't forget about our Agronomy Blog. It is my intention to update this weekly with fun and interesting updates on things happening in the world of Bentwater Golf Course Maintenance. We'll provide updates on both big projects and other improvements we have underway or in the works on our beautiful golf courses. The address to this site is www.bentwaterturf.blogspot.com.