Where is Winter?

Are we going to experience winter this year?  Or better yet, when are we going to experience it?  Today is January 9, 2012 and again we break 40 degrees which seems to be the norm over the last few months.  I hate saying this but we need some snow and then some cold.  As of now the mild weather hasn't hurt us but if we get a sudden cold then there may be a different story.  Turf or should I say bentgrass looks like it should this time of year, brownish/tan but the Poa is bright succulent green as you can see in the two photos below:

Beginning of 12 fairway.  Here you can see a variety of colors each signifying a different species, cultivar of turf.  The bright green is Poa Annua, which should not be in such condition on Jan 9th.



This is a photo of the blue tee on 9.  The red circles highlight some areas of Poa Annua and like the photo above this Poa looks very happy and healthy right now.

Our big fear as of now is getting a sudden blast of cold "normal" weather without having any sort of insulation to protect this Poa.  By now the Poa should have been hardened off and dormant making it stronger for survival over the winter months, this doesn't seem to be the case this year.  My other concern is if this means a late spring?  If winter extends into March and April that only sets back what we still need to do to get these new greens and approaches ready for play. 

A great deal of talk has been among Superintendents over the last few weeks of not only how healthy Poa looks but also concern for effectiveness of our winter fungicide applications.  Normally by this time of the year we've had a frozen ground, some healthy snows, etc...  The last few months to me have felt like early March rather than December and January.  Has there been some photodegradation done with the fungicides?  The challenge here is the cost that is involved to respray "just in case" the effectiveness of the fungicides have worn off due to warmth and large amounts of sunshine.  One really can't pinpoint either, whether the turf is still protected or not.  These are the times Superintendents are uncomfortable because it is out of our control and it is more a wait and see game.  So we'll wait and see.

Other than concern over the weather and how things are we continue to push along with our winter tasks.  Today Nels Johnson Tree Service is on property beginning our annual pruning.  This has been taking place over the last 4 winters and we are making great headway.  Previous years the tree pruning had fallen off a little so we needed to get caught up.  Since early 2009 we've completed all around the clubhouse and all through holes 1 to 7.  This year I'm anticipating completion of the front 9 as well as getting 2-3 holes done on the back.  I hope within the next 3 years the course will be completely done and then the process will be much quicker as there will be less to prune and less to clean up.  Pruning is a necessary task to help keep trees healthy but also you and our employees safe as throughout years branches die off and become a hazard.  The crew will be here at Briarwood for the next couple of weeks doing the pruning as well as removing select hazardous trees.  Here is a photo of the guys working on the two large Willows between 1 and 9:

The crew climbs all trees instead of using large machinery.  Notice the large amount of material below these trees.

Our crew continues with equipment maintenance and refinishing course accessories.  With the mild weather we've also spent some time outside freeing drain tile of roots so that water can flow freely through.