Ice Damage Recovery Plan

Golf Course Update

Now that the warmer temperatures have finally arrived and the grass has greened up, any suspect ice damage is now apparent. Ice damage is evident on greens 1, 6, 8 and 14, a handful of tees, as well as a few fairway sections (most notably on the 11^th fairway). Specifically, the damage on the greens is more of a thinning than devastation.

Many golf courses in the northeast received more widespread and severe damage, forcing the closure of greens and implementing temporary greens (to help expedite the recovery process).  The ice damage on the golf course could have been much worse. In our case, I believe we can still use all of our playing surfaces and at the same time commence with the recovery process.

In late March, as the snow finally started to melt and we could get onto the greens, we noticed what could be some ice damage. Since the verticut slices and holes from the fall green aerification had not fully healed yet, we had the perfect seed bed if ice damage was going to be an issue, so as a precaution we performed an overseeding on any greens where the ice damage was suspect. This seeding was performed in mid April but with such a cold spring, recovery has been slow. Complicating matters is the use of plant growth regulators (used to limit poa seedheads and keep greens rolling smoothly).

For seed germination, the soil temperatures need to be 50-65 degrees. Soil temperatures are usually cooler than air temperatures and soil takes longer to warm up than air. Now with the warmer seasonal temperatures of recent we will be continuing with the green recovery process and start on the affected areas on the 11^th red tee and select areas in some of fairways. This will be a program of ”light” aerifications and slice seedings and will be repeated periodically as needed. 

“Understanding or even trying to explain the injury patterns is always a challenge. Several variables, including site characteristics (e.g., surface drainage, sun and wind exposure, soil type, grasses etc.) and weather events, ultimately dictate where winter injury will occur and how severe it will be”. For instance, in my tenure, none of the poorly draining areas at Hop Meadow have ever had ice damage. I can only surmise that the soil does not freeze as extensively as the higher, better draining areas. If you think about it, greens 1, 6, 8 and 14 can dry out very fast (because they drain well) and in the summer you’ll often see us hand watering those greens more regularly. With these “best draining greens” the ground freezes earlier and more extensively so when a winter thaw occurs the water just sits on the surface and can’t go anywhere, killing the grass after an extended period of time. Additionally, these greens are sloped to the north (lower sunlight intensity).

The weakest link in the ice damage arena is the annual bluegrass (or poa annua) population.  Established, older golf courses (Hop Meadow included) consistently battle to keep the poa annua alive but over seed with bentgrass at every opportunity. Bentgrass has a much higher tolerance for freeze (and drought) conditions than poa annua.  Unfortunately our natural growing environment encourages poa annua.  Newer golf courses constructed using bentgrass are not as susceptible to ice damage. And once bentgrass greens are established, poa annua invasion can be kept at bay with the use of plant growth regulators. These PGR’s are not for the greens with high poa populations and unfortunately, converting to bentgrass greens is a costly and time consuming process.

As with any recovery program, patience is critical. This is especially true in the spring when growing conditions often are less than favorable.

Thank you for your understanding.