The greens have had a tough fall and winter. With the turf already weakened after the Pythium fight, we experienced 5 days of unusually cold weather with temperatures ranging from 9 to 21 degrees which has lead to winter desiccation. Turf that has been severely stressed from a fight with disease such as we experienced this fall is not able to withstand the extreme weather conditions we faced. It is similar to recovering from major surgery and having a relapse.

Fertilizer applications  were not the problem, i.e. #8 (undamaged) was treated exactly the same as the putting green (severely damaged).  Taller mowing heights as the tees, fringes, and chipping green received far less damage than the shorter grass on the greens. The greens that had the most damage from the recent cold are the ones that have the deepest and purest sand in the root zone mix. The greens with the most native soil have weathered the cold snap the best. The best examples are:

• Greens like #8 are typically wetter in the winter and have more soil than sand, mixed in the root zone. The Pythium didn't hit # 8 as hard either. It is the best green on the course today.
• Number 9 green still has the original contours, has not been rebuilt and weathered the cold very well.   It has a heavier soil based root zone than most of our greens.
• The newly rebuilt area on the back of #6 green dramatically shows the difference in sand based root zones compared to soil based root zones. Noticeable in the picture of #6 green fringe.
• Greens such as #11, have visible brown lines in them indicating drain lines in a herringbone pattern that has deep layer of sand over the drain lines.
• Greens that have been completely rebuilt with pure sand mixes such as #15, #17, and the putting green have the most visible damage as the cold freezes quicker and deeper into the sand than it will into the soil. The heavier soil acts as an insulator.
• There is also a drain line that was installed in front of #9 green across the approach last summer. The soil was removed and replaced with sand. The attached picture dramatically shows the cold damage in the sand vs. the soil, and is a great example of what is happening on our greens.

Other local courses such as Columbia Edgewater and Royal Oaks also have some temporary greens due to the cold damage, yet have not dealt with Pythium. These courses have Poa Annua grass as do we. Local Bentgrass green courses, such as Red tail and Heron Lakes do not exhibit as much cold damage due to the nature of the tougher, cold tolerant bentgrass.

Last year we had a cold snap that burned the greens in February and it took about 4 to 5 weeks to recover. We are looking at the same scenario this winter.  The greens that had cold damage last year were covered with greens tarps, yet still received damage. Yesterday we covered the 17th green in hopes of "holding" in the heat and expediting recovery.  We will monitor this on a daily basis and if we have success, we will continue to cover our most damaged areas on our greens. 

Foot traffic will kill the grass in this current weakened state. Continued wear will lay the grass down, not allowing the turf to stand back up, causing it to decay and rot to the dirt. We must be careful and not cause any further damage with continued foot traffic until the grass will stand back up on its own.

We apologize for the inconvenience and are doing everything possible to get the greens back into use as soon as possible.

So much for global warming. 
Forrest