Looking Forward to March

Everyone who has lived in this part of the world for very long knows wintertime snowfall can be a hit or miss. This year just happens to be one of those years where it has been a hit.  The kids certainly seem to enjoy the snow sledding opportunities the recent snows presented and one can't help but to take some satisfaction out of kids having a grand ole time in the snow.  But with the most recent snowfall event now past us my staff stands ready for the spring season right around the corner.  The courses were opened this week on Wednesday (2/19) after the 7-8 inches of snow that blanketed the two courses had mostly melted away.

Despite the warm temperatures this week the snow did need a little help getting off our greens.  The staff spent several hours watering the greens complexes with both sprinklers and hoses to get the course opened a day or two sooner than would of occurred had we waited on natural thawing.  While there is no guarantee we won't have another significant snowfall event the chances going into March are greatly diminished.

Aerification
The kickoff to our spring season is usually marked by our first greens aerification, which will take place on the Farm course on March 3-4, weather permitting.  This is always an important aerification because not only does it relieve wintertime compaction and remove unwanted thatch but it serves to provide an ideal growing environment for the root system over the next three months of ideal growing conditions.

The first spring aerification recovery time is always the slowest for the greens to get back to 100%, so golfers need to expect a full three week recovery time of the year before conditions return to our normal standards.  The Irving Park will be aerified a full four weeks later on March 31 - April 1 to allow for complete recovery for the Farm Greens.

Weed Control
In addition to aerification of greens this is also the time of the year spent working on weed control.  Weeds that escaped our fall pre-emergent weed control treatments are sprayed out and the whole course is once again treated for a whole new set of spring and summer weeds.  A seemingly never ending cycle that with nearly 250 acres of turf requires constant vigilance. For those homeowners who dare managed their own lawns we generally shoot for our pre-emergent applications to begin in late February and be completed by the middle part of March.

Cold Weather Damage Update

We have experienced two cold snaps this winter that when compared to previous winters where we have lost grass in some of our more difficult growing areas the overall temperatures are not that different.  The spreadsheet above illustrates the most recent cold snap had an average temperature of 17 degrees for a 7 day period, which is not far off from the 2000 average of 17.8 degrees for a 14 day period.  There are a lot of variables that go into whether or not Bermuda sustains cold temperature related damage but simply based on past experience here at Greensboro Country Club, I would definitely expect to witness some level of damage this spring when the grass begins to come out of dormancy.  A really critical period going forward will be the next 4 weeks and whether or not we can avoid one last really cold snap.  If so, I think our repair levels will be more than manageable.