Tough Sledding

What I'll try to do this week is give a step-by-step explanation of where we are with the ice damage recovery and what we've been doing about it.  I believe the best way through it is with pictures of the process and a short description of what a successful outcome will look like and what to expect in the coming weeks.

4 green
Of all the greens on the course, 4 green had the most square footage affected, or outright killed. 4 is shaded and sheltered from air circulation on three sides.  It's a green that normally struggles through the summer in a normal year and is always on our watch list when summer heat comes.

First breath

April 3, 2014

Bad signs

+70% injury

April 14, 2014

Seed and Vericutting

Bring the heat

April 14, 2014

Covers at work

Patience

April 22, 2014

The process of reestablishment starts with seeding and verticutting. 'Verticutting' means cutting deep vertical grooves in the green in 3 different directions.  We do this to get as much seed/soil contact as possible. Greens are then fertilized and covered as we wait for warmer nights.  

Other heavily injured greens are PG, 17, 9, and 15 (by virtue of it's size).  Similar recovery methods will be used on the worst areas of those greens.

The rest of the greens have little, to no damage where water sat or was slow to drain away.

All greens are expected to be in play by Memorial Day Weekend. A successful reestablishment will see the  injured poa come back, and will add new bentgrass seedlings to fill in what doesn't

If it's any consolation, we're not the only course that was affected.  Hundreds of courses across the northeast were hit harder than Tuscarora and I know of 5 between Utica and Buffalo that have more than half their greens shut down and are playing to temporary greens.  

What Was So Different

As the winter is analyzed and every northeastern Superintendent replays all the measures they took to avoid this kind of damage, patterns are starting to emerge as to why this year was so hard on certain greens and not for others.

For our property, the initial damage was caused in January immediately after a thaw.  Greens lost much of their snow during a week that saw temps in the 40's and 50's. This generated a huge amount of standing water and slush. The following week brought a rain and a flash-freeze so abrupt, the greens (on mostly slow draining areas) were frozen within hours and encased under an ice sheet.  

To give it a name, the cause of death was likely 'direct low-temperature kill due to crown hydration'.  It snowed 10" after that freeze and never got above freezing for the rest of January/February.  More snow and rain in March added to the problem. 

On average, I think it was a pretty normal winter.  But, what made the difference was the severity and timing of the cold weather. Everyone's low-lying, weak areas, suffered injury. 

Worst timing ever. 

 What Could've Been Done

This is the question that will be batted around the men's grill, or card game, at every club in the northeast and at every Superintendent's meeting for the rest of the summer. Second-guessing is a favorite pastime for Superintendents and golfers alike.  It's natural.  A member gave me some good advice recently, when they said "Some people are going to complain no matter what you do, so do what you know and don't look back." 

We know shaded, slow draining areas always struggle.  Soggy root zones compromise greens health and when they're pushed close to their limits, whether it's summer or winter, they're at higher risk for failure. This doesn't consider factors such as high foot traffic, green size, or the constant pursuit for faster green speed - and I won't consider them here, because for most courses, those are facts of life.  

For this reason, many Superintendent's are realizing there wasn't a lot they could've done with their injured areas.  Most greens are intensively managed which leaves little room for calculating a defense against something like a flash-freeze in the middle of January.  This is why you see such widespread damage through the region.  

What we're Learning 

There's growing evidence that many 'Mom-and Pop' golf courses that have higher greens heights and don't push for green speed, didn't see much damage.  A great example of this happened at Drumlins:  Their East Course with low-cut, fast greens, sparse fertilizer, saw injury like other courses.  Their West Course with high mowing height, slow greens, plenty of fertilizer, didn't get much injury. It's anecdotal, yes, but there's something about that relationship to be learned. We know nobody is going to go out and start mowing their greens higher through the summer. But there should be thought put into how we treat the greens through the fall.   Fall is a time to atone for the sins of the summer (i.e. low mowing, lack of fertilizer, excessive rolling, heavy play) and give the greens a break and a good start entering winter. 

At the very least It's a good place to begin the conversation of what's best for the course and long-term health of the greens.  I think a lot of clubs and courses, and the USGA, are going to have similar discussions as everyone moves forward from this.  As Superintendents, we tend to push the limits of our turf.  Whether it's for bragging rights, member expectation, or other outside pressures, we always try to make the greens do just a little bit more -  a little faster, a little smoother, a little firmer.  There's an upper limit to that and I know  many northeast courses found out where that is this year.  Good stuff to talk about for sure.  More on that as the year unfolds.

USGA Webinar on Assessing Winter Injury and Promoting Turf Recovery

If you want more of the nitty gritty, or verification, on ice damage, On April 18th Nick Masterpole and I sat-in on a Web seminar put on by the USGA.  It was attended by over one hundred course Superintendents and course officials from Chicago to Maine affected by the 2014 winter. It's an hour in length, but if you have any questions or concerns beyond what I can explain, or just really love turf,  you'll find the answers in this seminar. It's great information.    Click to view seminar.

What were you doing in 1961?

This is our 1961 Ford pulling a resurrected set of Jacobsen Blitzer gang units we found, used, last year. We rebuilt both tractor and mower this past winter.  They run like a dream. Pete Jacobs at the helm.