It's a great day for the Wakonda Club Grounds Team! We have removed all the green's covers and
are preparing for the official start of the 2012 golf season. The course will be open for play this Friday,
March 9 at 11:00 AM. What a great
message to send marking the 100th Wakonda Grounds blog posting!
We fought through the high winds the past few days to get
all the covers removed and have completed the first mowing of the season. The greens look great!
You may notice some strange lines in the turf. The dark green line on 13 green in the
picture above is caused by a seam in the green's cover. The turf along the seam has a second layer of
insulation and these plants have remained green throughout the winter. You will also notice distinct lines in areas
along the edge of the green's covers. In
the picture below on the 13th approach you can see the dramatic difference a
thin layer of insulation provides. These
color differences will begin to diminish almost immediately depending on the
weather. Generally, the greens will lose
a bit of their deep green tint and will take on a more dormant appearance-
matching the surrounding turf.
As temperatures slowly increase the turf will slowly come
out of dormancy. Our maintenance levels
will increase as the temperature slowly rises and turf growth resumes. Greens speeds tend to increase throughout
spring as the turf breaks dormancy and will tolerate intense maintenance.
Once the course is open we scramble to keep up with
maintenance and course cleanup until the arrival of our seasonal maintenance
staff on April 1st.
