Rough/Native Conversion

It's been almost a week and the rough that was sprayed with herbicide is definitely starting to show signs of death.  There is great contrast right now between the areas to be converted and the remaining rough.  It isn't difficult to envision what the new native areas will look like now that the rough has turned brown.  We have one final herbicide application in these areas to ensure a thorough kill and then we will be seeding these areas in mid September.
Once we begin seeding these areas, it is crucial that golf carts stay out of these areas so that we can get the seed to come up properly.  We have created spaces within the new areas that will allow cart traffic from the cart path to the fairways without driving through the seeded areas.  The success of this project depends on your cooperation.  If you have any further questions don't hesitate to ask.  Thanks!

Drought recovery

#14 Aug. 10th  

What a difference two weeks and 5 inches of rain can make!  After suffering through one of the worst droughts in recent memory, we finally got some much needed rain a few weeks ago.  Since then the tees, fairways, surrounds and rough have all made a full recovery.  We fertilized the entire golf course yesterday to help continue the improved conditions.  The ability of the Bermuda to quickly recover from the drought has left the golf course is great condition for the upcoming fall tournament season.

#11 Aug. 23rd.

Website comments

I've been posting information on this website for over a year and still have very little envolvement from those that actively read the information that is posted.  I want everyone to know that I welcome any comments and encourage those with ideas for new topics to share them.  Thank you for your interest in Bailey Ranch Golf Club and hope to see you on the course!

Rough/Native Conversion

Yesterday, we began the first phase of a plan to convert some key areas of maintained rough into native areas.  Two herbicide applications will be made this month to kill the existing rough, then we will slit-seed into these areas mid-September.
The three main goals for this plan are: to reduce operating expenses by removing 10-15 acres of maintained rough, to bring the course closer to the original design, to not increase difficulty or pace of play.    To determine which areas to reestablish, we are using aerial photos from before the course was opened.  These photos are helping us see the architects original design so we can bring back some of these native areas that have been lost over the years.  This year we focused on the front nine because this is where we have the greatest acreage to mow.
Although we are converting rough on most holes on the front nine, the biggest change will be on #8.  In the picture below, you can see that we are bringing the native, that is left of the tee, around the front all the way to the cart path.  The new native area will then taper up the right and left sides of the surround.  This will appear more difficult, but the golfer will only have about 30 yards to carry over the new native area.

Deep Tining Greens

The agronomy staff has been hard at work today deep-tining the greens.  This process uses long, thin tines that punch deeply into the rootzone.  This allows the roots easy acess to oxygen and also helps drain out any excess moisture from the soil.  Deep-tine applications are a perfect way to increase the health of the root zone without negatively impacting the putting surface with large holes.  Immediately following the deep-tine machine, our greens roller irons out any bumps and imperfections left behind to ensure smooth ball roll.

More Rain

We finally got the drought relief we have been waiting for.  The heavy rain over the last two days has brought our total to over 4 inches in the last 6 days.  All of our ponds are full again and the Bermuda is greening up quickly.  I plan on fertilizing tees, fairways, and rough next week to encourage more growth and improve conditions course wide.

Rain!

After weeks of searing heat and relentless drought, Mother Nature has finally given us some rain.  We got a half inch of rain over the weekend and then another quarter inch on Monday night.  It seems that the tees and fairways are already starting to respond to the moisture and are starting to come out of dormancy.  There are strong chances of storms this week so hopefully we will get some more rain to fill our ponds back up.

Greens fans

The agronomy team here at Bailey Ranch recently received some new 50" diameter greens fans.  Three fans were purchased for the 3 greens we typically have issues with during the summer.  #1, #12,  and #13 greens have air flow issues due to the amount of trees that surround these greens complexes.  We have aggressively removed a majority of these problem trees but many remain on homeowner property.
These fans will push a larger column of air much farther than the older fans, which will cool the greens surface temperatures more effectively.  This increase in air flow will not only reduce surface temperatures but it will also allow the greens to dry out more easily after a rain.  We have already seen an average surface temperature reduction of 4-6 degrees between 12 and 2pm.  This is typically when surface temperature are the hottest and this reduction keeps the growing conditions similar to the other greens on the golf course.

Drought Update

This relentless heat and drought have still not let up and now the Tulsa metro area is under what is called a D4 or exceptional drought according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.  D4 is the highest level on their scale of drought intensity.  Hopefully everyone realizes that it is basically impossible to keep the soil moist under these conditions and that even Bermuda cannot withstand this heat without proper moisture.  Up until recently, we have been doing our best to keep our irrigation system running as much as possible to maintain green healthy conditions,  but this persistent lack of rain has forced us to use almost all of our water reserves in the big lake down by #17 green.  We have started to ration what we have left to be sure that we can make it until fall with healthy greens.  With our ability to store rain water, I feel that once we get into the fall and get a few heavy rains, we will refill our ponds easily and our Bermuda tees and fairways will come back out of dormancy.  Once the Bermuda starts growing again, we will fertilize and encourage as much growth as possible before winter.