Greens Update

It has been an extremely interesting and educational journey the past 3 months.  Reflecting back to mid April where there was little to no grass that survived the winter on the majority of our greens.  Mid June we opened all 18 greens for play and there were still areas of sparse and thin turf but definite signs that the putting greens were going to recover in the near future.  The second week of July was a major turning point for the greens as we were able to put them into tournament form and host our traditional Flat stick event. 

There are definitely more challenges and hurdles in the future, as the greens slowly are being groomed into pristine playing surfaces.  Although the greens are rolling fair and greens speeds continually rise to develop a consistency from green to green and day to day, we are still tentative on how much stress these greens can tolerate.

The one noticeable thing about the greens is the amount of POA seed head that is evident.  In a traditional year we would use growth regulators to interrupt seeds from forming early spring and they would be a minor nuisance for a short period. 

New POA plant removed from #11 Green

POA seed freckled through 13 Green

 
Seed head in general is apparent on our greens from new POA seeds that have germinated during our recovery and have come to flower (or seed).  POA will also seed, if it feels it is under stressed conditions such as low fertility, low mowing heights, and low moisture.  The mentioned conditions are also all factors that can positively influence green speeds and ball roll.

We may deal with seed heads throughout the season but have been using different mechanical techniques such as top dressing, verticutting and brushing to minimize the influence it can have on a putt.

One question that has been consistent since we inter- seeded bent grass into our greens to help them recover.  That question being is.. Will the greens be bent grass or POA in future years?  The simple answer at the moment is both.  Both grasses are growing on our greens, and both play good when groomed into a putting surface, which we plan to continue to do during the 2014 season.  In the future both grasses varieties have different characteristics and cultural practices that influence health and competitive edge on 1 another.  As we monitor theses characteristics and amount of each grass we have on the playing surfaces we will be able to implement a management plan moving forward. 

Can you see the difference in the 2 grasses below?

Non seeding POA the bottom 1/3 of picture. New Bent grass The top 1/3 of picture