Winter of 2013/2014

1. Winter of 2013/2014 • Coldest winter since 1971(unofficial) • Wind Chills to -38C • Ice under snow • Early Frost • Cold and wet November, without much sunshine

2. Types of Winter Damage • Crown Hydration Injury (moisture) • Winter Desiccation (dry and windy) • Ice Suffocation, Anoxia (toxins under ice) • Pink and Gray Snow Mould (fungal) • Low Temperature Kill (cold)

3. Winter Damage 2009 & 2010 • Hydration Injury – Water in the low areas of the greens – Freeze and thaw cycles kill the crown of the grass plants after they have taken up water. • Much damage occurred in run-off areas and “birdbaths” on the greens where water pools. • Kill was very severe, often sodding would be required to repair such damage. • Shaded areas were badly affected.

4. What Happened This Time? • As snow melted on the high spots of the greens, damage was already present, low areas were still covered in snow. • Very low temperatures got to these areas before the snow melted, where the snow insulation was thinnest. • Carb storage in plants were mostly used up by the longer winter and poor hardening off period. • Shade still a factor. • North-facing slopes.

5. Monitoring • We were hearing reports at other clubs of significant ice build up on greens. • In response, many clubs were plowing off greens in February, removing ice layers using aerators, and in some cases, blowing snow back on. • While our greens had significant snow, ice was not an issue. Snow was our friend during the winter!

6. Plowing • We did not plow on our greens until we could actually see turf in places and temperatures had risen. • We plowed areas that traditionally were troublesome for hydration injury, #11, #4. • On #13 we detected some thicker ice so we removed most of the snow. • In the end, plowing had little effect.

7. What’s Alive? • A plug taken from an early exposed area of #7 green yielded some clues. • Easier to detect what is dead than what is alive. • We could tell that under good growing conditions in our shop (17C), we were still going to have mixed results on our greens.

8. Spring Temperatures • By most accounts, we are estimating that we are 3 weeks to a month behind an average spring. • Soil temperatures have been far too cold to begin any serious recovery without help. • Germination of seed needs air temperatures at least continuous 12C during the day and 5C at night.

9. Recovery Methods • Tarps • Black sand • Aeration • Verticutting • Seeding • Sodding • Plugging • Topdressing • Higher mowing heights (less ball roll) • Temporary greens • Patience

10. Poa Annua vs. Bentgrass • Most older greens in Ontario are a mixture of different annual bluegrasses and bentgrasses. • The ratio of grass types on putting greens depends on many factors: mowing heights, soils, sun, shade, water, fertility, slope and green design, drainage, age. • Poa Annua is one of the 5 most common plants in the world. Itis very aggressive but also very weak in the cold and the heat with short roots and small leaf blade. • Superintendents are reporting that mostly their poa annua populations are affected by the winter. • Courses with newer, mostly bentgrass greens are reporting far less overall damage. • Craigowan’s greens are a blend of 60% to 40% bent/poa in either ratio, depending on the season’s weather. Poa populations increase as we mow shorter.

11. We Are Not Alone! • Reports of severe winter damage range all over the northeast US and Southern Ontario and Quebec. • Most of the finest courses in Ontario are affected and are publicizing recovery plans for their turf. • All recovery plans include temporary greens and later openings.

12. What about Us? • All but 6 greens are affected with various degrees of damage. • Most of the damage is on the high areas where it got the coldest. • Most affected is the poa annua, but some bentgrasses were affected also.

13. What About Us ? • Fairways and tees are virtually unaffected. • The worst greens are #6, #2 and #18 and will likely take the longest to recover. • The best greens are #1, #5, #16, #17, #3 and both putting greens.

14. Trends, Theories & Conclusions • There is evidence to support that the damage was caused by low carbohydrate (sugars) in the grass plants during the winter. These sugars help lower the freezing point in water. • These carbs are stored in the leaf blades during the hardening off period on cold sunny autumn days. • Tree shade also prevented certain areas of our greens from hardening off adequately. • North-facing slopes such as #2 and #18 were colder and more exposed, and they were among the worst hit. • In our region, the worse damage seems to be on the “best” courses, supporting the above statement about leaf blade food storage. • “Better” clubs tend to mow the turf shorter, thus placing it under more stress, despite having superior resources on hand. • Courses with recently renovated greens (bentgrass) have generally fared much better this spring. • Never in history has it has gotten this cold on turf this old, mowed at this low height, with trees this large, here and at other clubs! There is a breaking point and many clubs hit it!

15. Recovery • Several different methods will be employed. • Tarps are being used to heat up soil temperature and draw out the still-living dormant turf.

16. Recovery • When soil temperatures are higher, aeration, aggressive verticutting, seeding and topdressing will happen in the thin or dead areas. • Tarps will be re-employed to mimic greenhouse conditions and get germination and growth more quickly.

17. Recovery • Fertilizer and irrigation will happen as required. • Damaged areas will be closed to ALL traffic (temp. greens). • The longer the greens have without traffic, the faster the healing. Some could be several weeks recovering. • Greens will be a bit slower and bumpier as they heal. • We would like to incorporate hardier grasses into the damaged areas to mitigate future turf loss. • Patience will be very key. • Affected courses are faced with the choice of having good greens for half a year or bad greens for a whole year (or longer).

18. Silver Lining • We are not in as bad a shape as many other courses that have twice the budget and twice the prestige. Healing should be fairly rapid if the weather cooperates. • Forward-thinking and well-to-do clubs will use this as a springboard to improve their greens now and for the future. • We have learned a lot about winter hardiness and it should compel golf courses to keep removing trees and perhaps raise cutting heights. • This type of winter will likely only happen every 40 years or so, but as long as some clubs “over-manage” their turf, we can expect other types of winter damage to happen.

19. Questions?