Page 12 - Green Master summer 2022

GREEN SPEEDS
Green Speeds
GREEN SPEEDS - NO RAIN
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courses for five weeks (April 16 – May 21) to extreme weather events through summer and fall; however, one aspect stayed relatively consistent all year— our greens.
Last winter was mild leading into spring. March 2021 thawed the small amount of frost in the ground very quickly so the season started very dry. There was not much snow that melted and too little to no rain until the last week of the month. This forced us to start up the irrigation system on March 22. This was earlier than “normal” mainly because there were 13 days over 10C and three days over 20C! ... in March!
Provincial lockdowns had been in place since the New Year, so March having above normal temperatures resulted in the assumption that the golfing season would start early. However, the weather, turfgrass and government thought otherwise. We were scheduled to open April 16th. The first week of April dropped temperatures back down to seasonal “normal” and there were four heavy frosts that week. Spring temperatures, combined with almost no rain was one of the challenges we faced leading into opening day. There are two certainties in life ... death and taxes. However, grass
growers know there is one more ... grass will not grow in the cold. Cold spells like this one are just another reminder that even though the weather can seem really nice for golfing and above seasonal average, the grass gets shocked back into thinking it should stay dormant. It takes time for air temperatures to warm the soil high enough for the plant to break dormancy and begin to actively grow again.
The golf course opened for one day, April 16th before the provincial government closed all golf courses until May. The five-week delay helped the golf course regenerate and
12 • CGSA • GreenMaster
Daily average
5/13/2021 5/15/2021
5/23/2021 5/25/2021
5/31/2021 6/5/2021
6/8/2021 6/10/2021
6/30/2021 7/7/2021
7/13/2021 7/16/2021
7/18/2021 7/23/2021
7/29/2021 8/5/2021
8/13/2021 8/15/2021
8/18/2021 8/23/2021
8/25/2021 9/2/2021
9/5/2021 9/7/2021
9/10/2021