Wacky Weather

What a strange year we have had so far.  There are not many years that we can say that we were open for golf for all 12 months.  As many of you experienced, we did just that.  Although I can recall golf in January, I am not aware of The Moors being open in February in the past.  We had some wonderful weather throughout the winter, however, our typical spring is struggling to arrive.  What does this mean for the turf?

For the most part, we are beyond any major danger.  The main concern with the unseasonably warm weather this winter is that the turf begins to "deacclimate" meaning it will begin to wake up and operate as normal.  During this process, the plant takes up water to "hydrate" itself.  If this happens followed by a severe cold snap, the turf can fracture and kill the plant.  This is particularly prevalent in Poa Annua which we have on our greens.  One way of preventing this is to not encourage the plant to wake up.  As a result, we opted not to mow the surfaces during these warm periods which would encourage the plant to break dormancy.  We didn't suffer any damage.  The course came through the wacky winter in great shape.

We are looking forward to more spring like temperatures with some consistency in order to get into full swing.  As of now, we have a very limited staff.  When the weather behaves, we will continue to have more return.

Many of the evening low temperatures are below the level of frosting.  Please be conscious of this before stepping foot on the course.  Damage to the turf due to frost damage will take a long time to recover.  When in doubt, wait for permission from the golf shop before walking/driving on the turf.

Summer will be here soon.....I promise!