Wednesday, March 17, 2021

March Superintendent Update

 

Timarron Country Club – Golf Course Update                                              March 15th, 2021

Time flies, but just over 3 weeks ago DFW and your golf course was frozen and covered with snow.  As the temperatures return to normal, the grass is just beginning to green up and grow.  Please check out our golf course maintenance blog at the following link.  There is always good and relevant information about current course conditions.

https://timarrongcm.blogspot.com/

Historic Weather

The weather from the February storm was historic and left its mark on Timarron Country Club.   We experienced record weather that had not been seen in over 70 years in DFW.  We reached a low of -2 degrees (second coldest of all time), had 5 inches of snow, and putting greens were covered with tarps for 12 consecutive days.  On top of that we added a thick layer of mulch over of the greens tarps to help insulate and protect the putting greens.  Even with the addition of the mulch, some damage has occurred on some of the putting surfaces.

 

Putting Green Recovery

The -2 degrees temperatures took its toll on some of our putting surfaces.  Members will have noticed some of the yellow areas on the greens.  It looks like dry turf, but its damage we received from the from the extreme cold temperatures.  Holes 6,7, and 18 greens were the most effected.  Over the last week, we have seen more green turf emerge is these brown areas, but they still have a ways to progress.  To help with the recovery, we will vent, fertilize, and raise our mower heights.  Greens are being mowed daily, but at a slightly higher height of cut, so our members will notice a slower ball roll.

 

Fairway, Collar, Tee, Rough Recovery

These areas of the course are still almost 100% dormant and just beginning to green up.  It will take to the middle of April before the extent of the cold weather damage will be known. Areas that could be most affected are-north facing slopes, high traffic areas, and heavily shaded areas from trees. 

Going forward, there are many unknowns. Bermudagrass loves hot and sunny weather, not this record cold weather that we just received. A conservative approach will be taken on how we mange the turf this spring, as priority one is getting our turfgrass healthy again. We will continue to monitor these areas and update the membership on a timely basis. Timarron Golf Course Maintenance will continue to work hard to give our members the best course conditions possible.

 

Thank you for your continued support,

 

Aaron Clary   

Golf Course Superintendent