Winter Kill

Turf Talk with Dan! 

Winter Kill 

The arctic front that rapidly moved across Texas this winter, brought conditions that included well-below freezing temperatures that lasted for multiple days. These conditions presented a real danger to bermudagrass golf courses.   

Bermudagrass is a warm season turfgrass that enters a dormant state after the first hard frost of the year. Although the top of the plant (the leaves) are brown and appear dead, the underground portions of the turf (stolons, rhizomes, and roots) are alive. The turf will return to active growth when warmer temperatures return in the spring. The soil serves as a buffer to protect healthy bermudagrass, but when temperatures drop to well below freezing or are sustained over many days, even the underground plant parts can freeze and die. 

The severity of the kill depends on many factors, including the health of the turf going into the winter, the amount of traffic the area receives, shade (which results in lower temperatures), and the height that the turf is mowed. As a general rule, the lower the height of cut, the greater the likelihood of damage. This is why courses with Bermudagrass greens, collars, fairways, and especially weaker turf areas are more susceptible than other areas of the golf course. 

Here are some examples of higher risk of turf damaged areas: 

Excessive desiccation 
Excessive wind, especially during periods of low humidity, often can cause massive areas of winter damage. So this is in reference to many of the higher ground areas, hills, and mounds. 

Shade on bermudagrass 
Shade reduces the carbohydrate levels in bermudagrass, produces a weaker plant, and keeps soil temperatures lower due to lack of sunlight. Competition from tree roots for nutrients and water also weaken turf grasses. Slopes facing the north or northeast receive less (or little) direct sunlight in the winter and are more prone to injury.  For example:  The mounded areas we are sodding around #14 green complex and will be shortly sodding around #15 green complex.  This is also the reason we have allot of bare dirt areas on hole #14 left and right rough.  These areas were weak going into the winter and then having such a severe winter it really set the Bermudagrass way back and killed allot of it. 

Moisture 
Moisture is one of the crucial keys to surviving threw a hard winter.  If it's a moderate to heavy rainy winter than moisture is not a factor.  But if you have a very dry/windy winter like we had this year,  the need for irrigation threw the winter is very important.  It's not that your watering the grass to grow, it's more like your watering the dormant grass to survive and to protect the important parts of the plant (stolons, rhizomes, and roots) when the temperatures do get and stay below freezing. 

As you have noticed we have been sodding allot of areas and we are going to continue to sod and push allot of these weaker areas with quick release fertilizers. 


As always, Thank You for your patience and understanding to the golf courses conditions and on going practices to bring our club to the best that it can be. 


Daniel Boley 
Golf Course Superintendent 
The Hills Course