Money "Traps"

I fully understand that the playability of our bunkers is far less than ideal.  What I'd like for everyone to understand is that we are far beyond the point of improving them by simply adding new bunker sand.  I've said this before and I'll say it again, bunker sand has a "life expectancy".  That's right, a life expectancy.  Good quality bunker sand remains good quality bunker sand for about 5-7 years.  Now, I'm not saying that bunkers need to be completely renovated every 5-7 years, but in an ideal world the majority of bunker sand should be removed and replaced at least every 10 years to ensure the playability of the bunkers remains consistent and at its best.  The last time the bunker sand here at Quilchena was removed and replaced was well over 10 years ago.  From what I've been told it was about 20 years ago now.

Some factors that diminish the quality of the bunker sand are:

• weathering and heavy rainfall that results in "washouts" on the bunker faces
• subsurface contamination (stones migrating up through the bunker base)
• above ground contamination (grass clippings, leaves, twigs, divots and other debris)
• routine maintenance (bunker edging and raking)
• poor drainage
• animal activity (digging)

Why should we spend thousands and thousands of dollars to add sand to our already greatly contaminated bunkers?  Our bunkers already have plenty of sand in them, tons of sand actually.  The issue with the playability of our bunkers is the fact that the sand in them is so contaminated that it compacts and "crusts" very easily resulting in less than ideal bunker conditions.  Despite what some believe, adding new sands WILL NOT magically provide bunkers that play as if they were brand new again.  It is simply a "Band-Aid" fix that will prove to be a waste of money and resources in no time at all.

simply adding new sand isn't going to fix this

As I've stated time and time again since I arrived here at Quilchena, our bunkers are LONG OVERDUE for a complete renovation that includes: removing all the contaminated sand, installing new drainage, reshaping and restoring the bunker complexes and yes, even eliminating some bunkers that really don't come into play often enough to warrant the expense allocated to maintain them.  I assure you, it doesn't take long for the playability of new sand to appreciably deteriorate when the existing bunkers are already contaminated and the old drainage is failing considerably.  New bunker sand is not cheap and when you factor in the labour to add the new sand to the bunkers, the cost of it increases even more.  To spend even a single penny on adding sand without renovating them would be extremely wasteful and fiscally irresponsible.

Here are some photos that illustrate exactly what I'm saying:

bunker sand: current (left), new (middle), current mixed with new (right)

bunker sand: current (left), new (right)

bunker sand: new (left), current mixed with new (right)

As you can see, although there is a slight improvement in the visual quality of the bunker sand when mixing our current sand with new sand, the aesthetic improvement is certainly not substantial enough to warrant the expense.  The "chunks" and "crusting" you see in the current sand and the mixed sand is "silty" contamination and it's causing many of our bunkers to drain so poorly.  Infiltration rates of bunker sand should exceed 20 inches/hour (bare minimum) to drain properly and often exceed 50 inches/hour.  The infiltration rates of our current bunker sand is well below 20 inches/hour and mixing new sand with current sand will not provide the infiltration rates required to drain properly.

I'll leave you with a question from a concerned golfer to the USGA Green Section about simply adding sand to bunkers each spring:

Q: I have heard that many courses add a layer of new bunker sand to their bunkers each spring. Is this a good way to prepare the bunkers for play each season? (Delaware)

A: The answer is, probably not! Capping the bunkers with new sand is more of a Band-Aid strategy than correcting a bigger problem. However, there may be good reasons for adding a layer of sand: 1) top off a recently completed bunker renovation, 2) new drainage was installed and the sand finally settled, 3) more sand may be needed to achieve the proper uniform sand depth. If the bunkers drain poorly, are contaminated with silt and clay, or contain improperly sized sand, then they should be renovated rather than capped with more sand. You are only delaying the inevitable by adding a light layer of sand. The bunker should be rebuilt if the internal drainage system is compromised or if surface drainage channels water into the bunker.

Saturated Greens - What's the big deal?

Some members are suggesting that we are being too overprotective when we close the regular greens and move to temps under extremely wet, or saturated, conditions.  The damage caused by traffic on saturated turf is not immediately visible, so I fully understand how some may feel this way.  In fact, the damage is being done below the surface so you won't immediately see it, but I assure you that the damage being done will lead to many problems down the road.

#1 green - saturated

In an effort to ensure that everyone understands exactly what damage can be done to the regular greens if we allow them to be played when saturated, I emailed the USGA Director for the Northwest Region, Larry Gilhuly, to ask him to provide some expert advice.  

Larry Gilhuly - USGA Green Section

For those of you who may not be familiar with Mr. Gilhuly, he has conducted numerous site visits here at Quilchena to provide guidance and recommendations on how we can continually improve our Turf Care maintenance operation and the overall conditioning of the golf course.  We are pleased that Mr. Gilhuly will be lending his expertise to us again this summer during a Turf Advisory Service (TAS) visit.

Mr. Gilhuly was kind enough to provide a detailed response to my question and, with his permission, I'd like to share our email correspondence with you.

Jason Hooper wrote:

Good morning Larry,

Thanks again for your response to our Women’s Captain regarding her concerns of playing in frosty conditions.  That provided some much needed expert insight and advice for our membership.

We’ve recently implemented a new policy with regards to saturated greens.  In the past, if the golf course became so wet that the regular greens either had standing water on them or they were foot-printing from being saturated, the course would be closed until they were deemed playable again.  As you know, this is common practice for many golf courses here in the Lower Mainland and the Pacific Northwest.  Our new policy allows the golf course to remain open with temp greens put into play in the approaches for those holes where the regular green is deemed too wet for play.  Most members have been very accepting of this compromise to remain open as much as possible, but we do have some that feel we are being overprotective of the regular greens.

I was wondering if you could provide some insight on damage that can be caused to turf under saturated conditions.

Thanks for your time and I greatly look forward to hearing back from you.

Mr. Gilhuly responded:

Jason,

There is a major difference between walking on frosted vs. saturated conditions. Both cause significant damage to the turf, but the bottom line is one (frost) can be immediately seen with the footprints that are created and the turf that is often lost. The negatives of saturated conditions are seldom seen immediately, but when a hole is placed on a green and the combination of multiple sets of feet are focused in the small area around the hole the impact of compaction will occur. When even a few players congregate near the 4.25” target the combination of these many compactive forces does cause damage. That is one of the main reasons we have advocated the use of sand for decades as a way to minimize compaction while allowing water to move away from the surface. Sand helps add air to the root systems while finer silt and clay does not. However, during major rain events or just regular rain in our area, if an area that receives extensive traffic (soil or sand) is exposed to foot or any other type of traffic it will reduce air space for good root growth.

If good internal drainage exists (my understanding is one of your greens is excellent in this regard) then regular traffic in wet conditions can be achieved, however hole locations should be in seldom used “high and dry” areas with slower green speeds. Since you currently have well drained approaches this is the area that makes the most sense for use during the winter. I previously sent the attached article (Temporary Sanity) that makes the most sense for Quilchena. Having approaches that are well drained and receive intense aeration, thatch control and sand topdressing is the perfect compromise and will greatly benefit playing conditions during the regular growing season by allowing more “bump-and-run” shots. Keep the mowing heights down (approximately .250-.300”) to achieve a reasonable speed.

I hope this assists in explaining this common problem viewed in the Pacific Northwest. However, very few golf courses visited in the past several decades do not have some form of functioning drainage to virtually eliminate this problem. This topic and others should definitely be discussed next year as part of our TAS visit.

Course Update - December 3, 2012

We have been avoiding much of the forecasted rain the last couple days which has allowed the main playing areas of the golf course to dry out and firm up nicely.  Things are sure looking much better than they did on Friday!

November 30, 2012

The drier weather has also allowed us an opportunity to clean up and mulch many of the fallen leaves that litter the course this time of year.  This is not an easy task in wet conditions, but they need to be cleaned up and we really can't expect dry weather this time of year.  We have also been busy maintaining the cart paths to provide a smoother ride for those that take carts.  Please be patient with us as we work to keep the course clean throughout the winter as we are doing so with greatly reduced staff levels.  Our Turf Care Team has been reduced down to 4 crew members on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays and only 2 crew members on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays.  This does not include our mechanic and horticulturist.  

Speaking of our horticulturist, Jacqui has created a new blog that will provide detailed information on what she's up to and what she has planned for the landscaping around the Club.  On occasion, she will also be including some gardening tips to help you maintain your home gardens.  She is a great writer and I'm sure you'll find her blog to be a very enjoyable read!  Check it out here: Flora & Fauna

I'd like to clear up some confusion regarding our temp greens policy for extremely wet conditions.  In an effort to ensure the golf course remains open for play as much as possible, it was decided that temp greens would be used when the regular greens became too wet for play.  Before a temp greens policy was implemented for extremely wet conditions, the golf course would be completely closed for play, much like many other clubs in the lower mainland.  This new policy has allowed us to remain open even in the wettest conditions.

Much like with frost, traffic on saturated turf comes with serious consequences.  Compaction is inevitable which leads to severe agronomic issues that could and most likely will result in turf loss.  Again, I'm not overly concerned about foot traffic on wet fairways since the traffic pattern on them is much more scattered, unlike on the greens where traffic is highly concentrated.

We do not have any projects planned for this winter so it's going to be a quiet time of year for the Turf Care Department.  That being said, as we do every winter, we will be analyzing and tweaking our maintenance practices over the next couple months in an effort to continually improve the golf course.

We are already looking forward to what 2013 has to offer!  Hopefully a warmer and drier spring and a longer summer than we've experienced the last couple years!!!