The only solution to recovery

Our greens have been in sub par condition for a few months now. Most of the problems we saw 2 months ago were just the start of a long Winter. Our root system on many of the greens, primarily greens with moderate to heavy shade, were compromised by the effects of a long hot summer aided by a Nematode infestation, and recently a sever cold snap that put many of them over the edge. The worst greens are #10,15,16 and the putting green. We are also seeing gradual decline and thinning on greens #1, 4, 5, 7, 8, 13, 14, and 17. Due to the recent decline after the cold snap, the green committee has decided to shut down all 18 greens to speed the recovery as a whole. We all agreed it was better to do this now instead of waiting to see if they get worse.

The 10th green is becoming more difficult to manage each year as the trees directly south are growing taller. These trees are not on club property. It is becoming an identical problem to #4 and 15 which we have dealt with every winter. #10 however has the unfortunate addition of being the coldest spot on the golf course and also has almost zero air circulation. #10 stays closed days after the other greens are cleared for play from frost.

We can all agree the weather patterns over the past 12 months have been quite extreme for our region. These extremes have spelled doom for our root system. We have roughly 45 to 60 days of poor growing conditions ahead of us before we start to see significant improvement in the greens. The sun is still too low on the horizon and temperatures are still too low for recovery. If we continue to allow foot traffic and mower traffic on the greens in question, we will undoubtedly experience even more turf loss over the next 60 days.

The greens need a break. We are doing everything we can to promote root development right now, but it's a losing battle as long as golfer traffic and mower traffic interfere with progress. We need to accept that we have a problem on our hands and look forward to the spring and summer when the turf is expected to be in perfect shape. This approach is being taken at many other courses in the Portland and Seattle area, as they too have suffered dramatic turf loss and thinning over the past month.

Please be patient in our efforts to bring the greens back to their normal condition. We do not have a timeline for them since every green will react differently and the weather needs to cooperate. Thank you...your humbled superintendent!