For a while, it seemed like the sun may never shine again in the Sunshine State and many other parts of the Southeast. After an extremely cloudy winter, the sun has finally decided to make some extended appearances, although we are not quite out of the Super El Niño woods yet.
While some golf course superintendents were able to manage the dreadful weather conditions with minimal issues, others were not so fortunate and found themselves with thin turf. Height of cut is very important when dealing with difficult growing conditions, a fact that was reinforced in a recent GCSAA webinar where Dr. J. Bryan Unruh from the University of Florida showed the effects of lowering light levels on a variety of grasses maintained at typical mowing heights for greens, fairways and rough. The main takeaway was that under reduced light levels turfgrass quality tends to get worse unless mowing heights are increased.
Etiolation is a phenomenon that typically occurs under low light levels. Turfgrass growing habits can change dramatically when the grass reaches out for sunlight that doesn’t exist. This growth extension reflex is part of what causes the scalping we have all seen after a rainy period, when we mow a day or two later than planned and everything seems to scalp way more than expected.
To compound the challenge of growing grass under low light levels, superintendents also had to manage cart traffic from plenty of play over the winter. Unfortunately, this became a balancing act of keeping either the golfers or the turfgrass happy. Traffic damage could be found all over courses in the Southeast this winter, but the worst damage was typically in places where golfers entered or exited a particular area. In any case, the takeaway is that traffic management is extremely important for turfgrass health during winter, especially in an El Niño.
Although it is not really feasible to keep golfers off a putting green unless the situation is dire, it is reasonable to take worn tees out of play to promote recovery. This can be done by moving tee markers forward or backward to the next tee or cutting out temporary tees on nearby flat areas. Even though golfers may end up playing from longer or shorter distances than they’re used to, the adjustment is meant to improve the health of the damaged tee so having to go up or down a club is a small price to pay.
Another practice that pays huge dividends is the “resting hole” philosophy. A rest hole takes a fairway out of play when it cannot realistically recover due to traffic and weather conditions. To do this you simply make the hole cart path only for a specific period of time or until it recovers sufficiently.
Adjusting mowing heights and directing traffic away from weak areas will help you get through the rest of this severe El Niño and speed up recovery over the summer, especially if the sun comes out tomorrow.
Southeast Region Agronomists:
Jordan Booth, Ph.D., senior director, Course Consulting Service – jbooth@usga.org
Chris Hartwiger, director, agronomy – chartwiger@usga.org
John Rowland, Ph.D., agronomist – jrowland@usga.org
Chris Neff, agronomist – cneff@usga.org