Golf Course Update
I want to inform you of a project starting next week on Wednesday the 12th. We are going to start experimenting with seeding bermudagrass into select fairways. As seen on the tees the last couple of seasons, bermudagrass is more drought and wear-tolerant than the cool-season grasses currently in the fairways. The goal of this project is to make the fairways more resilient to the stresses of summer and increase playability. We will seed the fairways on holes 3, 6, 14, and 17. These fairways were selected to give us a broad range of microclimates.
Bermudagrass is often sodded or sprigged into fairways; seeding bermudagrass is not very common. Sodding and sprigging are very expensive and would require months-long closure. The disruption caused by seeding is far less, only requiring cart restrictions for a few weeks and temporary softer conditions as more water will be used to keep the seed moist in order to germinate.
We are not expecting a total conversion of these fairways to bermudagrass this year. We are expecting in areas where cool-season grasses struggle, Bermuda will out-compete them, and over the course of a few seasons with continued seeding become the dominant grass. We are optimistic that we will see positive results and expand the seeding to more fairways in years to come. We appreciate your patience and will be giving updates throughout the project as it progresses.
Jason Conrad
