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Hand Watering Greens
(Posted: Thursday, July 29, 2010)

Q: Why do you we see golf course employees hand watering greens?

A: Hand watering greens is a very critical step in keeping the greens cool during the hot afternoons. Without this maintenance practice further damage is likely to occur to Bella Vista Village’s greens surfaces.

Q: Why do some employees that hand water the greens seem to overwater spots and other employees just mist the green?

A: Every green is different; some areas on greens may have actual spots that are dry and need more water. The employee will know this by taking a core sample and checking for moisture. Then he or she will apply water to the area to prevent the grass from dying.
Other times the green may not have any dry areas or spots and just needs to be cooled, then the employee will put a light mist over the entire green surface.

Q: What should I do if I am playing a hole and employees are hand watering greens?

A: Please wait until the employee is finished and out of the way or you may hit up if the employee waves you on. Safety should always come first.

 




Hand watering greens.


Misting greens.


 

Hot, Humid Weather Affecting Highlands Greens
(Posted: Friday, July 2, 2010)

The greens at Bella Vista Village’s Highlands Golf Course are suffering from the recent hot and humid weather and recovery will likely be slow.

The Property Owners Association’s Golf Maintenance Manager Casey Crittenden said he first started seeing signs of trouble during the first week of June. Although only very subtle at that point, as each day passed the thin yellow areas basically gave up and left patches of dead grass.

Crittenden sent in samples to be tested for fungus and nematode activity. Nematodes are microscopic worms that feed on turfgrass roots and can cause severe damage. The results showed no apparent fungus at the time of testing but did indicate heavy nematode activity, almost five times the threshold level for bentgrass.

“I felt, at that point, we were looking at the same thing as we had the last couple of years with these greens,” Crittenden said. “While nematodes and hot humid weather have played a role in what has occurred, other factors also play into this.”

For example, the Highlands greens soil profile is not conducive for good greens. They have at least three inches of thatch and a layer – about four inches down – of material that was used at the time of re-grassing. The material is slowing the water from perking downward through the profile and causing the water to be held up in the top few inches, which affects the watering practices. In other words, one day the greens may have too much water and be at a boiling state during hot weather, and the next day it is necessary to use only small amounts of water to prevent scalding of the turf canopy and root system.

These greens will continue to be a problem until we can renovate in some form or another. Until then, we will be working at improving the greens by aeration and overseeding this fall, along with cooling greens throughout the day.

“We hope that you will still come out and play the Highlands Golf Course,” Crittenden said. “The crew has done a great job of keeping the course looking good and has put in a lot of hard work trying to manage this very difficult greens situation.”

To view a report from a site visit made by Mike Richardson and Doug Karcher from the University of Arkansas turfgrass team on June 29, click here.

 



 


Brittany Golf Course Retention Area Completed
(Posted: Thursday, July 29, 2010)

The Maintenance and Construction division and Golf Maintenance division have completed work in the retention area on No. 4 at the Brittany golf course.  "This will clean up the area and make it more visually appealing for the golfer; as well as the homeowners around this site", said Casey Crittenden, Bella Vista's Golf Course Maintenance Manager.
 
 



Country Club Golf Course’s Bridge Replacement Project Begins
(Posted: Tuesday, June 22, 2010)

Work to replace the old bridge at the Bella Vista Country Club Golf Course No. 2 is in full swing.

The bridge, located over Little Sugar Creek, serves as access from the No. 1 green to the No. 2 tees and from the No. 8 green to the No. 9 tees.

The work initially involves setting bridge pilings and forming abutments. Once that work is complete, the bridge, which should arrive in August, will be set.

The existing bridge was in need of replacement, due to rotting bridge pilings, which had become a safety concern.
 






 

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USGA Green Section Turf Advisory Service Report
(Posted: Friday, June 4, 2010)

U.S. Golf Association Green Section Agronomist Charles "Bud" White submitted a report from his May 20 visit to Bella Vista Village's golf courses.

To view White's report in its entirety, click here.


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2010 Aerification Schedule

SPRING
Weather Permitting
Thursday, April 8 - Kingswood
Friday, April 9 - Berksdale
Monday, April 12 - Country Club
Tuesday, April 13 - Metfield
Wednesday, April 14 - Scotsdale
Thursday, April 15 - Highlands

FALL
Weather Permitting
Thursday, Sept. 9 - Berksdale
Friday, Sept. 10 - Kingswood
Monday, Sept. 13 - Country Club
Tuesday, Sept. 14 - Metfield
Wednesday, Sept. 15 - Scotsdale
Thursday, Sept. 16 - Highlands

 

Overseeded Golf Courses

2010
Monday, Sept. 20 - Berksdale -
Carts on path until Sept. 30
Tuesday, Sept. 21 - Metfield -
Carts on path until Oct. 1
Wednesday, Sept. 22 - Scotsdale -
Carts on path until  Oct. 2
Friday, Oct. 1 - Kingswood -
Carts on path until Oct. 6

2011
Kingswood
Berksdale
Country Club

Highlands

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GOLF MAINTENANCE REPORT
MAINTENANCE REPORT FOR THE GOLF COMMITTEE MEETING
Golf Committee Report for July 2010

The hot weather started early in the middle of June and has continued throughout the month. This has been a good thing for our Bermuda grass fairways that are recovering from the ryegrass transition; however, the heat and humidity is detrimental to our cool season greens with Scotsdale and Highlands greens encountering the most heat stress.


                                                   
                                                     
No. 2 Green at the Highlands Golf Course

Transitioning out the ryegrass was successful and the fairways continue to recover. However, the fairways at Berksdale Golf Course are lagging behind in recovery due to the timing of the Monument application.

We have been faced with losing the big oak tree on the left side of No. 3 fairway at the Bella Vista Country Club Golf Course and the locust tree on the left side of the No. 4 hole at the Bella Vista Country Club Golf Course. These trees will be replaced in the fall with 8 to 12 foot trees. The tree at No. 3 simply fell away exposing the rot throughout the middle of the tree and the locust on No. 4 had rot throughout and several large, dead limbs throughout.

Sweetser Construction Co. is making headway with the bridge installation at No. 2 Country Club and we should continue to see progress as we move into August. The bridge should arrive sometime in August.

This time of year the crews focus on general maintenance practices and cooling greens with about 40 percent of the labor hours being spent on watching greens in the hot afternoons.

                                                    

The crews at Berksdale, Kingswood and Highlands golf courses have managed to plant several areas with wildflowers and have enhanced each golf course. Our future goal is to continue this practice throughout the entire village in keys areas on each golf course.

Erosion control at #3 Kingswood has been moved up on the priority list, with several trees falling off into the creek due to daily erosion we were forced to take action and have rip rap (rock) hauled in and placed along the creek bank. This should help reduce the erosion for now. The picture below indicates work in progress.

                                                      

Work at No. 4 Brittany retention area started on June 21. The Maintenance and Construction Division did a great job with getting the silt hauled away and shaping this area per the engineer’s design. This area is designed to slow the flow of water coming through after rain events and then draining off, eliminating the water from remaining in this area and becoming stagnant.

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