This spring, the damage that we have seen on the greens is due to freeze-thaw events occurring throughout the winter months. Throughout late January and February we had many rain/snow events and many temperature fluxuations around the freezing mark. Sometime during this period water remained on the turf and then froze and damaged the tops of the predominantly Poa annua grass plants. Throughout this time frame we attempted to remove any snow and ice so that when we had some thawing occurring the water would be able to exit the greens. We were successful on the majority of the greens but couldn’t keep up with the ice build up on the more sheltered ones. The reason for attempting to remove as much snow and ice is that the turf will only survive 60-90 days under ice cover. Luckily for us we didn't receive any of the severe ice cover damage that would have resulted in reseeding or resodding to get the greens into play.
Through the Years
Every winter is different and unpredictable. This winter, we received minimal snow cover and excessive amounts of rain. The temperatures hovered around the freezing mark which favoured ice formation. Last winter, we had snow cover that stayed all winter long insulating and protecting the plants. This resulted in no ice formation on the greens and no damage. Both years the greens had no disease activity due to the winter protectants we applied. This year the fairways came through the winter much cleaner than last season. We used a new product for protection on the fairways and the disease pressure was less than the previous year.
February 2nd
Drainage
Water is unable to penetrate through frost in the ground and remains on the surface. Therefore during the winter the subsurface drainage that has been installed is rendered useless. Subsurface drainage is very useful during the growing season, but surface drainage is the main mechanism of getting water off the greens in the winter.
Recovery
The heavy topdressing that we applied in the fall helped immensely to protect the plants and reduce the damage to only the tops of the grass plant. Any of the recovery that we have seen to date is from the plants that have been damaged starting to produce new shoots. We have overseeded these areas with an aggressive new bentgrass variety that is more winter hardy and with some warmer weather coming this seed will start to germinate.
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| March 15th |
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| April 26th |
The fairways and tees have fared better than the greens over the winter. The reasons for this is as follows;
- The turf on the fairways is more than twice the cutting height of the greens. This results in more leaf tissue available during the fall for photosynthesis and therefore carbohydrate production and reserves for over-wintering purposes. As a result, tree removal is more important around greens than on fairways to get as much sunlight as possible. The tree removal that we have done will help in recovery throughout the growing season but due to shade conditions in the winter months, ice build-up and freeze-thaw events are going to happen.
- Poa annua is predominantly the variety that has been damaged. The Poa annua variety on the greens is not the same as on the fairways. On the greens they are more of a perennial type and more prone to winter injury than the typical annual type. Poa annua tends to move in and out of dormancy quicker than other species. This is a problem during the freeze/thaw cycles because the plant comes out of dormancy, takes in water and then the water freezes in the plant, damaging or shattering the cells.
- Turf on the greens are topdressed with sand and generally more prone to compaction and traffic related wear than turf on fairways or collars. The soil profile on fairways is typically more uniform than on greens. The additional thatch plus layers resulting from topdressing greens can impact water movement and retention on greens making greens more prone to winter injury – mostly to injury from ice and freeze-thaw events. This is because of the green speed and consistency demands put on greens more so than fairways.
- If you look at sheltered areas on fairways, such as #9 and #17 there is ice damage also but it gets overlooked due to the importance of the greens.
- Pocket areas on any of the greens and fairways will be at greater risk of damage. Water will collect in this area and with cold temperatures more ice will form. Tees are relatively flat so water will not collect in one specific area and therefore less ice damage will occur.
Getting Ready for Golf
The weather we had at the end of March was unseasonal for the time of the year. Since that time a 'Regular' April has slowed down the our recovery. The greens are recovering from the hard winter and the remaining areas on the course are strengthening and looking good. Early spring traffic on greens that are not actively growing could lead to turf thinning and bumpy surfaces. The turf may be green but not actively growing and therefore unable to recover from wear injury. The turf needs to be growing fast enough to stay ahead of the wear. In the spring, turf produces a healthy and deep root system in preparation for hot summer conditions. Early spring traffic means a longer period needed to build a deep, healthy root system before summer. Weak turf also promotes early disease activity. Heavy traffic and slow turfgrass growth will increase disease occurrence and reduce the effectiveness of control. We may need to make initial applications earlier than normal and potentially require more total applications for the season. The issues discussed are also applicable to all other turf areas on the course. Tee divots and fairway/rough traffic areas for example will not be recovering until the turf is actively growing
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March 22nd – Earliest Irrigation Required
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Moving Forward
Looking ahead to help minimize this in the future we will concentrate on strengthening the turf through our cultural practices. A stronger healthier plant will have the ability to survive all stresses and recover from damage that may occur. We will look into new solid covers for the winter that will eliminate the moisture plant contact that occurs when freezing damages the plant. The tree work that we have done over the last two years will help in recovery and we will look at all sites to see if there are areas that we can expand our work. We will also look at an aggressive overseeding program to attempt to promote a hardier turf grass stand.
