SCROLL DOWN FOR GOLF MAINTENANCE REPORT
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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.
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Hand watering greens.
Misting greens.
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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.
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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.
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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 |
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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 |
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Overseeded
Golf Courses |
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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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