Thursday, January 12, 2012

Frost Damage

The cold weather last week brought us our first frosts of the year. There were two mornings with below freezing temperatures that produced frost on our turf grass for several hours.
This frost has a damaging affect on the 'rough' turf grass, in particular, due to its higher height of cut and the ability for the ice to settle down into the canopy. The closer mown turf grass on the approaches and fairways has the ability to maintain a higher soil temperature and so withstand the cold weather without as much injury.

 
The frost has a damaging affect on the higher mown turf grass (foreground) as seen on hole 12 whereas the fairways (background) have shown relatively no color loss..


The entire golf course was fertilized with granular fertilizer this week and will be followed up with a liquid fertilizer application over the weekend to help promote turf recovery and greener grass. The affected areas of turf will soon grow out of this condition and the affected leaf blades will be mown off.

Our greens were prepared before the frosts with an application of liquid fertilizers that was very successful. A wetting agent, Hydrahawk, that displaces dew from the leaf blade, was also applied to the greens and tees prior to the frost that prevents the ice from forming.

Overall, the golf course remains in excellent condition with fast greens for all to enjoy. if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Posted by David Dore-Smith
Director of Golf Course and Grounds Maintenance

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