Reel to Reel

Mild temperatures and rain last night melted a significant amount of snow.  Today, I was able to get a much better look at the turf on many greens that had previously been covered.  Everything looked good.  As of tonight: 3 greens are completely covered in snow/ice (9,12,14) 11 greens are partially covered in snow/ice (1-8,15,16,18) 4 greens are completely clear of snow/ice (10,11,13,17) #3 green looking good and melting down nicely #16 green is still partially covered in ice   As the ice melts down over the next few days, we will remove excess water from the greens before it has a chance to refreeze.  Crown hydration damage is still a concern.  If the plants take up any of the excess water and temperatures quickly drop below freezing, then the water can freeze within the cells of the plants causing damage or death.

We have experienced a nice meltdown over the past two days.  I have been able to see quite a bit of turf and I'm pleased with what I have seen thus far. #8 green almost completely melted Over the last two days we've focused on removing excess water that remained on the surface of the greens.  We pumped off water on several greens to mitigate any potential freeze damage that could occur from tonight's frigid temperatures. pumping water off of #10 green  The soil still remains frozen.  I tried to stick a probe into several greens and could only penetrate an inch into the soil. probe on #1 green I have mentioned on several occasions how bentgrass is a much more superior turfgrass than Poa annua.  On the edge of #9 fairway today, I found a perfect example of this.  In 2013, we replaced an area of the fairway that had been damaged by a cart.  The edge of this fairway is predominately Poa bu...

This morning's 20° temperature plus the ten snow-covered greens makes it hard to believe that spring is officially here. Over the last few days, snow melt has been nice and steady.  Although none of the greens have completely melted, I have been able to see more and more turf on eight of them.  Considering the winter we experienced, I'm pretty pleased with how the plants look at this point.  After the plants surpassed 75 days under ice cover, I did not think the course would come out of winter unscathed. As expected, I'm seeing some discolored turf and signs of injury in areas on greens.  The spots are tan in color and are random. Although the spots are discolored on the leaf blade, there is a significant amount of green tissue down at the crowns of the plants which is an encouraging sign.  Once all of the snow/ice melt and temperatures moderate, I will be able to fully...

During this morning's walk I was able to inspect a decent portion of the turf on greens #11, #13 and #17. On these three greens, a portion of the snow and ice melted over the weekend.  Everything looks good in these spots.  Temperatures the next couple days will be in the 40's which should continue the gradual melt.  Hopefully we will be able to see and assess even more turf by week's end. #11 green   #13 green   #17 green    

Moderate temperatures over the last five days has help melt about 5" of snow.  The mild melt has made it much easier to walk across the course to check on turf conditions. We were able to make it to all of the greens yesterday.  All of them continue to look and smell good.  The greens are covered in 4"-9" of snow and .5"-2" of ice.  The greens have been under ice for over 70 days.  As we saw during the last warm-up, the ice has become much more porous and is pretty easy to drill through. walking to #5 #15 The sporadic weather continues with forecasted rain, snow, and below freezing temperatures in the next few days.  It looks like temperatures will improve by the weekend and be back in the upper 30's.  I will keep you posted on the ever-changing conditions.

Below is a link to a good article describing this winter's trials and tribulations in our region.  This north-central update was written by United States Golf Association senior agronomist, Bob Vavrek. http://www.usga.org/course_care/regional_updates/regional_reports/northcentral/A-Lose-Lose-Situation---March-2014/

Winter stress on turf has been a topic on many superintendents minds this winter.  Winter damage can occur five different ways: - low-temperature kill - winter desiccation - snow molds - ice damage - crown hydration The turf has been protected and insulated by heavy amounts of snow for most of the winter, which at this time, has alleviated concerns about low-temperature kill and desiccation.  Fungicides that were sprayed in the fall are holding up great and are protecting the plants against pink and gray snowmold. Ice damage is currently at the forefront because the turf has been under ice for a substantial amount of time.  The ice traps gasses which could become toxic to the plants.  This winter we have spent a significant amount of time surveying and sampling greens.  All of the plugs so far are looking good and more importantly smelling good.  The toxic gasses that can be trap...

Below is a link to Michigan State's Turfgrass Blog.  Dr. Frank gives a great synopsis of this winter and the potential turf problems associated with the weather. http://msuturf.blogspot.com/2014/03/ice-and-poa-survival-update.html