Summer's Almost Over and Fall's Coming and A Major Project Change

 Well, we've survived the meteorological summer(June-August) with a little less than 3 weeks before fall. Overall had a pretty good summer. I would have liked the greens to be a bit firmer but humid(wet) and hot conditions do not make it easy to produce that type of playing surfaces. No doubt they will get firmer and roll out will be great here in September/October.

Weather highlights for July/August

4th wettest July on record 9.07"

22 Days over 90 in July, normal is 12.

16th wettest summer(June-August) of all-time 16.49"

26th warmest summer on record.

So what have we been doing on the course the last month or so.

• Sliced, knife aerated the fairways

12 hubs, 16 blades on each hub for a total of 192 blades. Aerator is 6' wide. Blades go in about 2" deep and leave a cut about 3" long in the fairway. Normally in previous years the slits would turn a little brown due to less rainfall/drying on the edges but with our fairways being fairly moist when we did this work, they stayed green. 

• Deep solid tined the approaches and tees

There are 6 tine holders with 3, 1/2" tines and 2,  3/4" tines for a total of 30 holes every 3" as the aerator rolls along. We set the aerator to go about 4-5" in depth. This will assist in root growth and moisture penetration into the tees.

• Sprayed 2 applications of fairway, intermediate and zoysia green surround bermuda eradication chemical products. Fairways are not crispy, just slightly off color from the spray. The club spent $ 250,000 to put the zoysia down in 1995. We are trying to keep the bermuda grass out of the fairways. 

Other work completed included but not limited to the areas below.

• Needle tined greens at end of July

• Trimming fence lines trees, vines etc.

• Topdressing and brushing greens and tees with sand to improve ball roll out and smoothness

This was some of the major work accomplished over the last month or so. Of course there are many hours spent mowing, spraying and daily routine work that takes place as well.

The month of October we had scheduled a tee renovation project for #4/#12 tee complex. The Glen Echo Historical Foundation had raised money for this project through member donations and the Gala. 

There is a 3' drain pipe that takes the storm water from Glen Echo Park subdivision and sections of the course from #6 to the lake in front of 10 tee. One of our rough mowers ended up rest on top of one of the pipes near the edge of 8 fairway when a cave in occurred. The galvanized pipes running underground are completely compromised, rusted out in the bottom which is creating sink holes in various sections of the pipe. We have completed minor repairs over time but its finally time to repair this situation properly.

The project will be broken up into 4 sections. Three sections average about 100-130 feet and begin and end at large drain chambers where the pipes are encased in concrete. The longest run is from a drain we exposed in the left side of 8 fairway to the cart path in front of 7 tee. We intend to place some additional drainage in 8 fairway and to the right of 8 fairway which stays wet for a long period of time in the spring. We also intend to reshape the bottom of 8 to help direct water into the large basin. 

I'm evaluating a potential timeline and will discuss it in the future. We have not had a Green Committee meeting since this situation occurred so more details will be forthcoming. We intend to wait until at least mid November since we will have a great deal of work on the course to complete over the next couple of months and of course we want to give our members ample opportunity to play the course during the middle of fall.

Collar/Approach Renovation and Bunker Work

The staff has had busy week. We removed the false front bent grass approach on #10 and used the bent for collar repairs on holes 3, 4, 5, 6, 18 and the practice green. Over the last few years we have been converting these approaches to zoysia grass.  There are a number of reasons that this is being done:

• Less chemical applications since the approaches are now zoysia. This will reduce our overall chemical use which is good for the environment.
• Zoysia requires less water which will make the approaches more firm and allows the ball to release forward onto the green instead of hitting the more heavily watered bent grass approach and stopping.
• Our collars are mowed with a walk mower which takes more time to mow than the riding mower we can use on the approaches. We have converted them to a single pass mow which reduces labor which can used on other areas of the course. 

We still have larger approaches on 7, 13, and 15 that will be completed over the next couple of weeks. We reduced the size of 2 and 11 a few years ago but they are still larger than the single lap collars we have converted. We will attempt to remove these if time allows. If we run out of time, they will be worked on this fall.

Laying zoysia sod on 10 approach. This sod was taken off of 2 tee and used for this new approach. Saved operation a full pallet of sod which costs about $ 300 including delivery costs. It does take extra effort to do it this way with cutting the sod, lifting it and laying it but its great to use turf in another area.

Staff continue to lay more sod on 10.

This is a before with the old bent grass being stripped off by the sod cutter.Tom is cutting the bent grass sod into pieces so it could used again on damaged collars.

Staff in front of 3 green on the collar removing bermuda infested and thin turf.

New bent grass sod in its place. We saved nearly 400 linear feet of bent grass to use on our collars.

The guys are finishing up the left side of #6 green collar.

This morning the staff began working on our bunkers. Currently they have completed edging and redistributing sand in bunkers on holes 1-8 and the 2 large bunkers on 7. We will attempt to get the rest by early next week. The work has included adding additional sand to each bunker as needed from checking depths. As a player, you should expect that the sand will be a little fluffy in the bunkers that have been worked. It will take some time for us to get the existing sand to be mixed in with the new sand. We will be taking our packing machine out after heavy rains to help firm up the surfaces over the spring season.

No, not a Fox digging holes. These are check holes to see the depth of sand in the bunker to determine if we need to add any sand to the bunker or distribute deep areas of sand to more shallow areas.

Bermuda grass the was removed from normally the lower side of each bunker. Over time the bunkers shirk in size due to this fast growing plant.

Sand waiting to be added to the bunker on #1.

Newly added sand being shoveled and raked on #1.

Completed bunker on the left of #6

Update on Fairway Bermuda Eradication Spray

Its pretty obvious the fairways that were sprayed with our bermuda eradication chemicals a few days ago. The bermuda has turned an off color red. There is one fairway, #8 which I noticed a skip in the spray which gives a good example of bermuda under attack and green and in good shape. Video is below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EfeQAsAi3w

Bermuda Eradication Part Deux Hundred

First early morning arrival to the course in a while. Don't miss getting up at 4:30 but do miss the course waking up. Shot a little Bermuda Eradication video and yes we will be killing some Bermuda after the Invitational. I have not sprayed this year due to some weakness in the Zoysia.
 Fairways overall continue to improve with some filling in needed on 1,2 and 4. Tees were aerated last week, fairways were spiked which is the reason for the little slices with the brown edges where they dried out. Most of those areas have recovered. Yes and I have the finger ready for the video!

Repairs to 7 Tee Completed

The staff completed the renovation to the front of the white tee on 7 today. It was backfilled with soil, 3 drain lines were dug across it to reduce water pressure in the bank to hopefully stop the hillside from sloughing off again. Sod was laid on it today. 

To our young walkers, please stay off this area or you might end up injured from wet and soft conditions. Should be good to go in 2-3 weeks.

Skip using a mini-excavator to trench across the bank.



Laying the sod. Decided to use Bermuda grass due to its ability to deeper rooting and survive the summer heat.

Bermuda Eradication Update

Video regarding our Bermuda eradication work.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-g7-eTWMkok

Bermuda Eradication Update Hole 5

Video updating Bermuda eradication work.  We did lose a few pieces of sod from our earlier replacement and will be removing in next couple of days. Other than that, work is going as good as can be expected. Next spray will be after  MAGA Amateur in early August. Can't stop, won't stop till its gone!

https://youtu.be/y97upt315AE

Well, There He Goes Again, Fairway Bermuda Eradication Time Again!

I know, does'nt have a darn thing to do with Bermuda grass. Lady at Invitational 2013 or 2014

Yes, I am going again President Reagan! Time for the 2nd app to the fairways of our Bermuda eradication program. Sprayed 10 acres today through Hole 10. I will spray the remaining fairways on Monday. I did not apply in some weaker areas and intermediates where the Bermuda is too heavy. As you've seen in other posts and other forms of social media, the staff have been laying a great deal of sod in many places to improve our zoysia coverage. We have  a little more to do but for the most part that will end but we will continue to add some sod where we have some especially thin turf areas from our nursery over the next few weeks.

Some might question why spray again? Our fairways are a little weaker than other places in the district.  We have spent a great deal of time, sweat and money in sodding and treating our fairways with chemicals to reduce this weed's competitive edge. It's important to continue the program or the gains we've made will have been wasted.

I would expect the turf to begin to show its effects from the chemical early in the week and the Bermuda will begin to be effected more severely within the next 10-14 days. In about 2 weeks, the Zoysia should begin to change from a lighter green to its normal
green color. We will also be fertilizing our fairways early next week which will encourage the Bermuda to take in the chemical and help the Zoysia return to normal.

We will discontinue spraying because of our busy July schedule and will commence again after the first week of August and the Metropolitan Amateur Championship.

10th Fairway with indicator foam to mark the passes to insure overlap does not occur.

Holes 8 & 17 Fairway Intermediate Sod Work/Bermuda Eradication Program

As the staff was cleaning up the course yesterday from weekend play and prepping for a tournament, eight more pallets of zoysia grass rolled in waiting to be laid today. Praying for no rain as I mowed fairways this morning at 230 a.m(no that's not normal)  clouds hung around but the rain stayed away. Had the crew split between three main jobs, course prep for The Lorette Medart Tourney, tree work on 3 and sod work on 8 approach and then the start of 17. The guys busted their butts today. Placed about 325 yards between 8 and 17. Still have another 75 yards for 8 on Wed. Of course not forgetting about two other hard working people. Becky is in the middle of planting her near mature babies she's nurtured since mid-March. Of course she having to dodge some smart and excited hummingbirds who flirt in and out looking for some great nectar. Dave is hard at work keeping our aged fleet up and running.

The sod removal process involved:

• Cutting out the old stuff with a sod cutter and hauling it to the dump
• Hand raking smooth
• Applying some fert to get the sod started rooting
• Laying the sod
• A little drink of water, finished. 

Hard work plus the added pressure from the boss to leave the area before our ladies groups passed through. These areas were sprayed with our Bermuda Eradication spray. In some cases, just a few hairs of Bermuda trying to creep back in. We will continue to spray these after the Zoysia roots to continue to knock it back.

If you missed the earlier video from youtube regarding our plans on #8, its at the bottom of this group of pictures.

Alphonso and Latrell cutting the new sod in place.

Randy and Jeremiah lifting the old stuff in the top near the bunker. Old sodcutter  resting and waiting for its next task.

I captured this from the blog/video I posted regarding our plans a couple weeks ago.

Finished area looking good. 

Russ, Latrell and Jeremiah. Also had Tom, Jason, Parker and Skip who rammed this work through for me.

Looking good start of #17

https://youtu.be/D8eMX2mJT3I

Bermuda Eradication Program, #8 and Other Areas

As you know, we've been installing Zoysia the last couple of weeks as a part of our Bermuda Eradication Program. This week we were able to finish on 10, did the start of the fairway on 15, the intermediate near 16 approach and at the bottom of the approach on 18 green.(still a couple pieces to lay at press time). There has been mention regarding from the main road to 8 green and I did a video discussing what we are doing on this hole. We will be replacing some of the sod on this hole and will be allowing the Bermuda do grow back to fill it back in. We've given the Zoysia a good start in some of these spots and might go back in and reapply product where the Zoysia is strongest.

I will be applying one more application to the fairways before summer arrives helping to knock the Bermuda back that is mixed in with the Zoysia, that will occur in the next couple of weeks. After that, I will be allowing the fairways to grow no matter what the grass so they will be in good shape for the rest of the summer season. I will then go back in again in late summer and hit the fairways again to set up the Bermuda for winter kill.

Not how we normally roll out sod but the guys decided to just roll it out and then were going to make some adjustments. Early season Zoysia in big rolls is not usually the easiest to work.

https://youtu.be/Z2mKYopfr1A



https://youtu.be/D8eMX2mJT3I

18 Approach at bottom of the hill in the intermediate

16 intermediate on both sides near the green

Finished up the right side of 10

Bermuda Eradication Program #10 Intermediate Sod Replacement

The past couple of days, the staff have worked on replacing the intermediate along #10 Fairway. We are replacing a little more than 1/2 of it due to Bermuda contamination. We have some spots along the right side that we cut the old sod off but did not have time to remove the old sod and place the new sod. We should have this area completed by next week since conditions are wet and we have an outing for more than 1/2 the day on Friday.

We will circle these areas as ground under repair. We will also circle the new areas and ask that you take a drop from these areas. We have a number of other areas on fairways and intermediate on a number of other holes on the course over the next few weeks as conditions and work schedules allow. #10 will take about 800 yards of sod. A box blade on a tractor and the loader would be more efficient and would help quicken the pace of work but would also create excessive damage because of the weight.

We sprayed these areas with not only our Bermuda Eradication spray but also Round Up last fall in an effort to knock the Bermuda down a bit more. A cold winter would have helped us even more but to no avail.

Most of the area can be driven across with carts without any issue. We used mostly big roll sod which can stand up to more wear and tear. We have a little softer conditions at the circle around the start of the fairway. We will rope off this area and place cut thru areas for walkers. Please follow any signs or ropes to assist us with growing the turf.

Jason using the sod cutter and cutting out the old material. Our intermediates are cut with an 84" mower. The tractor in the background was used to roll out the sod.Sorry no pictures of that operation. Just got too busy and failed to get enough pics.

Randy, Latrell and Alphonso physically removing the cut sod.

The arrows point to the intermdediate that was replaced. We still have to replacement to do up the right side.

The green line shows that we started where the cart path ends on the right side of the fairway after it comes across the lake spillway and went all the way around to the bridge less than 100 yards from 10 green.

Fairways Sprayed(Bermuda Eradication Program)

I made the first spray of the spring season to our fairways as a part of our Bermuda Eradication Program. I would expect at least one more spray in the next 30 days or so and than a little break in the program allowing the sodded areas and some pretty significant golf events to get completed and we will then spray probably 2-3 more apps in late summer/early fall.

I would expect the Zoysia to turn slightly off color for about 10-14 days. My hope is that we've timed it properly to knock down some Bermuda significantly but to also reduce the amount of seed heads we will have from our Zoysia. If we are able to reduce the seed heads this will allow the zoysia to save energy that it would have used in producing seed. Lets keep our fingers crossed. I posted a video below regarding this program. Miss you girl.

https://youtu.be/ml3O_4MHnP0

2015 to 2016 Fairway Bermuda Eradication #12

Another example of our Fairway Bermuda Eradication work on #12. View below is from Spring 2015 where we had sprayed the Bermuda the fall before with our product. The last photo shows how well the Zoysia has filled in and how the Bermuda has been slowed allowing these improvements. We will still need to spray these areas further to help suppress the Bermuda even more but the program is working well in many areas on the golf course.

This was last spring looking up the hill toward 12 green. Fall 2014 spray hit the Bermuda pretty hard in this area.

Some replacement last season in the larger areas.

Very little Bermuda coming out right now. A great deal of the right side intermediate is Bermuda that is slowly coming out but very little if any in the main part of the fairway. This chemical applications are working very well for us. We will have to continue to do some wholesale replacements in the intermediate rough because some areas are completely void of  Zoysia.

Shortened and Updated Video of Bermuda Eradication #1 Fairway

Shortended video of the 2014/2016 #1 Fairway Bermuda Eradication Program

As you can see we are making some great progress. Still have a lot of work to do but the program is working well. I'll get some more shots at the end of April when the 2014 video was taken.

https://youtu.be/rZjnLiu9hnI

3rd and Final Fairway Spray on Bermuda Completed Today

Today I finished spraying the fairways of our Bermuda Eradication spray. I also sprayed 4 acres of rough on the front 9 as well this afternoon. I need to spray greens surrounds and the back 9 in the next few days. More reports will come your way as the work is completed.

https://youtu.be/rQPRmeOCtlQ

Course Update and The Lady Open Pictures and Video

Between club championships, group events, outings, and some nice play days, a great deal has been happening on your grounds over the last couple of weeks.

Our last application of our Bermuda Eradication products took place on Wednesday on holes 1-12. Higher winds and play in the mid-morning time frame prevented me from spraying all 18 holes. They will be completed early next week. Along with our last application of spray, we will be raising the height on the fairway turf in the next couple of weeks as we prepare it for winter. I will be watching temperature forecasts and growth rate of the turf to determine when this will occur. The latest would be sometime around the first week of October.

The herbicide called Pylex we used on the rough is doing great work on some of the areas but will need to be applied again next week. We then intend to drill seed Turf-type Fescue into these areas to improve our cool season competition and give us better turf cover. We also need to make another application on our collars, approaches, and green/bunker surrounds. These late season applications will hopefully set up the Bermuda for some winter kill.

We have 5 cool season tees, 2,3,5,10 blue, 11 white and 14 left tee. We had a disaster in crabgrass management on a couple 5,11 and average at best on 2,3 and 10. We used our walking drill seeder and drilled rye grass into all the tees except 2/3 which have a mixture of bent grass and poa annua. The rye-grass should give us improved cover and has damaged the crabgrass. We will definitely be on top of getting these tees sprayed next season to eliminate this issue.

The 8th main tee has shown some improvement over the last few weeks. I deep-tine aerated it 4 times over the last month and we put about 300# of compost on it to improve it over all health. The aeration should help reduce its moisture level over the winter and improve its overall health. We might also close it down some this winter and move play up to the red tee just to reduce traffic. We do this on a number of our smaller tees to help reduce wear and tear when the turf is not growing.

Becky is in the process of replacing the verandah planters with Mums for this fall. It think the planters looked great this summer and added some contrast to this area and the clubhouse in total. We plan on putting some tulips in them for the spring to give some great color to the balcony as life begins to awaken from a long winter's nap.

We will also be evaluating the long range tee for wear and determining a closing date for it sometime in October. I continue to encourage those of you who like to practice to use the long line method of divot removal from the tee than completely clearing a 1 or 2' square area of turf. That spot will not grow back until at least next June if completely removed. We intend to finish placing the netting on the poles and shortening the poles to a  little under 30' before the end of October. Trying to close the range during the season and doing the work with all the other work was not realistic for our crew to manage.

Randy rolling the greens. What are the greens stimping is the question posed. Probably too fast for most of us.

As you may have noticed this past week, the best greens of the season should take place over the next 30 days as long as the rains don't get too heavy.We are looking at completing our deep aeration on the greens the week of October 19th or 26th depending upon weather conditions. This should give you at least 4 weeks of unencumbered joy on this lightning fast greens.(Yes my tongue is firmly planted in my cheek) Cooler temperatures, lower humidity, longer nights all contribute to great ball roll out and many challenges on our greens. We hope many of you take advantage of the next month. The battle of the leaves is usual at a smaller level until the end of October or early November anyway.

https://youtu.be/HIJsFu7QLio



We appreciate your support and look forward to seeing you out on the course. Lady had a great time at her pool party as did all the dogs that I could see. I'm sure there were some tired pups that night. She only had to growl down one youngster who was just showing her some love but was a little to rambunctious for her taste. After a tough day, the enthusiasm that our pets show to us can give us pause and comfort from the difficulties we sometimes experience during our work time.

https://youtu.be/eSHgYzRBQ08

Cart Entrance to 7 Fairway, Bermuda Spray in Rough and , Caution! Construction Trucks On Property

Video below discusses the reasons for the rope across the right path along #7. Path is going to be removed this fall. It will be kept large enough for walkers but that is all.  All carts should use the left path in front of the red tee to enter along the fairway of Hole 7.

https://youtu.be/olrxkPQV6Xc





Our Bermuda eradication spray is beginning to show up in some of our rough. See the picture below.

The arrow on the left side is pointing away from the right of 12 green. This area was sprayed with a lighter rate of Pylex onto the collar and the first cut. You can see the darker green color.  The two arrows on the right shows the effects at full rate on the Bermuda after only 2 days. You will see this in a few  areas around greens and in some of our main rough. The left side of #11, around 13, 7, 10, 17 and 18.  Along fairways 1-4, 10, 16-18.

Mark Matteson who works for Clayco has located  some dirt for us to fill in the old tennis court area and for some other uses on the course. There will be some construction trucks delivering soil to the back parking lot and the long range. I expect this will begin next week but have not actually spoken with the hauler. We will also be using our dump truck to move the soil to the tennis courts during this time. I just wanted to warn you regarding these large trucks entering and exiting the property.

Update on Bermuda Eradication Work

We continue to see progress in our Bermuda grass eradication efforts. I realize there are a few patches of red grass out there from the Bermuda going off color. There is a great deal more carnage going on throughout the large areas of mostly solid Zoysia that you cannot see as well. Millions of wannabe big patches are being stopped in their tracks in our effort to get this situation under control. We've sodded 240 yards, over 2000 square feet of fairways space in the last two weeks with new turf where the voids are too large to expect the Zoysia to fill in. The largest patches we currently have are around the 150 yard mark on #10 which we will remove next week and some areas on #16, especially toward the green.

As mentioned in the video below, we are beginning to go after some of our green collar and approach contamination and green/bunker surround areas with a product that is showing great promise at very low rates. More discussion about that early next week and the symptoms of this spray begin to take effect. For our Bermuda puller, this should be good news. We will have to backpack spray a few areas that have Zoysia that butts up against the collar and the Bermuda. The spray material also has negative active on the Zoysia so we do not want to create injury to it. These of course are multiple application sprays that will be repeated about every 3 weeks until dormancy. Coming out of dormancy next spring we will hit them again in an effort to set them back or kill them as we get into spring.

https://youtu.be/0SAGh5DHX9M?rel=0

Sod and Bermuda Eradication Work This Week

The staff laid a couple pallets of zoysia this week, a pallet of fescue and sprayed fairways/tees in our Bermuda eradication work. We will try to cut out a couple pallets a week of Zoysia as play and work considerations allows until dormancy in early October. There are a few areas that have large patches of Bermuda that should be replaced. Zoysia will only move about a foot or two a year.  Once the Zoysia covers these areas, we will make additional sprays over top of the Zoysia to discourage the removed areas from filling back in with Bermuda.

I was intending to spray some greens surrounds and bunkers with a new Bermuda Eradication product called Pylex herbicide  but was not able to get that accomplished. Maybe Saturday or early next week. More details on this product next week after I make the applications.

Randy, Rico, Latrell and Tom cutting out the bird bath area about 225 yards on the left from 7 green. Had to remove some extra soil at the end which was helping to hold the water in place.

Finished product. Please drive around and play as Ground Under Repair until we remove the stakes.

Area on the left of #8 fairway which receive much less than ideal sunlight during the day to support Zoysia. Hopefully some selective tree trimming, traffic control measured and compaction reduction will improve this area.

#15 where some large patches of Bermuda have been living. Trying to spray these areas out and replacing with Zoysia.

This is a picture of 18 fairway about 150 yards from the green. You can see the heavier dew formation on the Bermuda grass. Larger patch in the background which could  need to be replaced with sod once the eradication spray takes effect. The foreground area should burn down below the surface of the Zoysia grass and will need to be applied again toward mid-September. Late applications reduces the Bermuda's ability to store energy for winter making it vulnerable to winter kill.  An application or two in spring and early summer followed by 2-3 applications in fall should help us put this weed on its heals. We might never get rid of it but we can put it under serious control in our main playing areas like our fairways. 

Bermuda Puller Continues to Damage Collars

New damage on 6 green collar from someone who continues to pull out chunks of Bermuda from collars. I've asked in a recent post for this practice to stop and explained why. It damages turf or grass cover that we have and leaves a bare area and a hole which your fellow members might be forced to play from. I will post this message in the locker room and score posting station today. If you would like to have a conversation with me regarding the Bermuda contamination and why its there, I would be more than happy to do so. Besides our green turf, it is the most problematic plant on our property and it  covers probably every spot on our property except directly under trees in deep shade.

Please quit damaging our playing surfaces no matter if it's a plant that is not supposed to be there or the intended turf.

The remnants on a 9" plate from one small section of 6 front collar.