Project Update - June 27 - Bunkers!

It's official, the new bunkers on holes 2, 7, 9 and 16 are all in play. The grounds department finished installing the new sand today on our last hole, #7. The sand was installed to a depth of approximately 6 inches and then compacted using water and a plate tamp. This should provide a firm enough bunker to prevent balls from embedding but still be soft enough for the morning workers to fluff the top layer to provide a little cushion for the ball.

New green surrounds and bunkers on #7

#16 with a new look

Today we extended the perimeters of the greens on holes 4, 5, 6, 13, 14 and 15. If you recall, during our project last summer we added paspalum sod around each of our project greens. The intent was to reclaim lost square footage from years of bermudagrass encroachment. Each green has gained close to 1500 square feet! It will take some time for these expanded areas to more closely match the existing green surfaces in terms of leaf texture and playability but they are at a very similar mowing height and should now be treated as green surfaces. For the short-term, we have painted the new greens perimeters with orange paint to remind you that you are now allowed to mark your ball in these areas and they are to be treated as part of the green.

Newly expanded #13 green

Notice orange lines marking new green perimeter

While it might not look like much is happening with the newly sprigged tees, I am excited to report that I am finding new roots and shoots starting to grow. Many people seemed puzzled by the sprigs thinking that they are nothing more than grass clippings. However, sprigs are viable stems cut from mature bermudagrass fields. When put into contact with soil and kept wet, they will begin to generate new growth. This is very similar to propagating new plants from cuttings. Many of you may have used cuttings to start new plants such as rosemary, oregano, geraniums and hydrangea. 

It also may look like much of the grass is brown and dead. That's because it is, or at least the part you can see. This is normal with virtually every sprigging. The old leaf blades dried out and died during the cutting and sprigging processes but the plant is still viable within the stem itself. Most of these viable stems have been pushed into the soil 1-2" deep during planting. Keeping in mind that the stems begin without roots, it is critical to keep the new sprigs wet until a root system is established. This can take up to a few weeks. Especially with the extreme heat we have been experiencing, we must make every effort to prevent the sprigs from drying out. That is why we have constant irrigation running on the new tees. Soon we should begin to see more and more green leaves emerge from the soil. As the plants emerge and roots take hold, we can start to reduce the irrigation. For those wanting a little more information on the sprigging process, you can follow this link to a Sports Turf Managers Association article. www.stma.org

Tiny shoots starting to emerge on #4

From the surface this plant was barely visible but a closer look shows that there is healthy growth taking place

Project Update - June 19 (WHAT'S A SPRIG?)

A lot has transpired over the past few weeks with the project. We have experienced a successful opening of the renovated green surrounds on holes 2, 7, 9 and 16. The feedback on both the appearance of the new surrounds as well as the speed at which we were able to get the greens back open for play has been very positive. On Tuesday we made final preparations of the bunker floors with the plan that sand will be installed next week. If you remember, we installed sod in the bottom of the bunkers to create separation between our native beach sand and the clean bunker sand. We encouraged the sod to establish roots and gain stability. Although we will now kill off this sod, we will leave it in place and allow the thatch layer to provide a physical barrier between the native sand and the bunker sand. Once the sand is installed and compacted, the bunkers will immediately be open for play hopefully by June 28.

Morning shadows on #9

Bunker on #2 ready for sand

Much of our focus over the past few weeks has been on constructing the new tee complexes. We have renovated tees on holes 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14 and 16. The rough shaping was completed early last week and all tees leveled using a laser grade system. This equipment mounted to a tractor is designed to smooth tees to a perfect grade. The laser grade system cut the work that would have taken 30+ days down to 5 days! We have been working on final smoothing this week.

Laser grading new middle tee on #14

In earlier posts I mentioned that we had a reclaimed water shortage. Not any more! We have been receiving regular rainfall for the past two weeks. While this is helpful for the rest of the golf course it has caused delays with the project. We were supposed to install new grass on all of the tees last week but too much rain at the farms delayed cutting. Not to mention, we also have had to repair several washouts of the new tees as a result of the rain. Fortunately, we finally received enough sprigs for 5 holes today. Unfortunately, tomorrow's delivery was rained out at the farm once again. We are hoping for a late Thursday delivery so we can finish installation by the weekend.

And the question you all have been waiting for, "What's a sprig?" The answer, a sprig is a small grass shoot. While those from up north are used to using seed to establish new grass, there is no viable seed for warm season bermudagrass. Because of this, we have two options to establish a golf course, sod or sprigs. In the case of our tees, we chose sprigs. Sprigs are spread across the ground using a machine that pushes them into the soil and rolls them flat. With water and fertilizer the sprigs will grow together to form a solid grass stand. This is exactly how our greens were established in 2007. A couple of reasons we use sprigs instead of sod. 1- Cost. We are renovating tees on 9 holes during this project. If we chose sod, we would have only been able to do 2 holes for the same money. 2- A better end product with only a little extra time. If you think back to last year when the new first tee was built, you will remember that the new sod was uneven and seams are inevitable. Sprigs grow together all at one level without seams. Sprigs grow directly into the native soil without having a soil layer like sod. As far as time is concerned for establishing tees that can be played on, sprigs only add 1-2 weeks of establishment time. Our target date for opening the new tees is currently August 1st.

Holding a few sprigs

Machine applying sprigs

New tees on #4 after sprigging - Yes they will turn green and grow together!