"Give it a month and some heat"

Its been just over a month since opening all 18 greens for play and some are still struggling but most are coming along. A lot of the growth in the thin areas you maybe seeing appears to be the regeneration of Poa annua from the crown. If you imagine grass looking like a onion plant think of the onion bulb as analogous to the crown of the grass plant. It appears that some grass plants were not completely destroyed last winter as some of the new growth showing on the greens is coming from crowns not seedlings. I can make this observation now that the turf has grown as it is easier to distinguish between bent grass species and Poa grass species once they have both matured. Some of the over seeding has worked but the young seedlings are struggling with the regular play and maintenance. To get a good look at the two species I'm talking about just double click each photo.

Bent grass in center of photo.
Notice the fat leaves with prominent ridges
running the length of the blade.


Poa annua in this photo has a thinner blade
that sometimes appears folded.

We've been pretty generous with the fertility and height of cut (H.O.C.) on the greens to aid in recovery and to get some good turf for the remainder of the season. With the first tournament schedule for early June we will need to begin lowering the H.O.C. closer to our more usual summer height soon. You can't blame all the problems on a grass species but a quote that sums up Poa best for me is "When Poa annua is good, it's the best; when it's bad there's not much worse"