Cart Path Only??? Why???

Any questions?

Winter Play...How Does It Affect the Grass?

There are many things this winter, that I have never witnessed.  The endless mild weather has allowed for a lot of extra play.  Everyone has an opinion on short and long term effects.  Unless the greens are frozen, then thaw while you are playing, I do not see any long term problem.  There still is minor freezing and thawing and that makes greens very bumpy.  Some poa annua has germinated.  The poa is growing slightly, but the creeping bentgrass is dormant.  The second picture shows the many different winter colors of creeping bentgrass.  There are golds, purples and unusual green colors.  These are the grass tips sealing off and protecting themselves. 
The only added problem winter play creates is wear issues.  My staff has changed cup positions many more times than I have ever seen in the winter.  The grass is dormant and not actively growing, so it cannot recover from wear injury.  The first picture of the large putting green, you can see wear patterns developing.  After aerification and some warmer weather, these areas will recover slower than the rest of the green.  There also has been some bermudagrass wear in spots, but it ended the season strongly and will recover rapidly.

USGA Update

Bonus Golf: Take Note of the Risks

By Darin S. Bevard, senior agronomist, Mid-Atlantic Region
January 31, 2012

While some light snow has fallen at times and reminded us that it is winter, milder than normal temperatures have been the rule. Nicer weather has allowed for more golf than usual to be played during the winter months, but there may be consequences in the spring.

For the past several weeks there have been many opportunities for golfers to get out and enjoy the weather, and their favorite golf course. With the extreme wet conditions of late summer/early fall, this bonus golf has been great for the golfers, and has helped the bottom lines of many golf courses. The mild weather has also rekindled the debate over winter play and the potential agronomic downside of excess traffic, especially on greens.
In the last couple of years, frequent snowfall and cold temperatures have rendered the winter play conversation a moot point. This winter we have been blessed with plenty of days to play golf, and golfers who want to play. The result - the back and forth debate over whether greens should be open or closed. There is no right or wrong answer to this question because of the different needs of individual golf facilities and the different weather conditions. 
Common sense dictates that winter play is bad for grass, especially greens. Extra traffic under often marginal conditions causes wear. The difficulty is quantifying the cost of this damage from the perspective of impacts on in-season playing quality in addition to the cost to repair damage that may (or may not) occur with winter play.
Some golf courses simply close completely or close their greens during the winter. If this is an option for your facility, great. Even if only a few greens that are already difficult to manage in season could be closed, the reduction in winter wear will be beneficial. If your course chooses to play golf during the winter, decisions on playability of the golf course should be made on a daily basis. If it is too wet or the greens are partially frozen, the risk for damage is greater. The worst case scenario is thawed conditions at the immediate surface and frozen conditions one or two inches below the surface. The bottom line is, you must weigh the pros and cons for your individual situation and act accordingly.
If there are any questions on winter play, give us a call. We will be happy to visit with you about this issue and provide information that may help with a tough decision.
With the relatively warm weather, there are agronomic concerns too. On Poa annua greens, isolated areas of active anthracnose have been reported this winter. Monitor these conditions for the remainder of the winter and beyond. The other major concern is whether Poa annua has even hardened-off sufficiently to tolerate low temperatures. Warm temperatures reduce hardening in Poa annua, making the grass more susceptible to winterkill. Without snow cover, the grass has less insulation from sudden drops in temperature, which is the primary cause of crown hydration, especially in grass that is not sufficiently hardened. Time will tell, but this is a cause for concern in the northern tier of the region. Enjoy some bonus golf when the opportunity arises, but realize there are still concerns from winter traffic and Mother Nature.

RoundUp results starting to show on Newport

The poa annua on some of the Newport fairways is starting to die as a result of our RoundUp spray a couple weeks ago.  The ryegrass and bentgrasses take a little longer to show results.  This cleaner beginning will lead to an even better season of bermudagrass fairways on Newport! 

Toro Irrigation Training

I had the opportunity this past week to attend an Intermediate Toro Site Pro class in Pittsburgh.  I wanted to sharpen my skills with our irrigation software, to be a better manager.  With some tweaks, we can use less water and compress our irrigation water window to save money on electricity.  Most people do not realize how sophisticated our irrigation software is.  Many people have this idea the irrigation runs all at once.  Generally it takes 8-9 hours to run full cycles on both courses.