USGA Green Section Turf Advisory Service Visit - Beach Grove Golf ...

Beach Grove Golf Club -7-
May 4, 2005
Recommendations. Specific recommendations for the green surrounds included the following:
• Address collar dams using either the “Fircrest” or “Glendale” approach. The existence of
collar dams can be noted on nearly every green at Beach Grove due to regular sand applications
and dragging resulting in more sand placed on the collars than on the outer edge of the greens.
This very common problem is noted at virtually every older golf course in the U.S., unless
regular aeration occurs on the collars on the same day as the greens. Mr. Murray mentioned
that this is exactly what has been done at Beach Grove for many years, however the collar dams
still exist resulting in water not flowing immediately off the fronts of the greens and “reverse”
contours where well hit shots can “skip” across the surface rather than react like normal shots.
For this reason, it was suggested to either use the strip and resod method used at Glendale and
Tacoma CC during the past two years or the slower “Fircrest” method of aeration 3-4 times
yearly without topdressing and a vibratory compactor to physically move the soil lower on the
collars. Both techniques are producing good results and can improve this slow change of
contours at Beach Grove.
• Expand the positive program on the aprons
out as far as the budget will allow. One of the
major problems noted on the front nine fairways
is the high population of earthworms in your
very healthy soil. The exact opposite was noted
on the back nine where the sand based fairways
are virtually clean from earthworms as they
avoid the abrasiveness of the sand. While the
aprons on the course are not all comprised of
sand, they are literally free of earthworms, thus
the obvious question is, “How can these areas be
so clean and comprised of so much bentgrass” The answer is found in three key programs that
have been practiced for many years that should be expanded out to 100 yards from every green,
if possible. First, regular aeration and sand topdressing (especially light topdressing at the same
time as the greens) adds the sand component to the surface. The second program has been the
use of triplex mowers with baskets to remove the food (grass clippings) source for earthworms
while greatly reducing the Poa annua seedheads deposited that compete with bentgrass.
Finally, pink snow mold is a major problem on Poa annua and needs to be controlled on the
aprons to assure complete coverage in these important locations. All three of these programs
have led to a major improvement in turf quality that can be expanded in the same manner
further away from the greens, as shown in the above photo taken on No. 18. The earthworms
don’t stop at the road because of this hard surface. They stop due to the proper programs
conducted by Mr. Murray over the past several years.
• Create a more effective communication tool for the bunkers. There is virtually no golf
course in the Pacific Northwest that does not occasionally have players complain about the
“consistency” of their bunkers! These hazards require nearly as much maintenance as greens
while being driven by the expectation levels of players. To assist the maintenance staff, it was
suggested to create a small form for players to pinpoint exactly what portion of an individual