Valencia
Country Club

We’ve talked before about sprigs but wanted to share a great example I found the other day.  In the picture, you can clearly see a stolon that has begun to regrow.  Stolons are the above-ground shoots of Bermuda grass that spread very quickly. A couple of new roots have formed and have started producing new leaves at each node.    

We have begun maintaining the bunkers to the daily condition that will be used once we open.  As you can see in this picture, the fairway height on the leading edge goes straight into the bunker.  There will be no rough to stop balls from entering the bunker.  We have shaved down the back edges so that hopefully balls won’t get stuck in the fluff.  We will be using growth regulators on the edges so that we maintain this look with less weekly maintenance.

The atmosphere has been a little weird the last couple of weeks as the construction crews have gone and there are no golfers.  It’s just my maintenance staff preparing the course for our opening on October 8^th.  The grass is growing vigorously and once it is mature enough, we will start mowing tees, fairways, and shortcut areas around the greens.  We have already begun that practice on holes 7-9.  We have aerified the greens and are starting to treat them as if we were open and ready for play.  Soon we will be mowing 6 days per week and rolling 3-4 days per week.  The goal is to have the greens in perfect condition for when we open.

We look forward to welcoming you on the course soon.  Please feel free to reach out by email at eullrich@valenciagolfclub.com at any time with any comments, questions, or concerns.

Sincerely,

Eric Ullrich