Man V. Mother Nature

Kamloops has finally received the weather we have been waiting for. While our greens have been outstanding so far this year, some areas on our fairways have struggled to recover with the cool, dry weather. Mother nature is a tough opponent and sometimes, no matter how hard we try, we simply cannot get things growing without her cooperation. 

Photosynthesis is the primary process used by plants and to convert light energy, normally from the Sun, into chemical energy that can later be used to fuel the organisms' activities. 

The equation for photosynthesis

Although photosythisis is the key to plant growth, temperature directly affects the rates at which this process will occur. 

How Temperature affects photosynthesis

Grass in our climate grows when the ambient air temperatures are roughly between 10 and 25 degrees Celsius. Grass seed will germinate (sprout) when soil temperatures exceed 21 degrees Celsius. Without these temperatures, photosynthesis will not be efficient enough to promote growth; grass simply will not grow at the rate needed to fill in damaged areas.

Over the last week or so, the course has begun to rapidly heal from the damages of winter. The temperatures that we have been getting are right in the growth wheelhouse for grass. In fact, there is so much growth that we are now having trouble keeping up just with mowing, let alone trying to cultivate, seed, fertilize and repair damaged areas. It often feels like a juggling act with either too many balls or not enough hands, or both. Take someone away from mowing to repair an area and we drop the ball for keeping up on mowing. On the other hand (pun intended) we try to keep up on mowing and course services like filling sand and seed stations, cleaning washrooms and we miss an opportunity to repair an area and drop that ball so to speak.

I have also heard a few of the same questions from a number of members, some have some truth behind them, while others are just rumors. Here are a few questions about the course that I have heard from members lately and how I have responded to them:

Did we lose turf on the fairways because we didn't have water early in the spring?
No, we lost turf on the fairways because of ice formation over the winter, this suffocates the turf, causing it to die. We had a limited amount of water early in the spring, and were irrigating these areas.

But these areas looked fine early in the spring.
Yes that is true. The decay of dead plant material will take some time to show. Living areas green up, while the dead areas decay and turn brown and white. Imagine putting a turkey in the freezer all winter, it'll look pretty good when you take it out, but leave it on the counter for a few weeks, stomp on it, drive on it, and things wont be quite so pretty anymore.

What are we doing to prevent winter damage next year?
We have been aerating, verticutting, overseeding with bentgrass, basically trying to replace as much of the damaged poa annua areas with bentgrass. We will also be using a higher percentage potassium fertilizer this fall to promote better winter hardiness. The higher bentgrass population we can maintain in these chronic damage areas, the better we will be able to winter in future seasons.We will be hitting these areas with cultural practices again in the fall.

How long until these areas are back to normal?
Many of these areas are already fully healed. Most of the 5th fairway and a good portion of the 1st, 11th and 16th fairways all suffered a great deal of winter ice damage. Today, you can hardly see most of these areas, while some of the worst areas are still filling in. Once we get into June, these areas will virtually be fully recovered and back to "normal."

Ice Damage, 2nd fairway, April 21 (Top), May21 (bottom)

Ice Damage, 3rd fairway, April 2 (Top), May20 (bottom)

Ice Damage, 5th fairway, May 1 (Top), May25 (bottom)

I think some people might be forgetting how much damage was done this winter, and just how far things have come in the last month. Sure a few areas are still filling in, but I think it is a testament to our Turf Care team who has been able to bring these areas back despite being short staffed and battling mother nature.

Without mother natures cooperation with warmer overnight temperatures and some precipitation, our efforts may go unnoticed for some time. It takes a great deal of patience to do what we do, and sometimes a little patience, and maybe a little rain dance, can go a long way; I think that is evident in how the course looks and plays today. Things have certainly come along way since we opened on February 27th this year. We are in store for another great season.

Men's Night May 20th 2015