Course Conditions Update

With Spring upon us the maintenance crew has returned and have begun preparation of the golf course for the opening of the season. With a tough winter in 2021-22 everyone (myself included) was eagerly awaiting the removal of the tarps to get a look at the greens this year. We were optimistic as there was less snow than average and much less ice cover than last year. The six greens that we do not tarp seemed to be holding up well. The weather over the winter that was of concern was some of the extreme cold temperatures (everyone remembers the record setting cold weekend) we had in February and with little snow cover the high winds caused some plant desiccation that could result in some injury.

On April 3rd we pulled the covers off and to this point turf health appears to be in good shape. The classic dark green look that is so inviting to see it a good sign of healthy turf. As the covers are off and the grass gets acclimatized to cooler spring conditions the turf will lose that deep green and match more closely to the untarped greens on the course. The next green up will occur when soil temperatures rise and we get into a regular mowing routine and complete some of our planned cultural practices and our fertility program commences.

                                                                 

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The lighter patches are a result of the sand bags we put down to help keep the tarps in place. With such little snow this year it didn't take much to discolor the spots when we got milder sunny days. We typically move the bags every couple weeks over the winter to prevent extensive damage. We don't expect these spots to take long to match the rest of the green. 

We have gotten a couple of mows in on the greens. The drier than usual conditions have allowed us to get onto mowing with our ride on units, greatly increasing efficiency. We will be completing our first verticutting this week and topdressing next week. Spraying of fungicide and fertilizer is days away. With how dry it has been we may be looking to make an early season wetting agent application in the coming weeks. Stay tuned...