Golf Course Update 3/21/14

I am guessing for a lot of you reading this, the thought of "when is Mike going to have the course open" has crossed your mind especially on a day like today.  Can't say I blame you since I'm wondering the same thing.  In short it would be safe to assume it will be another few weeks since the forecast (surprise, surprise) is not looking all that great.  The optimist in me hopes for things turn around soon, but we will keep you updated as time passes.  The looming winter has provided a few challenges for us so far and some problems will keep us busier than we hoped for this spring.  As I wrote in previous blog posts, we did have some ice cover that has injured turf and I wanted to bring you up to speed on what I could call a "State of the Greens" address. 

8 Green with minimal damage due to
a high bentgrass population

This very topic has been a huge point of discussion this year as Golf Course Superintendents around the Midwest and Northeast are faced yet again with another bout of winter injury.  Many are wondering what greens will look like coming out of winter and what, if anything, we should do to promote snow removal and ice melt.  In January we had a thaw and rain event which coated parts of our greens with a layer of ice.  Prolonged periods of ice on greens, or grass for that, matter is never a good thing.  It can suffocate susceptible grass types to winter injury from anoxia (collection of toxic gasses) and cause damage to the crowns of plants from crown hydration or the freezing of water intracellularly that penetrates cell walls causing death.  For us, currently, we are faced with death from anoxia.

The challenge we face as Superintendents is wether or not to do anything about ice accumulation on greens.  Do we remove ice in hopes that we can provide enough air exchange to avoid damage?  Do we not remove ice because we are afraid of injuring turf by exposing to extremely cold temperatures?    There is not an answer that is backed by research giving positive results one way or another.  Needless to say it is not an easy decision to make and one we do not take lightly.

I would like to elaborate on my observations on the number of weeks after this event.

The day after this event, when the rain passed, I went to 11 green with a snow blower to remove some snow given it's established history of winter injury.  About a quarter of the green was blown off and over the next couple warm days, the remaining slush melted off the green.  It did not take long for the temps to cool down and right before the lower temps came, we got about 3 inches of snow to help insulate the turf, but some was blown off due to wind.  I wanted to experiment with snow removal to see if there was a way to reduce the amount of injury this spring.  My observations are written below.

11 Green where snow was removed

Last week we decided to remove snow from a couple greens where we have a history of having winter injury.  Samples were taken from those greens and brought into the shop to break dormancy and see what problems existed.  Four of these six samples showed no injury and the other two had Poa annua (poa) or annual bluegrass which showed injury.  Of the four plugs with no injury, there was perfectly healthy poa along with healthy bentgrass, which is a great sign.  Bentgrass is a Super's dream.  It survives stressful events much better than poa and is what we manage for on our finely cut surfaces.

Everything green on 17 is
bentgrass, including the sod
we laid last year.

This week, the guys did a great job removing snow and ice from greens and after a course tour, here is what I found:

1.  My initial observations from January where I saw ice formation on areas with little snow cover (crowns of greens) is where I am noticing a higher occurrence of injury currently.
2.  The only injury observed has been to poa.  Greens with high bentgrass populations (3, 6, 7, 8,10, 14) are looking great, while others with more poa (11) are not.
3.  11 green, which had a portion of snow removed, does not seem to show any positive influence on reduction of winter injury.
4.  14 green has never been injured, even poa, in either winter injury events previously and it looks as if it will be the same this year.  (Clay based green, 3" sand topdressing layer, NO drainage, full sun, 80% bentgrass)
5.  Greens which have had trees removed due to shade issues in the past have seen an increase in snow and ice melt and is helping our cause.  Complete sunlight in the growing season is equally important in the off season.


Going back to last year when we had turf loss to winter injury, there were greens that had some very injured poa which bounced back as the spring progressed.  There was also poa that died and we had to reseed these areas to promote recovery.  One highlight of my walk was seeing 6 green with very little presumed winter injury.  Golfers will remember this green being shut down for a number of weeks so we could provide optimum growing and recovery conditions.  It was not until this past weekend I realized how successful that decision became.  The amount of bentgrass we established into those dead areas has made a huge difference this year as seen in the pictures below.

6 green 4 years ago with lots of injury.

6 green now with a healthy stand of
bentgrass

Over all, greens, at this point, have a lower occurrence of winter injury than last year.  However, we are not out of the woods yet with the unknowns of upcoming weather.  Worst case scenario now would be to have a rain event followed by freezing cold temperatures.

As soon as we can get onto the greens without causing damage, we will spray a green pigment on them to help darken the surface and warm soil temperatures.  This will be the beginning of our efforts to promote recovery.  The successful recovery methods we implemented last year will be used again this year once we know what we have to deal with and when we can deal with it.

This Norway Maple behind 16 green is
beautiful, but not doing favors for the
overall health of the green and poa
populations.

 What does this mean for the upcoming season?  Be prepared for a certain amount of disturbance and suboptimal conditions on the putting surfaces.  The extent of true damage is unknown at this point and I will, of course, provide updates as we go along.  Another unknown is what the weather will be this spring and if the predictions are correct, it will be similar to last year with below average temperatures.  Mr. Constantine and I are planning on touring the course this coming week and will devise a plan which will allow us to do our part for the quickest possible recovery.

If you would like to read further on the topic, I recommend the following links:

Michigan State Turf Blog

USGA Green Section:
North Central Regional Update January 2014
North Central Regional Update February 2014
North Central Regional Update March 2014
Northeast Regional Update March 2014
USGA Webcast on Winter Injury (Hour Long)

Drew Rogers, Golf Course Architect

If you are on Twitter, you can follow us at @WisClubGrounds.  I have been tweeting numerous pics and course happenings on a consistent basis.
See you on the course.​

16 green with bentgrass where we once had
lots of poa injury.