Mottled look of greens

Though winter still officially has another 10 days, we seem to have turned a corner on the weather. We will still have cold days, maybe even some snow, but in general, air and, importantly, soil temperatures have started to climb. As the turf begins to wake up, differences in species of grass and even differences within the same species of grass can be very apparent. Possibly no more so than on our putting greens.

This past week Jason and I took a short tour around the course with the Greens committee. We discussed several aspects of the course, some of the work accomplished over the winter, and plans and expectations for the upcoming season. While on the tour, a question regarding the look of the greens was asked- why are they mottled looking? Why so many different colors? Is it disease? Is something else wrong?

First, nothing is wrong with the greens. The appearance of many different colors and patches has to do with species of grass, and even more so in our case, biotypes within a species. Our greens are predominantly (>90%) Poa annua, or annual bluegrass, and the rest is made up of creeping bentrgrass. There is a natural color difference between annual bluegrass and creeping bentrgrass, which immediately explains a portion of the uneven color scheme. Not only is there a natural color difference, but especially in the spring when temperatures are still cool, annual bluegrass will start to come alive faster than bentgrass, so it gains a deeper green color sooner.

For our greens in particular though, the patchy look comes more from the differences within the species Poa annua. Poa is an incredibly adaptable plant, having been discovered growing on all 7 continents, that changes very quickly also. So the biggest cause of the mottled patches on the greens is due to hundreds of different biotypes of annual bluegrass all on the same green. Different weather patterns, cultural practices, and soil interactions can all cause mutations within any grass, but especially annual bluegrass. These mutations may cause many different responses within the plant that we never see, including some that turn out to be detrimental, but one difference that is expressed and we see is color. Then, the day after our course tour, a timely article from the USGA arrived in my inbox covering this exact topic.

Although the patchy color can be uneasy on the eyes, it is not a sign of any problem with the greens. And most importantly, it does not affect how the greens perform.

 

 

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

When parking your cart at a tee or green, please keep all 4 tires on the path.

 

Also, as part of a Golf Committee initiative to improve course etiquette, we have included links to videos teaching proper on course etiquette. Please take a moment to watch:

Ball Marks - How to properly repair

Golf Cart tips

 

 

See you on the course!

Joe

jvillegas@bwrc.org