Covering Greens

We made a decision Monday to cover greens.  The forecast was not good for the week until Friday.  We also decided to do it early to beat the rain that we received Tuesday.  1.25" fell lightly ALL DAY.  As temps fell the rain turned in to a light dusting of snow which has already melted.  So being proactive and covering on Monday, we were able to beat the rain and today's wind gusts of up to 40 mph.  Trust me today would not be ideal for covering.

So greens will be ready for play Friday at 11:00.  The MGA Blue Monster will shotgun as soon as the course is ready.  Have a Happy Thanksgiving.

Guidelines For Covering Greens

 

We know from cold-chamber studies that plant death will occur at a soil temperature

below 20°F. These trials also demonstrated that exposure to soil temperatures down to

25°F for less than one week does not cause great harm. Given this information you

could, in theory, attempt to monitor and predict soil temperatures in deciding when to

cover greens. This would require a great deal of experience with soil temperatures from

years past and the interaction with all of the factors mentioned above. The danger with

this approach is that once the soil temperature has fallen to a dangerous level there, is no

way to get it back up, whereas if you had covered you could have retained enough heat to

keep the soil temperature at a safe level.

Because of the great number of variables and the impossibility of accurately quantifying

each of them, there is no “formula” based on weather conditions for determining when to

cover greens. Even if we could quantify each of the variables, there is still the

unpredictability of the weather. The best we can do is come up with a set of general

guidelines:

Circumstances when we would recommend using covers:

 If the overnight low temperature is forecast to be below 20°F

 If it is February or later and a freeze is forecast for more than 12 hours

 If the forecast is for temperatures below freezing for more than 36 hours

 If your greens suffered any stress in fall, were not completely healthy going into

winter, or were planted late in the year - cover anytime it is below 25°F

 If frozen precipitation is forecast, realize that you might not be able to apply the

covers later because they may become frozen or covered with ice

 If you know that it will be difficult to round up enough help to apply covers later

when weather conditions worsen or because of holidays

The last circumstance is probably the one that causes the most trouble. Who wants to get

outside and wrestle with covers in a 30 mph north wind and sub-freezing temperatures?

Just realize that if you wait too long to make a decision, then the decision might get made

for you when you can’t find the personnel to apply the covers.

Conservative Approach. If conditions are borderline and you can’t decide whether or not

to cover, we recommend that the covers be applied, given the significant costs associated

with loss of turf in the spring. The cost of dead turf (replanting, lost revenue, possibly

lost jobs!) in May is many times greater than the cost of labor to cover in December.

 

It’s Not Dead…It’s Brown

Yes I hear this statement from time to time, so I found a great article from the USGA.

 

It’s Not Dead…It’s Brown

By Chris Hartwiger, senior agronomist, Southeast Region
November 13, 2013

Puzzled by brown bermudagrass in winter? The answer involves chlorophyll, light intensity, and temperature.

Sometimes we are so accustomed to things around us that we forget people may see things differently. Many years ago, I recall a conversation I had with a golfer visiting the Southeast during the winter. He enjoyed the golf course, but was convinced all the bermudagrass was dead because it was brown. I shared with him the reality that when temperatures get cold enough, warm-season grasses like bermudagrass lose their green color and turn brown. Unfortunately, I did not have a good answer for why the bermudagrass turned brown. A quick trip to my turfgrass library and the answer was provided in Dr. Beard’s book Turfgrass: Science and Culture. A brief description of winter discoloration of bermudagrass is described below. 

An explanation of why bermudagrass turns brown in the winter involves an interaction of three items: chlorophyll, light intensity, and temperature. Chlorophyll is a green pigment that gives turfgrass leaves their color. It absorbs light in the energy-producing process called photosynthesis. Chlorophyll production in a turfgrass plant is highest when light intensity is lowest. This can be seen by observing green turfgrass plants in shaded environments. As light intensity increases, the rate of breakdown of chlorophyll increases and the total content of chlorophyll in the leaf decreases. As temperatures decrease, the growth rate of the plant decreases and which includes the production of chlorophyll. When light intensity is high and temperatures are low enough, the rate of chlorophyll breakdown exceeds the rate of chlorophyll synthesis and the turfgrass plant leaves turn brown (Beard, 1973). In other words, chlorophyll is breaking down faster than it can be produced. 

We are now entering a season where golfers will see plenty of brown grass on southern golf courses. Fortunately, golf is played on grass, not on color. Enjoy the nice fall days ahead and we hope to see you on the links or at an upcoming turfgrass conference. 

New signs

A big Thanks goes out to the Newnan MGA for their contribution for new signage around the course and parking lot..  They are now up and I have received many compliments.  They match our entrance sign and gives us a more consistent look.

On a side note, the greens are in great shape.  We have had very beneficial weather for late October-November.  So come out and enjoy the course!