It has been one month since we have opened at the Pines following our winter overseed. The golf course is in outstanding condition right now, and we would like to thank all of our guests for helping us out by following our cart path only policy. We will continue to be cart path only until November 26th when we will switch to the 90 degree rule. The first 45 days after reopening is one of the most crucial times of the year at the golf course, because it allows us to fully develop our newly overseeded grass. By eliminating the traffic on the turf, we are providing the grass the best opportunity to mature. However, it is what we are preventing from growing that provides one of the greatest benefits for the golf course.
One of the biggest enemies of a overseeded golf course in the winter is the emergence of poa annua (annual bluegrass) throughout the golf course. Over the past three years we have greatly reduced the population of poa annua on the course by using the chemical application of Barricade that is done eight weeks prior to our overseeding. The main purpose of the chemical application to establish a barrier approximately two inches below the turf. This barrier allows our overseeded rye grass to grow on top of the barrier while keeping the the poa annua seedbed below the barrier. The main reason the rye grass is so fragile for the first 45 days is because it takes that entire amount of time for the roots of the rye plants to penetrate that barrier two inches below the turf. After the barrier is broken by the roots the plants can completely mature and develop. Below is a picture that illustrates a fairway that is heavily contaminated by poa annua.
Many of our guests are not fully aware of why we keep our cart path only policy for this long into the season. Not only are we strengthening our rye grass as much as possible, but we are keeping unwanted poa annua out of our turf. This will only help us keep that beautiful dark green color that we all love to see during the winter season. We would like to thank all of our guests again for helping us out by staying on the paths until November 26th!!!
