Due to my unavailability, this response was given to Dan in an attempt for him to address everything asked by the Golf Committee and Board of Governors prior to the February meetings.
Phyllis was correct in believing that the thin areas are mainly weather related. Those several nights of frost that we had just shut down all growth and put the Bermuda grass into dormancy. Even though we haven’t gotten any more hard freezes since then, the average 24-hour temperature hasn’t been warm enough to increase soil temperatures to promote re-growth until recently. What we sometime fail to realize is that even when the highest air temperature hits close to 80 degrees in the winter months, it’s only at that highest temperature for maybe an hour. If we look at the hour-by-hour air temperatures over a 24-hour period, it would probably average out to somewhere in the 50 degree range, and if you average it out over the last 30 to 45 days, it would be even less. That’s not very conducive to growing turf. Once the soil temperature hits the 50-degree range is when you start to get that flush of re-growth. That was quite evident with this last little warm spell we had. The plant became active again and started to uptake the fertilizer and suddenly we were starting to get some pretty good growth. The whole golf course was starting to green up. Tuesday nights little cold snap slowed it back up a little, but not enough to cause problems. With that being said, we should really start to see things take off now for a couple of reasons. We should be beyond the threat of frost (let’s keep our fingers crossed), the soil temperatures should continue to rise and the plant can now take in all the available nutrients. We recently applied 7 tons of granular fertilizer and we have just purchased another 8 tons of granular fertilizer that we will start applying Tuesday. That should really get things growing again provided we don’t get some goofy weather. We have also purchased another 1,300 gallons of liquid fertilizer and iron (for color) to inject through our irrigation system to supplement the granular fertilizer. I’ve heard that some members think that the reason why we have some of these stressed conditions from mid December to late January is because we have been cutting back on the irrigation water to save money. I assure you that is not the case. The only reasons we ever reduce or shut off the water is because 1.) We have a main water line break and have no choice, 2.) The plant has enough water and does not need any additional, or 3.) We are anticipating a frost the night before we are booked solid with an event. What we are trying to accomplish is reducing the amount of frost produced, therefore reducing the amount of frost damage, while at the same time reducing the mornings delay. This actually helps the plant by not allowing the plant cells to freeze solid. It is more beneficial then the lack of one night watering is harmful. The plant will still get a minimal amount of water as the frost melts.
There is a couple of other contributing factors that I should mention. First there are the humidity levels. If the temperatures increase and the air moisture (humidity) is low, the turf will still have a tendency for slow growth. During the summer you can attempt to compensate for moisture by flooding the golf course because the temperature is not a problem. In the winter however, you must be very cautious. If too much irrigation water is applied on a clear dry night and the temperature unexpectedly drops to around freezing, it could result in a hard freeze that will stress the turf severely. After a hard freeze the plant leaf shrivels up to between one-third and one-half its normal size until temperatures allow it to recover. If temperatures go up and down, it will take longer for the plant and course conditions to recover. Its when the temperature and humidity start steadily increasing that you get that spurt of growth, just like we did last week when everyone was asking why the green speed suddenly slowed up so much. We strive try to keep the golf course conditions as consistent as we can throughout the year, but unfortunately we are way more dependent on the weather then we care to admit. Some people will say if that were true then why don’t other courses have the same problem, they appear to be in much better condition? Not to long ago I touched on this subject briefly in my Blog. Although there are thousand of possibilities why one course is in better condition than another, these two are probably the most common. Courses that have one of the varieties of Hybrid Bermuda will almost always look better when over-seeded then courses that have Common Bermuda. Hybrids have a tendency to be a much lower growing turf, which even if it does come back, it will not cast a shadow over the newly seeded grass because of its low growing tendencies. Common Bermuda on the other hand, grows more in all directions and after it has been cut back for over-seeding, its tendency is to grow rapidly both horizontally and vertically, which will cast a shadow over the newly planted Ryegrass. That restricts the amount of sunlight available to the new plant and therefore restricts growth. Suddenly the problem is doubled because the new grass not only gets competition for nutrients; its growth is restricted because of the shade and that reduces its chance to mature and tiller (divide leafs into two and then three). We know that during and after over-seeding the temperatures can get hot like they did this year causing the Bermuda to really grow. Everyone chemically treats their Bermuda in hopes of reducing its competition and the shade potential it can have on the new Rye Grass. These chemicals work fairly well at controlling the growth of the Hybrid varieties but are not as effect on Common Bermuda. The other biggest factor in my opinion is the amount of grass that is actually removed by each course at over-seeding. The majority of properties in the desert are either private or just do not have enough summer play to be concerned with, which allows them remove as much Bermuda as needed to make a perfect seedbed. Our situation is much different. Each year we continue to get more residents (Members) that stay here all summer and frankly expect the course to be in good playing condition. If we were to remove as much grass as some of these other properties do, our course would be almost unplayable for most of the summer.
Also mentioned was the unpopularity of the ropes and if the 90-degree rule was working. To put this as politely as I can, if only one-half of our players were obeying the 90-degree rule, we wouldn’t need nearly as many ropes (if any) and we would have a lot less thin areas of turf around the course. Cart traffic is the single most damaging thing to turf grass, with the exception of Mother Nature. Here is another fact that we often forget. This over-seeded turf is only about 120 days old. On a daily basis during the most difficult time for it to grow, it’s getting the most play. If we have between one hundred and two hundred players, that’s anywhere from 400 to 800 golf cart tires that trample across it every day. The blades of grass are already shriveled up to about 1/3 their normal size from the frost and the carts continually beat it down even more. No matter how hard we try to force the plant back to normal by pumping it with nutrients (for growth) and iron (for color) hoping it will respond, its Mother Nature that really controls the end results.
I hope this answers these issues without being too drawn out and/or confusing.
Warmest Regards,
Tom Shephard
Superintendent