Breaking the ice
Have you seen the remarkable USGA Green Section Record from last week? It’s got a podcast with Chris Tritabaugh ahead of this year’s U.S. Amateur Championship on the topic of playability. It’s one of the best podcasts I’ve listened to recently.
That’s an impressive start to the issue. Then the very next article is a report on the ongoing frost research at Oregon State University. That cart traffic and roller traffic damage frosted turf—I don’t think that comes as any surprise. Why one would roll a frosted green, I don’t know. That seems unnecessary to me. And when there is frost, how about we play the course cart path only. Because the foot traffic, the golfing traffic, didn’t cause any damage to Poa annua greens.
I’ve written quite a bit about frost delays and damage on turf in winter. See for example:
Then there’s an article about communication from the venerable Pat Jones. And then regional updates about light, Bandon Dunes, aeration, and the advice I remind people about all the time—checking possibly damaged turf by removing a plug and growing it in controlled conditions to evaluate it. I was impressed with the range of valuable content in this issue. Well done, USGA Green Section.