You want green? Here it comes

Well, that wasn't bad at all.  The bermuda on the golf course only remained in full-blown dormancy for one month.  We are greening up rapidly and I think we can agree that the weather is still unseasonably cold.  The ground temperatures are changing and that's what really matters.

The photo above is half brown and half green, but please realize that the green is all new.  This exact location was nearly 100% brown just two weeks ago.  We've turned the corner and pretty soon we will really get to work.

Two weeks ago, I took temperatures on the greens and the reading at 4 inches was 42 degrees.  In comparison, last October during aerification, the temps were in the 80s.  After our brief taste of summer with last weekend's 80 degree days, the soil temps shot up to 52 degrees and the bermuda took notice.

Below is another photo of the bermuda and you can see the new growth coming out of the tips of the plants.  Can you see the diagonal lines extending from lower right to upper left?  These are the verticut lines from this past summer.  It stimulates growth in the summer and helps in the spring too.

The pic to the right is a winter bunch of Poa annua that I plucked from the fairway.  This root system is not going to last long and that is a good thing.   We've also lowered the height of the fairways back to a 1/2 inch to coincide with the spring green up and bermuda push.  Very soon, we will be using a spray that will take out all the Poa and ryegrass and leave the bermuda without competition.  This will not be sprayed everywhere, at least not this year.

Izzo joined me out on 10 fairway to survey the progress and measure the green vs brown.  In her estimation, the fairways will be back to full green within two weeks.  She's spent a lot of time on golf courses and always has her nose to the ground.  She knows more than she lets on.  Let's hope she's right.