I wanted to take a moment to discuss one of the biggest reasons for managing winter play on greens. I made a blogpost a few weeks ago about our reasoning for utilizing temporary greens – Important Course Update. I discussed a little about ballmarks and wanted to take that discussion a bit further now. The greens in the winter are not growing. Because of this, they are not recovering from wear and traffic. When ballmarks go unrepaired in the winter, the area never recovers and remains a void in the green.
This past winter, we have done an enormous amount of play and play that was on the greens. The greens are showing the effect of having play, with areas of wear and most notably ballmarks. Below are pictures from a few greens and this is just a small portion of what our greens currently look like.
Ballmarks in a 4x4 foot area
Ballmarks with large divot on 11 green
Ballmarks in a 4x4 foot area
We are formulating a plan, for after we aerate the first week of March, on how to begin the recovery of these ballmarks. The biggest concern is Poa germination. With the mild and wet winter we have had, it has created a breading ground for Poa. Any small void in the turf, allows opportunity for Poa to germinate. As you play golf over the next few days, I encourage you to take notice of the ballmarks. Also take notice of the small dime and quarter size light colored grass on the greens. This is from Poa that has germinated in ballmarks from earlier in the winter. The sprays I discussed in the blog post Important Course Update is going to help begin eliminating the Poa, but it doesn’t stop it from germinating.
We will continue to apply topdressing to the greens as we have done all winter, to do our best to protect the greens from wear, traffic and ballmarks during these times when the turf is dormant. Our best course of action to provide you with the best playing surface when it counts, is to manage the use of the greens during the winter.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment or email me.
Thank you for your cooperation.
Comments Off