Poa annua winter kill

As we head for spring, the Grounds crew is working hard to clean up from winter. We are clearing debris that we created from tree trimming, as well as debris caused by winter weather and wind. We are also working to fix some damage that was caused to the Poa annua, or annual bluegrass, in the green surrounds. Over the next couple of weeks as the soil warms and dries out, we will do some spot seeding of these areas.

This is the view from behind #9 green where golfers walk towards #10 tee

Damaged areas are straw colored

Annual bluegrass is not an inherently strong grass, especially when it comes to extreme temperatures. Everything it lacks in tolerance, though, it makes up for in adaptability. No turf grass can change itself faster or become more suitable to a changing environment than Poa. A great example of the adaptability is by how easily poa can be spread in the rough. Looking at the pictures, it is clear which plants are damaged and which are not. But what is also clear is where the greatest amount of damage is located: the exact area where everyone walks off the green towards the next tee. This is not a coincidence. Tiny poa plants as well as seeds, stick to the spikes of golf shoes, are carried on our mowers, or blown and end up moving from the green to the rough. The taller rough grass captures these plants and seeds from whatever carrier they are on, they fall into the rough, and some of them survive and begin to grow. In the case of the poa in the rough, it didn’t adapt fast enough and the lack of snow cover coupled with cold temperatures exacerbated by wind, has damaged the plant. It is not completely dead, and many of the spots have already begun to recover, but it won’t fully recover. This is a good thing, however, because it allows us to reseed these areas with the species of turf grass that we want instead.

This picture was taken 1 month later. You can see the healing that has already taken place.

With our over-seeder, we will check every green surround and seed into the areas that are most affected. We will use tall fescue seed, which is a species with much more tolerance for warm and cold temperatures. The temperature tolerance helps the tall fescue survive the warm summers and more importantly in this case, survive the cold winters as well. Tall fescue is also the same grass as the sod we lay in the rough for all of the Master Plan construction work, which means that continuing to seed the same grass into the rough will help us keep consistency throughout all of the green surrounds.

We will not be able to eliminate Poa annua from the rough around the greens. First, it is a very opportunistic plant and will insert itself in almost any area. Second, because our greens are almost entirely composed of the same plant, we will forever have an excellent source for seed. The seed from the greens will continue to find its way out into the rough and begin to grow no matter how strong our defense is. However, by taking advantage of damage caused over the winter to the poa plants, and staying on top of the situation before the entire green surround is overtaken by poa, we save ourselves from having to make major renovations to the green surrounds.

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

Carts are to remain on cart paths only until the Bermuda grass resumes normal growth.

See you on the course!

Joe

jvillegas@bwrc.org