The Bermudagrass Eradication Program

During the months of August through September, the golf course maintenance department will be completing the final stage of “preconstruction conditioning” required before the start of the restoration project beginning in October. The final stage, “the bermudagrass eradication phase”, is the most critical of all preconstruction stages. Basically, this means we will be killing the existing turfgrass plants on the course.

Eradicating the existing bermudagrass base of turfgrass is critical for two reasons. First, it will allow for easier more effective tilling and shaping of the golf course. By killing the turf and associated root mass, the decomposition of organic matter or “carpet of grass” will be accelerated. As a result, soil tillers, bulldozers and other earthmoving equipment will be able to shape, move and create the restored golf course free of large chunks of turf. This will accomplish a finer more consistent soil sub-grade, allowing Mr. Dye the freedom to recreate his signature features including fairways, mounding, bunkers, tees and greens. Without eradication, shaping the soil with earthmoving equipment would be like trying to get the lumps out of a freshly made casserole of whipped mashed potatoes that haven’t been blended throughly and need more milk… impossible.  In addition, having the soil sub-grade free of large impediments will allow MacCurrach Golf Construction an unobstructed new canvas to work from. Accurately measuring and manipulating the soil to the specific elevations (+/- 1 inch) calculated by the engineering firm will be critical in achieving “positive drainage”, one of the main goals and objectives of the project.

The second reason for the eradication phase is the most critical. In June of 2014, after the dirt work of the restoration project is completed and all the fairways, mounding, bunkers, tees and greens have been shaped; the course will be ready to receive new turfgrass. The turf that has been selected to plant is called Celebration Bermudagrass, the latest and greatest in turfgrass genetics. The Celebration turf has been extensively tested at The Ford Plantation golf course for the last four years. The performance results, both scientific and subjective, have exceeded our expectations in most all critical categories of the evaluation parameters. Highlights of those conclusions include the facts that the Celebration turf requires less sunlight and less water than our previous turf. In addition, the turf has also exhibited an aggressive ability to crawl over the landscape, resulting in full turfgrass coverage and the ability to compete with other unwanted turfs. Genetically modified turfs are preferred (especially in the golf market) for their high shoot density which allows them to combat weed incursion and makes them less susceptible to other pest and diseases. Finally, their short, erect leaves have an innate ability to be manipulated by superintendents to create superior golf ball “lies”, making them a perfect fit for Ford.  The Celebration Bermudagrass has truly become the grass of choice in the Southeast region.

However, creating a monoculture of bermudagrass outside of a laboratory has challenged golf course superintendents and sod farm producers since the inception of Hybrid Bermudgrass in the early 1950’s. Off-types of bermudagrasses, generally referred to as “common bermudgrasses” or seeded varieties, are the culprits creating the significant challenge of managing a pure stand of hybrid bermudagrass turf. These adaptive turfgrasses have the ability to grow from rhizomes deep in ground like the hybrids, but also have the ability to grow from seed, unlike the hybrid bermudgasses that are sterile and can only reproduce vegetatively. This makes the Common bermudagrass very difficult to kill. Nonetheless, they are undesirable due to their susceptibility to pest, disease and inability to tolerate low mowing used in modern golf course management practices. Eradicating these invasive turfgrasses at the height of the growing season (summer) is critical to the success of the program. Because these turfgrasses can reproduce multiple ways, they are particularly tricky to deal with. Therefore, by spraying herbicides designed to kill bermudagrass down to the roots, we expect 97% - 99% control of the “Common”. By killing the Common bermuda now and then executing a June planting of the aggressive Celebration turf in 2014, we expect the new turf to out compete the old during the establish process known as the “grow-in”. The Celebration turf’s ability to compete for real estate, water and nutrients, make it an ideal adversary to the Common that consumes much of The Ford Plantation today. Performing the bermudgrass eradication phase before construction begins is critical. The less of the old grass growing on the ground in the summer of 2013, the better the odds are that the new grasses planted in 2014 will not be contaminated by the Common.  

Bi-Weekly Fairway Verticutting Has Begun

On June 4^th the Golf Course Maintenance Department began its bi-weekly verticutting process to the fairways (Figure 1).  Verticutting is the process of mowing into the face of the turf, or “3-Dimensional” mowing of the turf, using vertically rotating blades which are used to remove excessive thatch and grain.  This process enhances the playing surface by encouraging vertical growth, increasing firmness, removing organic matter, and opening the canopy to allow for more sand topdressing. 

Figure 1. Steven, our intern from The University of Georgia, verticuts #18 fairway. 

Traditional mowing equipment, such as mowers used on a daily basis, cut in a horizontal direction which helps manage the top growth of the plant. Verticutting blades operate differently by slicing down through the canopy removing lateral growth, thus causing the remaining plant to grow more erect which reduces grain (Figure 2).

Figure 2. An example of verticutting blades that are used to cut "3-Dimensionally" into the turf canopy.

Figure 3. Results of the light fairway verticutting before the excess bio mass has been blown away and mowed.

The amount of lateral growth removed will depend on the depth of the blades in relation to the turf canopy.  If the goal is to remove a large amount of organic matter, the blades will be set to cut more aggressively below the canopy in order to pull more organic matter out.

   

Similar to our greens verticutting, our bi-weekly fairway program aims to verticut shallower and more frequently. This process will allow us to verticut more frequently without causing large amounts of stress on the turftgrass.  This will enhance playability by increasing firmness (due to less organic matter) and allow the golf ball to sit more on top of the canopy.  Verticutting will also boost disease resistance of the turf by reducing the thatch content of the turf, where many pathogens reside.