The Project 2021 - Update #18

 

Bentgrass

Our renovated greens are being seeded with a 50/50 mix of two creeping bentgrass varieties that are intriguingly named 007 and 777.  Why bentgrass, how are they developed, and why these names?

Bentgrass is an ideal grass for greens if your local environment can support it.  It can withstand foot traffic even if closely mown (down to 1/10 of an inch). Bent, by nature, is a cool season grass which is why they have been uncommon in the South.  Granite Bay’s cool nighttime temperatures allow bentgrass, especially the newer varieties, to flourish.

007 and 777 are part of a new generation of “Super Bents” that are more disease and heat resistant than their predecessors.

#1 Green bentgrass seed germinating and visible 7 days after initial seeding. 12 to 14 days after seeding we will start to lightly roll and mow the new greens.

How New Varieties Are Developed

How bentgrass varieties are developed is fascinating.  If you guessed mad scientists in a lab, you’d be partially correct.  They were developed by scientists in an outside lab but they aren’t mad, they are patient.

New  varieties are grown from samples collected actual golf courses.  This has been going on at Rutgers University for over 70 years.  Some quotes from www.bentgrassdoctor.com (the website of Dr. R.H. Hurley, the world’s premier expert on bentgrass).

Over the past forty years turfgrass breeders at Rutgers have visited hundreds of old well established golf courses throughout the United States. During a site visit small patches of putting green turf are collected. The only plants identified for collecting are ones that appear to be attractive, fine textured, dense, upright growing and free of disease.

Some of the older putting greens observed are over eighty-five (85) years old, dating back to the 1920’s, and we feel that some plants collected have been growing and surviving, under the wear and tear, on actual greens, for generations.

The goal has always been to find the idealistic 'one in a million' rare bentgrass plant -- those unique plants that display improved qualities with special adaptive traits that have allowed these plants to survive on a golf green, under extensive foot traffic and low mowing, for many, many years.

These promising wild varieties of bentgrass are brought back to the laboratory (turf farm) and observed for a few years.  Perhaps only two-percent of the promising varieties will be kept for further study with up to 98 percent of the samples discarded. These two-percent are propagated, studied, and grown to produce breeder seed.  And yes, this takes time:

Having patience is most important, as it typically takes an investment in time of approximately 12 to 15 years to collect germplasm, evaluate, breed, and commercially release one new variety.

Every architect and golf course builder has their own style of seeding greens. Basically the process is add pre plant fertility to the newly shaped and compacted  sand mix surface, seed at the specified rate, and incorporate  the fertility and seed into top 1/8" of mix. Then you start to irrigate very lightly on the hour during the day to prevent the young seedlings from drying out.

Major Advantages

So now that you have 007 and 777 varieties, what are their major advantages over previous generations of bent?

·        Improved disease tolerance

·        Improved drought and heat tolerance (777 is being planted in Texas)

·        Denser growth that limits poa annua establishment

So, what about those unique names?

Dr. Hurley’s first improved creeping bentgrass variety was named L-93 after the year it was first commercialized in 1993. 

 For his next bentgrass variety, the experimental designation was DSB (Dollar Spot Resistant Bentgrass) and the year it was to be commercially released was 2007.  Following Hurley’s earlier precedence of naming a bentgrass variety by the year it was to be released, the commercial name for DSB bentgrass was identified as 007. 

 Now, with Hurley's latest creeping bentgrass the commercial name will be 777 after October 2017 when this new “super bent” variety will be commercially released for sale to golf courses.

 

 Thanks to Ed Reeder for researching and writing this update while I was in a irrigation ditch. 

The Project 2021 - Update #16

 Upper Putting Green

Now is your opportunity to experience something close to "Masters putting".  The Masters greens typically Stimp between 13 and 15.  Our upper putting green is currently Stimp'ing between 17 and 18.

Upper Putting Green

You are welcome to use the Upper Putting Green until its renovation begins.  Try a few putts and begin to appreciate what the pros face in Augusta.  If you sink a few putts feel free to be a bit smug in that you were able to do it on an even faster green than they face

The Project 2021 - Update #9

 "What matters most is not the size of the green versus the length of the approach, but the size of the hazard-free area around the hole versus the difficulty level of the approach. If this is properly balanced, the course will remain fair for all players, and be more interesting to boot..." (Tom Doak 1992 - quoted in Golf  As It Should Be - Mark Parsinen 1996)

Greens Restoration

One of the things that we will be addressing during our ongoing golf course renovation is what can only be described as a restoration of our putting surfaces. Changes that occur gradually over a 27 year period are very subtle while they are happening, but fairly profound when analyzed after almost three decades. This course update is the first in a series of updates aimed at showing what has changed over time to our greens and how we are restoring them close the their original state. There will be tweaks in the surfaces mostly designed to facilitate surface drainage, but other tweaks that will provide strategic options to getting to the hole. A picture is worth a thousand words, so enjoy the first part of this series with other editions to come as we progress through the "finishing", "seeding" and "growing in" process's of our new putting surfaces at Granite Bay.

Above photo is a picture of the putting surface liner on #5. Putting surface liners are used to separate the edge of the green's sand mix from the native soil outside the green for numerous reasons, one of which  is to identify the original edge and shape of the putting surface. During original construction the top of this liner was very close to the surface. As you can see the top of the liner is a full 12" below the ground 27 years later. This picture was taken on the left hand side of the green between the sand trap and the putting surface so much of this buildup can be attributed to sand splash from bunker shots but we are finding liners down anywhere from 8"to 12". This is normal from sand topdressing over the years but a little surprising when you first uncover it.

If you look close at the previous picture you will see a wire at the bottom of the frame that was placed there during original construction. This wire can be traced with a wire tracer when dug up and the above picture depicts the results of this original perimeter of the green on #2 with the hashed red lines. Notice how far the green has shrunk at the back. This is not unusual as perimeter issues on a putting surface are not un-common and when they are experienced  the first thing that happens is you stop mowing the area. This shrinking was likely due to shade issues caused by the large Blue Oak that is directly behind the green.

Above is a traced perimeter of #3 green. Notice the shrinkage on the left hand side walk-up to the green where we have experienced perennial issues.

 

Step #1 in the restoration process is to identify the perimeter edges of the original green which we have done and shown examples in the pictures above. After determining this original shape, step #2 is to sod cut the area which is depicted above.

Step #3 is removing the old sod and associated top 2" to 3" and burying or stockpiling. This material is not to be used for fill or plating as is is all soft organic and loaded with poa seed.

Step #4 is to start to remove the next 3" to 4" of mostly sand mix. This material is not ideal to seed into as the poa contamination can still be present at this level, but it is great material for sand capping surround areas where sod will be placed on top of it

Diamond Golf Currently has 8 greens prepared to this level and will have another two or three at this level by next week. Next big move to these green complexes and subsequently to all of them, is to re-shape bunkers and install BBB liners,  restore irrigation that was removed to facilitate new green complex and bunker shaping, along with the "finishing" of the greens. The finishing process will be chronicled in the next  part of our "Greens Restoration" series of the 2021 Project. Next update early next week will cover some of the new bunker shaping along with overall pictorial progress report. Stay tuned.

Thanks as always for your support.