Weekly Course Update:  Monday 3/5 through Friday 3/12

We are hopeful this week that we have survived our last freeze of the season. We are grateful to have actually had a cold and wet winter this year, and are eager to start the growing season. The golf course as a whole is primed to green up. The next few weeks are some of my favorite of the calendar year as we rapidly green and find out exactly the condition of our turf coming out of winter. Our soil temperatures are still hovering around the low 50’s, and we will actively be growing Bermuda grass when we reach the mid 60’s.

We have already started March conditioning of our putting greens at this time. As the temperatures warm and the daylight length increases, we start pushing our overseeded putting greens into warmer season growth patterns. Our greens are remaining consistent, and we are starting to see the seed heads on the poa annua in our overseed start to affect the roll of the ball especially late in the day. We have started counteracting that by regulating the growth of the poa. During the next couple of weeks, we will be venting the greens, lightly topdressing, and verti-cutting to further regulate the overseed stand and promote warm season growth. This time of the year is the most crucial for ball mark repair as the emerging Bermuda is tender.

As the turf at taller heights starts to green up, we will be preparing this turf for growth as well. We will keep our nutrient levels high in the soils and monitor our water closely during the first eight weeks of the growing season to make sure we are getting off on the right foot. We will also be topdressing our thinner more warn areas from last season’s drought. I highly recommend to all our Members to do the same in their home lawns. The best advice I can give is to fertilize, topdress, and do not over water especially as we start to see spring rains. I will return to writing these updates weekly for the season, so if you have any suggestions for this update please contact me or stop me on the course as you are enjoying your round this week.

Golf Course Superintendent, RPCC
Kevin.chance@riverplaceclub.com