Out of the winter and into the green!

With one of the worst winters on record I would have been naive to think we could have possibly escaped unscathed, but there was a time where I thought that may be reality. It was with great disappointment when we pulled back the tarp on 10 green and saw damage that could be described as apocalyptic but really that would be if it were all 18 greens so lets say devastating damage. Considering the widespread damage and severity that the golf industry has suffered from the winter as sad as it is we could consider ourselves lucky.

10 Green - Cause of death anoxia

Yup that's how bad it is. Other greens that suffered lets say minor damage as we will not need the use of a temporary green to regenerate the areas. In order of severity they are as follows 12 (same locations as last season), 9 (middle right), 4 (back left), and 6 (middle right). So what the heck happened to 10 and why is it so bad? I'm fairly confident that the cause of death was from anoxia. Anoxia is low oxygen levels resulting from extended ice encasement or heavy layers of ice and snow lying above an impermeable cover. The telltale “smell of death” is another indicator that anoxia was responsible for turf loss. Under the right
circumstances, a dense layer of ice directly encasing the turf or heavy snow load above an impermeable cover can begin to create anoxic
conditions within a 40-day period. Jim Skorulski, senior agronomist, Northeast Region 2013. Under that definition it describes 10 green condition(s) exactly. One other factor that may have exacerbated the problem is shade. Shade can decrease or limit the amount of carbohydrates that a grass plant is able to produce. Carbohydrate reserves (roots) is a key factor in overwintering success of turf as it is used for keeping the plant cold temperature hardy as well as energy for it's continuing metabolic processes. A picture says a thousand words so...

Coincidence? I think not.

The plan of attack is to bring it back through series of cultural practices and seeding. I feel in the long term it is the best option. I know you may wonder why not sod since we sodded 1 green last year. A few reasons are we do not have green height sod on sight as well if we did using small roles on an area that size would almost be impossible. Purchasing sod off sight means using a grass plant that is not acclimatized to our hardiness zone and could prove detrimental in the future. Sodding also creates layering in the root zone which will create a zone that would inhibited rooting depth. Furthermore the type of sod that we would be getting is estimated at 6-8 weeks before it could be played upon and I believe I can achieve a comparable putting surface in the same time frame as well a healthier one moving forward. One last thing among others is that the sod we laid on 10 green last season also suffered significant damage. Moving forward I believe I can minimize winter damage through a couple practices that I will discuss at the end of the season. Here are a couple pictures to show you that we can bring the green back through seeding we just need time (sod or not).

 

12 green April 16/13(left), May 21/13 (right)

14 green April 15/13(left), May 13/13 (right)



 

I'm setting a goal for the last weekend in May to have the green open for play. I think its lofty but I think its better to have lofty goals than not! Remember the condition we were in last season? We had 4 temporary greens and more damage just spread out. If there ever was a turf team to bring 10 back to life it's this as every employee we have on staff this season has golf course experience and all but 2 are returnees. I'm looking forward to the challenge and seeing everyone out here sooner than later. Remember to follow us on Facebook and Twitter to keep an eye on what we are up to. I will leave you on a positive thought.

 

14 green April 21/14

 

 

Jay Sisko

Golf Course Superintendent