Bermudagrass is a warm season turfgrass that enters a dormant state after the first hard frost of the year. Although the top of the plant (the leaves) are brown and appear dead, the underground portions of the turf (stolons, rhizomes, and roots) are alive. The turf will return to active growth when warmer temperatures return in the spring. The soil serves as a buffer to protect healthy bermudagrass, but when temperatures drop to well below freezing or are sustained over many days, even the underground plant parts can freeze and die.
The severity of the kill depends on many factors, including the health of the turf going into the winter, the amount of traffic the area receives, shade (which results in lower temperatures), and the height that the turf is mowed. As a general rule, the lower the height of cut, the greater the likelihood of damage. This is why greens are more susceptible than other areas of the golf course.
Although the grass is greening up it has not reached the temperatures necessary to start actively growing. The temperatures need to be a combined 150 for the turf to really get going. The greens especially need the warmer temperatures to start growing and filling in from the winter months when they had little growth at all.
We are experiencing Winter Kill at Legacy Hills and White Wing this spring and to add to the problem we are also dealing with various diseases such as Spring Dead Spot, Leaf Spot and Bermudagrass Decline. Cowan Creek has fared much better than the other two courses this winter but it too is suffering from some disease pressure. (Bermudagrass Decline)
Why has Cowan Creek not suffered the winter damage like the other two courses? The soil structure at Cowan is very different than the other two courses, there are no shade issues to deal with, it has better air movement and we have been on a much more aggressive aerification plan at Cowan over the past two years.
I have spoken with other Superintendents and Fertilizer vendors in the area and this is not just a Sun City problem. From Austin to San Antonio many of the golf courses are suffering from the extremely cold winter that we've had.
So what's next? How do we recover?
We have already applied the fungicides necessary to eliminate the diseases that we have and we've already seen signs of recuperation on the greens. The next part of our recovery program will be an aggressive fertility program, solid tine aerifications and frequent, light topdressings. Our goal will not only be to get them healthy again but to keep them as smooth as possible while we go through the recovery process.
How long will it take to recover?
Depending on the weather, we could be looking at a 8 week time frame. If it does not reach the 150 combined temperature that I mentioned earlier it could be a couple of weeks longer than that. Be assured we will be using everything at our disposal to get the greens healthy again as quickly as possible.
Attached below are the Lab Reports for the three golf courses:
Lab Report For: Legacy Hills Golf Club
Date of
Analysis: 4/2/2014
Diagnosis: Leaf
Spot
Sample Location Disease
Severity
0--1--2--3--4--5
#1 Green |||||||||||||||||
Notes: Avoid high N.
Diagnosis: Winter
Injury
Sample Location Disease
Severity
0--1--2--3--4--5
#1 Green ||||||||||||||||||||||
Wednesday, April 02, 2014
Lab
Report For: White Wing
Date of
Analysis: 4/2/2014
Diagnosis: Leaf
Spot
Sample Location Disease
Severity
0--1--2--3--4--5
WW #18 Green |||||||||||||||||
Notes: Avoid high N.
Diagnosis: Spring
Dead Spot
Sample Location Disease
Severity
0--1--2--3--4--5
WW #18 Green |||||||||||||||||
Wednesday, April 02, 2014
Diagnosis: Winter
Injury
Sample Location Disease
Severity
0--1--2--3--4--5
WW #18 Green ||||||||||||
Lab Report For: Cowan Creek Golf Club
Date of
Analysis: 4/2/2014
Diagnosis: Bermudagrass
Decline
Sample Location Disease
Severity
0--1--2--3--4--5
# 7 Putting Green ||||||||||||||||||||||
There are
many variables that influence the art and science of the diagnosis of turf
disease. Turf Diagnostics Inc. (TDI)
will attempt to provide the most accurate diagnosis. It is important to realize that TDI is giving
you a "most probable cause" and that many times there is not an exact answer.
Use the diagnosis with an open mind and remember that the better the
health of the plant the better it can withstand any
adversarial attack.
Disease
severity is a qualitative measurement and NOT quantitative. The scale is based
on 1-5 with one being the least disease and five being the most disease.
Thank you
for using Turf Diagnostics Inc.
