Same Time Different Year

What a difference a year makes is a common theme many Golf Course Superintendents are saying. First off it's true the weather could not be more different this spring from last year. By this time last year we had mowed greens several times, aerified all of my fairways and we had nearly 350 rounds of golf. This year we are O for three on these items and with the long range forecast looking sketchy, it's hard to say when things will starting acting like Spring around here.

 The funny thing is that weather pattern we are currently experiencing is more normal than not, over the last several seasons we have been treated to extremely warm early spring temperatures. Those temperatures were great to get things going, but then the inevitable hard freeze would hit putting the brakes on active growth. The turf may have been green but it wasn't happy or growing for a while after that. This year is shaping up to be a slow start of the season with soil temperatures being 5 to 10 degrees cooler than this time a year ago. We as Superintendent's routinely try to manipulate Mother Nature, some times with success and sometimes with disaterious results. The key is knowing when to push things and  knowing when to back off, it's a fine line that is walked at all golf courses that deal with seasonal Turfgrass.

Knowing that the Masters is coming in a few weeks and all that comes with the green is good mentality might tempt you to make a poor agronomic decision based on color alone. Don't do it, exercise patience within reason and remember this is a marathon not a sprint.

Why Is The Golf Course Brown?

The real answer to that question is because it's early March, but there is much more to it than just that.  Don't be alarmed the Turf  is not dead it is just dormant.

It all began last fall when we did not get a lasting snow cover until the end of December, by then the Turfgrass had gone dormant and lost most of its green color.  Normally the grass is still holding some of its green color when we get our lasting snow cover and this color holds until the melt in the spring.

This year in addition to the late snow cover there were also times that the snow cleared and exposed the turf to the weather which further added to the brown color of dormancy.  All in all our spring green up will occur around the same time regardless of what color the turf is now. It takes longer days and soil temperatures to get out of the 30's to get things rolling.

Signs of Spring

Winter has officially ended and early signs of spring are beginning to become apparent. The temperatures have been consistently above average for the last three weeks in particular and signs of growth are taking place.

Around the clubhouse some of the perennials and bulbs are beginning to push new growth and even some of the Daffodils are showing the first color of spring.

On the golf course as each day passes the color slowly begins to change before our eyes. Typically the golf course does not reach full spring green up until the middle of May, but I think this year we will be well ahead of that traditional date.

Spring Color

Throughout the golf there exists a lot of spring color, if you know where to look for it. We are fortunate to have some native plants that have really nice spring color that enhances our unique setting. Many of these plants are not readily visible so it takes a little looking to find them. If you take the time to look for them you will be rewarded with a nice show of color. While searching for these plants make sure you still get around the golf course in 4 hours and ten minutes.
Bluebells

Mahonia Repens
Pasque Flower
Serviceberry
Snapdragon