Season ending

It would not be a post without some talk of the weather. Being in New England means it will vary and never be exactly as predicted by the professionals. Overall it has still been nice. We had one real cold snap for a weekend but then it climbed back up to normal temperatures and a few players enjoyed the course. As anyone here knows it is all about the wind. Since the shop closing during the week we have had 19 cart rounds mid-week so the program is keeping a few people enjoying the outdoors and the course. I opened the barn today but at 24 degrees and a wind chill of 8 I cannot imagine any sane person attempting a round, but I have been wrong before. We continue to get rain with our total this year being over 51". My average yearly total over 22 years is about 45".
The staff has been reduced to the Full timers. Prior to that all final mowing has been performed, The final preventative plant protectant has been applied, and all relevant areas have been winterized. Chris and Will continue to clean up the leaves that are down and continue to fall.

Final spray with test plots on 3rd approach

I continued my quest for answers from last Fall and this Spring. I always try to evaluate every practice and determine whether it is necessary or giving us the intended results. As our program to convert the greens to bentgrass progresses, I am questioning the best timing for annual bluegrass (Poa Annua or Poa) seed head suppression chemicals or if they are even needed anymore. You can read the post I did in the Spring HERE. Last year I did not leave any test plots fearing I would have snow mold damage in these areas since our last spray is really for snow mold protection. We add an anti desiccant to protect from the open winter and drying winds and also a colorant to help the plant absorb the lesser sunlight and stay warmer. This year I said what the heck, in the name of science, so there are all these squares and rectangles that are off-color. Hopefully I will learn something about the Fall seed head application as well as our other products in the final spray. I will decide in the Spring whether or not to even do the normal Spring application.

Segregation and biotypes

Same area as above but different day

In the shoulder seasons our course takes on a patch work quilt appearance. This is mostly a function of the different grass types we have and the age of our course. In season everybody is growing at the same rate, relatively, and the colors are more uniform. As the soil temperatures cool some grasses are less efficient at mining phosphorus from the soil and take on a purple hue (a classic P deficiency symptom). This is a good time to evaluate or notice how much Poa we have left. It is often the really light colored, pale green, turf easily seen in the pictures above on the green expansion in the front of 15 green. " Segregation refers to the “sorting out” of individual clones or biotypes with which the grass cultivar was planted. So why does it happen?" That quote was from a USGA article which can be seen HERE for anyone interested in a deeper dive into this phenomenon and Poa invasion.

sunrise 9th hole

Have a great holiday if I do not see you before then or get around to another post. Hopefully you are somewhere warm or heading that way soon as old man Winter seems to be moving in here on Martha's Vineyard.