As I sit and write this, we are heading into a week of several 100-degree forecasted days. As most of you know we have a 33-year-old irrigation system, so it can be a challenge during periods like we will see in the upcoming week. Irrigation systems are at best, supplemental to mother nature’s rain. The arid western climate where we do not see rain for several months creates our biggest agronomic challenge. With that being said you will see most of our staff hand watering and moving around micro watering sets to help us get through the upcoming heat wave. Certain daily practices will have to wait until we get through this period.
We have been receiving feedback on the condition of some of the new sod areas from the bunker project in recent weeks. One of the challenges we are having industry wide is finding quality sod, especially at green and fairway heights. The challenge began for us during the bunker project. We had a verbal agreement for 10 acres of turf to begin the project and was told after 3 acres that they did not have any more. The last load of turf we received from them was contaminated with weeds. The sod around the 12-fairway bunker complex is a good example of this. Fortunately, we had another source that came through for us, but the sod was maintained from the nursery for rough heights.
Due to the fact that it is extremely hard to find properly maintained quality fairway height sod, we have decided not to remove any of the existing turf in these areas. The turf that has established is better than any sod we could find so our plan is to continue interseeding seed into the areas and maintain it ourselves. The majority of the areas are coming along such as the catch area to the right of 6 green. We feel this is a better option in the long run rather than starting the process over with new sod. Some of the areas will take longer than others especially in high golf cart traffic areas. We have been trying to avoid roping these areas off, but due to recent feedback and the desire to speed this process up, we will more than likely start using rope and stakes in the weak areas.
We will perform this process several times over the next few months when the weather is conducive (not to hot). Hopefully this gives you some insights to some of the challenges we face here at Sonoma Golf Club and the industry as a whole.
Another comment we received are the clumps of turf in certain areas of the new sod. As I stated earlier the last load of sod from our original supplier was contaminated with weeds and we are seeing a type of ryegrass that is growing denser than the other varieties of rye and bluegrass.
I apologize for the void since my last communication with the membership. I will get these out more frequently especially during the summer months to keep everyone up to date. Your feedback and comments help to facilitate effective communication, so feel free to email me or stop me on the golf course.
I have heard a couple of comments regarding the greens. Once I get more detailed feedback, I will address them in another blog or email later this week.
Yours in turf,
Stacy L. Wallace, Class A Golf Course Superintendent
Sonoma Agronomy 