Good with the Bad

As I sit here and write this update it is pouring rain and there is snow on our doorstep.  It is a far cry from the 80 degree temperatures we saw over the weekend!  I guess we have to take some good with the bad.  As the weather has been up and down over the past week, so is the condition of the course coming out of winter. The warm weather brought significant greening to the golf course.  The grass is starting to wake up from winter and is beginning to grow.  We have mowed the greens, rolled them and sprayed them with a dose of fertilizer.  The improved weather also brought some significant drying days.  Many areas firmed up allowing us to get much needed equipment onto the course.  As of yesterday a majority of the debris on the front nine has been cleaned up.  We made great strides over the past week and I am very pleased with what was accomplished.  Once this "winter" weather passes we will get back on the course and continue with the clean-up process on the back nine.

Besides cleaning up the course, there are many other things we will be doing over the coming weeks.

• Stump holes from last fall's tree removals will be filled and seed once our topsoil pile is accessible. 
• Drainage work will be completed and cleaned up on numbers 1, 12 and the Putting Green.  
• The pump-house will be put back on line and the irrigation system charged.  
• We will utilize the new mini excavator and rehab many of the chronically bad cart paths.  
• On top of that we have our normal mowing, aeration and cultural practices to perform to get the course ready for the season. 

As you can see spring is a busy time of year!

For those of you that played over the weekend you know we have some temporary greens on the front nine. Over the weekend there was some significant greening and recovery in some, but not all of the damaged areas. Any of the grass that is still a deep whitish brown color and will not be recovering. The greens hit hardest are 1, 4, 5 and 8.  My hope is to begin the recovery process on Friday.  We will be aggressively verti-cutting and aerating the damage in order to create a seed bed.  We will then overseed the areas with bentgrass, topdress with sand, fertilize and cover.  With the covers in place and some seasonable weather we should see some germination fairly quickly.  That being said these new seedlings are going need time to mature and develop.  During this developmental process we are going to need to keep the greens closed. Any added traffic or stress introduced to the seedlings will inhibit their development and prolong the recovery process. You are probably wondering how long these greens are going to be closed for?  As of right now I truthfully don't know the answer.  It will all depend on mother nature.  The warmer the weather the quicker the recovery.  Luckily the damage on 5 and 8 is fairly localized.  I envision these two greens opening sooner than the other two. On numbers 1 and 4 the damage is larger and will take more time to heal.  Here is a link to a good USGA article that further explains the processes mentioned above, Spring Recovery.  Here is another great post from a fellow superintendent in the Chicago area, Winter Recovery Progress.  I contains some great links to more information on winter damage.  I also encourage you to check out my previous posts on winter injury, which will explain things further.

At this time I ask for your patience and understanding as we recovery from this damage.  It is never an ideal situation closing greens, but its one of necessity to facilitate recovery.  I am approaching this situation with a glass half full mentality.  All the areas that were damaged have a high population of Poa annua.  Poa does not have the winter hardiness like other varieties of grass.  This is a prime opportunity to introduced a stronger, more winter hardy stand of grass.  The inconvenience will be short term, but will pay dividends down the road.  I will continue to update you throughout the recovery process.  Before you know it summer will be here and this winter will be a distant memory.  As always I am here to answer any questions or concerns you may have.