Let's face it, its officially spring and we have the itch to get back to work on the golf course. But based on the temperatures this past month Mother Nature has other plans. Today was the first day we were able to pull up the greens covers in a few locations and take a sneak peak at the greens. There were only three greens we could pull the covers up enough to crawl under. All other greens just have too much snow on them.
The turf on greens 2, 5, and 18 looked fantastic. Granted the total area we observed was probably less than a total of 500 sq.ft., what we observed was exactly what we where hoping to see. The turf had excellent color from the leaf tips to the crowns. Although the poa annua had a slightly yellowish color compared to the creeping bentgrass, we were very pleased with the visible health of these three greens.
Based on the 10 day forecast we looking at covers remaining on the greens for at least another week. If conditions change we may be looking at the week of April 7th to remove covers. It's always difficult to make predictions to far in advance this time of year so obviously we will make our decisions on a day by day basis and bring seasonal staff in as soon as the weather allows.
The entire course has a consistent covering of snow at this time, but there are a few select areas where fairway turf is visible. This photo is from the beginning of the 14th hole. The creeping bentgrass looks fantastic. No winter desiccation and no signs of snow mold. If all the fairways emerge from winter in this condition we will be off to a good start this spring.
At this point during the winter season (even though it is officially spring) we are very pleased with our observation of the current turf condition. Now if we could just get some warmer temperatures and some snow melt we will be heading in the right direction.
No comments:
Post a Comment