As most of the golfing world was glued to their televisions last week watching what will go down as one of the best Masters Tournaments ever, much of New England was receiving snow and the rest of the Northeast was cold. In fact, April has felt more like March.
When spring takes forever to arrive, it is even more important to rely on nature’s cues to make decisions on the course. Just because the calendar says it might be time to aerate greens or fertilize rough, if the weather isn’t conducive to growth and recovery it may not be a good idea to move forward with these practices just yet. Phenological indicators such as the forsythia and rhododendron bloom reflect the soil temperature and are better guides than what the date is. Another tool that golf courses and homeowners can use to time various spring practices is a growing degree day (GDD) tracker. Again, rather than relying on what the calendar says the weather should be, GDD trackers use daily high and low temperatures to provide a numerical value. This value is used to determine the appropriate timing of all sorts of spring applications, like preemergence weed control.
Spring always gets golfers excited. Whether you are returning home from warmer areas, or you tuned in to the Masters and now have the bug to play, spring weather isn’t the same for everyone. Although the grass is green and trees have leaves in the South, most courses in the Northeast are still far from prime condition. Not only is this true of the look of the course, it is also true of course preparations. Be careful not to go too early with preemergence herbicides and summer disease or insecticide applications, because you could miss the prime window.
There are a lot of ups and downs to spring course conditions, but consistently good golf and growing weather will be here before you know it. For more ways to get your season off to a good start, please reach out to your regional USGA agronomist.
Northeast Region Agronomists:
Darin Bevard, senior director, Championship Agronomy – dbevard@usga.org
Elliott L. Dowling, regional director, East Region – edowling@usga.org
Brian Gietka, agronomist – bgietka@usga.org