Friday, March 13, 2015

March 1 Update


March 1st Golf Course Update

On behalf of my entire staff and I, please join me in thanking Assistant Superintendent Dan Virgulak for his over fourteen years of service to Potowomut Golf Club. Dan has accepted a similar position at Bellevue Country Club outside Boston and begins new duties March 9th. We have all seen and benefited from Dan's hard work and talents. Thanks Dan on behalf of our appreciative membership, and we wish you good luck in all future endeavors.

Now, about this crazy winter of 2015....Many of you know I am a hearty native of upstate New York where 100" annual snowfalls are common occurrences. However, even I am shocked by this winter's relentlessness. The good news is March is here, temperatures will warm and snow will melt as the sun continues to rise higher in the southern sky.

What will emerge underneath the two to three foot snow accumulation? Let me explain two different potential problems, ice and disease.

The first type of potential damage occurs when turf is covered by an impermeable layer of ice similar to what is seen on a skating rink. Turf death can occur after 42 days of ice coverage. Soils need to breathe even during winter, and a layer of ice prevents this needed exchange. Snow alone is excellent protection for turf, snow and ice together can lead to disaster.

The second type of potential turf damage is fungal disease snowmold. These diseases can injure turf when it is covered by heavy snow accumulation. Destructive fungi present in the plant begin growing when environmental conditions needed for the disease is present. (cold, damp snow covered ground) You have probably seen this damage during a previous spring. Snow mold shows itself as circular patches three inches or larger in diameter and turfgrass leaves often have a pinkish color.

So what will we see when our golf course re-appears in later March or April?

In my best guess, we will have no ice damage but will see some turf injury on fairway and rough in the form of snow mold damage.
Ice damage described above will NOT be an issue because accumulated snow first fell to the golf course January 26th. No ice formed on turf before Monday February 23rd after a minor warm up and rain event last Sunday, Feb 22nd.

Greens and tees were treated to prevent snow mold diseases on December 2nd 2014. Those areas should be excellent in spring. Fairways and rough however, could have some damage. We hope most damage will be superficial and will grow out quickly with warmer spring weather as is typical for winter turf disease.

All in all, I believe we will escape major damage and have good golf course conditions for spring. The possibility that snow mold damage is present will remain as snow melts in coming weeks.

Can't wait to see everyone in a few short weeks!!

Patrick M. Gertner CGCS