Just like deciduous trees lose their leaves in the fall, changing environmental conditions can cause turfgrasses to go dormant for extended periods of time. In this sleep-like state, the grasses are not dead, they will typically recover when conditions for growth improve. Read on to learn about why grass goes dormant, what it means for your golf game and how different courses handle periods of dormancy.

Why does it happen?

Dormancy is a mechanism that helps plants survive when environmental conditions are unfavorable. Many of a grass plant’s vital growing functions slow to a crawl or stop altogether in response to shorter day length, colder temperatures and/or a lack of water. The turf usually loses color, becomes more brittle, and grass blades may begin to fall off from traffic. Given the variability of our climate in North America, nearly all golf course turf will experience unfavorable environmental conditions at some point in the year. Winter dormancy is common across the U.S., but dormancy due to drought can affect grasses during warmer weather as well.

While the grass may look dead on the surface, life belowground is still carrying on – albeit at a much slower pace. Once the conditions for growth become favorable again, the plant recovers and starts to look green and normal.

What does this mean for golfers?

It is usually fine to play golf on dormant turfgrass. Actually, dormant grass can offer some of the best playing conditions you’ll ever encounter. Dormancy means tighter lies and faster conditions because there is less resistance in the leaves. Dormant grass also doesn’t require much water, so very firm conditions are possible. In fact, many courses take steps to ensure that dormant greens don’t get too firm and fast for reasonable playability!

However, it is important to know that recovery from wear and damage can be slow or nonexistent on dormant grass. Traffic damage, ball marks and divots will linger for the duration of the dormancy period. Golf courses may implement extra cart restrictions, move tee markers to unusual locations and even have golfers hitting off mats on some tees to limit damage during dormancy. You can help minimize wear and tear during periods of dormancy by following cart and directional signage, not taking practice swing divots and always repairing your ball marks.

It is worth noting that each golf course is unique in how it handles times when the grass is dormant or growing very slowly. Always make sure to check with the golf shop for any play restrictions.