You can tell there’s something different about Yolo Fliers Club in Woodland, Calif., when you see the U.S. Air Force jet, mounted at a take-off angle, near the practice putting green. Founded in 1919 by Air Force pilots from nearby Watts Airport who wanted something fun to do between flights, Yolo Fliers Club began as a 9-hole course with cottonseed greens. Throughout the years, well-known people have flown in for a quick round of golf, including celebrity Bing Crosby and aviation expert Chuck Yeager, the first pilot to break the sound barrier in level flight in 1947.
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Nowadays, planes still land at the airstrip next to the golf course, though little else is the same. Most of the 425 members now are farmers or are in the agriculture industry and reside in Woodland, Sacramento, Dixon and Vacaville.
Eric Eguaras, Yolo’s superintendent, describes the layout of the private club as much more challenging than it’s ever been before. The overall design of the course is fairly flat, typical of valley courses, with small greens averaging 4,000 square feet. Eguaras is in the process of converting all of the course’s native push-up greens to sand-based ones. He also wants to increase the degree of slope on each. In August 2008, Eguaras and his crew plan to finish the process.
Dual herbicide
The 7,000 yards of Bermudagrass fairways are a challenge for players because the adjacent roughs are populated with many trees, including old valley oaks. The fairways also have proven a challenge from a maintenance standpoint.
“We have an active herbicide program because we don’t overseed in the winter,” Eguaras says. “After some consistent effort, we’ve gotten our fairways almost 100 percent free of Poa annua and the overall effect is uniform and clean, without the patchy effect you can get when you overseed. Our dormant fairways look tidy right now.”
Eguaras relies on a dual program that emphasizes a preemergent product applied on the fairways in August to reduce the Poa annua and ryegrass, followed by a postemergent application of Revolver herbicide.
“This is an excellent combination for us and we no longer have to fight to clean up the fairways like we did in the past,” he says. “It makes for a much stronger turf stand during the summer, which is when all our play occurs. We have to be at the top of our game at that time of year.”
Before trying Revolver three years ago, Yolo Fliers Club used Kerb herbicide for postemergent control on the fairways.
“We had some big problems when it rained,” Eguaras says. “We’d have the product sliding into places we didn’t want it.”
Eguaras’ program for the fairways also has a degree of flexibility it was lacking previously.
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“Back in our Kerb days, you could only apply the product when the turf was completely dormant,” he says. “Now, when we want to hit the Poa annua, we can do it anytime because Revolver can be applied during growing season or transition time, or when turf is dormant. We have more options.”
From a postemergent standpoint, the only difference is the time it takes to work. In spring or summer, Revolver takes about 10 to 14 days to start working. In the fall, it will take about four weeks because of the cooler temperatures, Eguaras says.
With his dual preemergent/postemergent program approaching complete success on the fairways year-round, Eguaras now is turning his attention to the rough.
“Our current goal is to focus on every inch of the rough that isn’t in full shade,” he says. “We want all the Poa annua and ryegrass out of there.”
Yolo’s water challenges
Water quality is an issue for Yolo Fliers Club, particularly the high sodium levels, which require regular applications of granular gypsum.
“We spread it on the turf in the fall, and let the winter rains wash it in,” Eguaras says.
That is, when there’s rain to get the job done. He reports the area only got a few inches last year, resulting in the unusual step of having to water the greens twice per week in November. “The usual rainy period is December through March.”
Eguaras also is promoting a proposal for a new irrigation system that he presented to club members.
“We have a new pumping station in place, but we really need the rest of the system in the near future,” he says. “The irrigation lines have been there since the 1950s. It’s time.”
Aerification is another important part of Eguaras’ turf care program, though he admits to not being swayed by the big brand names in aeration equipment.
“We use an old, but reliable, aerator,” he says. “It’s not fancy but it gets the job done. It’s a traditional coring machine and we run it on the fairways twice during the summer growing season.”
Recently, the grounds crew started verticutting the fairways to reduce the thatch layer in the Bermudagrass.
With its experienced grounds crew and a well-rounded turf care program throughout the year, Yolo Fliers Club is ready for action. You have to be when a couple dozen of your members can drop in at a moment’s notice, park the plane next door, and hit the fairways.
Jeff McGinnis is a freelance writer in Philadelphia.