Those dreaded Covers...

I know covering prevents golf...But really do you want to play when it is 35 degrees out and 15 mph winds?  Okay, I know there are some of you extremist out there!  So back to the covers and why we need them.  The diamond zoysia grass is a warm season turf that needs protection due to the low mowing heights that exposes the crown of the plant to much harsher conditions.  Covering greens is a common practice done on ultradwarf (bermudas and not technically Diamond Zoysia, but it is close enough that I typically call it an ultradwarf) putting greens during the winter months. This process helps our greens hold heat in the soil profile, prevents plant desiccation and protects turfgrass plants against extreme cold temperatures and wind.  Desiccation is basically dehydration.  This in turn during the cold makes the plant even more stressed, thus causing the plant to die or what we call "winter kill."  This is something I don't ever want to see on our putting greens.  This is why sometimes you may be thinking, "why in the world is he covering greens?"  Well it is always better to be safe than sorry.  I have many factors that determine when I cover.  A few of these factors for not covering even though the temperatures do dip below 25 degrees include how much moisture is in the greens--if we just got 3 inches of rain, the rain has heated up the soil surface just enough to keep us safe--unless it is prolonged coldness.  This factor is for usually only one day after the rain. If it is going to be windy and 25 degrees with daytime temperatures not getting to 50 degrees, then you will see the covers come out.  Duration of the cold is another factor.  If it is only going to be 23 for 15 minutes, and then the temperatures may jump up quickly and the day was warm before (above 50 degrees) then you will not see covers.  As for this last spell that we had, you saw record low temperatures that were accompanied with very cold winds, thus we left the greens covered for 6 days.  This kept the moisture from the previous rain in so the desiccation factor, plus the extreme cold was a textbook case of a no brainer cover.  Soil temperatures under the covers during that extreme cold only got as low as 33.  I would of course love to have them warmer, but I do not feel any anxiety considering the temperatures outside were 6 degrees.  In summing this up, if temperatures are below 25 degrees, there is a good chance the greens will be covered.  But--like I say, there are many factors that determine if I am going to cover.  If I am ever in doubt or unsure, you can bet they will just go ahead and be covered.  Winter kill is nothing to mess around with in the spring, so therefore it is better to be safe than sorry!  As I write this blog, the forecast for next week could be putting this practice into use.  As of today, it looks like we may be covered for an extended time period.  Check back later to see if we cover, and when we plan to reopen!  I hope you found this helpful in understanding why we bring out "those dreaded covers."

On a side note:  if the forecast will allow, we will sometimes use the practice of uncovering half of a green for daytime play, then recover during the afternoon for the night.  Because of this, we usually put the pins up front anytime we cover where this could be a practice we use.

If there are any questions please never hesitate to ask!