Continuing The Growin

We have always indicated that 2022 would be a grow-in extension of our 2021 golf course renovation, and if you were following progress, you would have to concur. All golf course renovations have a frenzied nature about them and our 2021 renovation was  no exception as we simultaneously re-built greens & bunkers and converted fairways to hybrid bermuda. This chaotic at times, and intense pace was carried out while racing against mother nature's deadlines, as well as rushing to get our Members back out on their golf course  prior to the cold of winter

One of the late and frenzied operations  of last year was the sprigging of #12 fairway and the recovery of #17 fairway. Seventeen fairway was our beta hybrid bermuda fairway sodded in 2019 and was used as a sod farm during the 2021 renovation. Hybrid bemuda will regenerate itself after sod removal, but  #17 was in varying stages of recovery as fall approached in 2021 and #12 was the last hole to be sprigged on the last day of August. Neither of these scenarios left much time for hybrid bermuda recovery or establishment from sprigs as days were getting shorter and the warm weather required for hybrid bermuda establishment was waning. 

Fast forward to now, the summer of 2022, and the warm weather opportunity to finish what we started with these two fairways last year. In July we started an aggressive fertility campaign on these two holes as well as weaker areas in other fairways to get the hybrid bermuda establishment that dident completely fill in during our initial  grow-in season of 2021. This fertility campaign is very similar to what we did in 2021 to get the sprigs to cover before opening. Below are some on going examples of those efforts for those of you that are interested. We will continue these efforts through September while the Santa Anna is actively growing. 

Because of the late sprigging of #12 fairway last year on the last day of August, we dident have much warm weather left in the year to adequately grow in the hybrid bermuda sprigs. The warm late summer  / early fall in 2021 provided more warm growing weather then anticipated, but #12 & #17 were still behind the other fairways in establishment. We decided that it would be prudent to inter-seed these fairways with cool season grass for the winter months then transition those grasses out of the fairways in the summer of 2022.

This picture from #12 fairway illustrates some of these overseeded cool season turf areas that are starting to thin  from summer heat while trying to grow in Granite Bay. The surrounding Santa Anna hybrid bermuda that established last year is starting to fill in the voids of the cool season turf that is checking out.

Frequent applications of fertilizer, two to three times per week, will fill in the voids that are depicted in the previous picture. How do we know this? It was exactly what we did to grow in sprigs in 2021.

Larger areas of cool season overseed from 2021 that has now checked out will require some sod repair despite our current fertility regimen on #12 & #17. We plan to start re-sodding these areas this week into the next.

We still have some good Hybrid bermuda establishment weather ahead of us, at least six weeks. Finishing what we started and filling in the voids is imperative during this time. We will be aerating and topdressing all of the fairways in mid August (more on the scheduling of this next week) which will be beneficial for the work described above as well. 

Thanks for your support and patience. The Best Is Yet To Come!