Let's talk about the current state of some of the greens here at BVGC. Some of the greens here experienced various areas of winterkill (more specifically crown hydration injury) over the late winter. Crown hydration is a situation where an extremely wet and snowy winter (especially late) combined with frequent warm-ups and re-freezing causes turf injury. The grass plants begin to take up water as the winter ends and the snow melts, but if cold temps and refreezing occurs the water will form ice crystals inside the plant and rupture it (i.e. blow it up from the inside). Annual Bluegrass (Poa annua) is especially susceptible to crown hydration injury. Making things worse is the fact that shade enhances the problem: 1)more shade generally means more Poa and therefore a more susceptible grass species 2)more shade means slower snow melt and therefore more likely to have crown hydration injury due to refreezing.
On to the factors that are specific to the greens and the crown hydration injury here at BVGC...First, we need to revisit the weather that was specific to Woodstock, not Ohare and not some lakeside Northshore club. Reports of winterkill are numerous in central and southern Wisconsin. The winter came late but came with a fury. We received nearly 2" of rain on the last two days of January, followed by a rapid freeze. This caused a layer of 6-8" of ice to accumulate on the green surfaces. Prolonged ice cover can itself damage the turf, but it slows the melt process and enhances crown hydration injury. From February 1 through late March we had several large snowfall events until things started to thaw towards the end of March. I knew the prolonged ice and snow cover was going to be a concern and the staff on hand attempted to remove snow from several greens in mid-March to try to speed up the melt process. It may have helped but ultimately damage has occurred on many greens here.
