When will the greens open for the season?

Winter weather patterns change from year to year dependent on where the coldest air is located on the planet.  Transient weather patterns in the winter months can be the worst nightmare for turfgrass managers and the best thing for the golfer who wants to pull his clubs out.

Golf courses superintendents battle with the tough decisions of when to open the greens for the season.  This decision is dependent on the soil conditions.  Despite what the high temperature for the day is, golf course operators must make the appropriate decisions for the short-term as well as the long-term impact on course conditions.

Species of the plant, current environmental factors, and seasonal changes are a few examples that directly impact the complexity of the decisions for turf managers.  Planning for Mother Nature is one of the most difficult aspects of golf course management.  Soil temperature can trigger a lot of physiological effect in turfgrass.  Temperature variations change less rapidly in wet soils than in dry soils, because water has a large capacity to resist temperature changes compared to soil particles.  Previous cold temperatures and moisture in the soils will cause temperatures to rise significantly slower than the ambient temperature of the air.  Early spring play on putting greens that are not actively growing could lead to turf thinning and bumpy surfaces. Turf may be green but not actively growing and therefore unable to recover from wear injury.  Another factor to consider is as frozen green thaws and/or snow melts, not only are the greens extremely soft, they also becomes very “squishy”.  Adding traffic during this phenomenon causes a “rutting” effect.  The opportunity for immediate turf injury is very high, creating other issues later in the season.

We will continue to carefully watch the weather over the next week or so to make sure that the conditions are suitable for play on the regular greens.  The main focus is putting the members in the best situation to enjoy the golf course in prime condition for the entire upcoming season.