Winter play hurt bent greens?

[mike_malone]

 Is there evidence that winter play in northern areas that experience overnight freeze and daytime thaw hurts bent greens more that poa greens?
  The particular concern is for the new growth of poa into the bent.

[Jay Carstens]

Boy oh Boy, Mayday.  What an outstanding topic!
This is something that I deal with on a daily basis right now.
Also, not just bent vs poa greens but all types of grasses in any situtation on the course.  
Thanks.  

[mike_malone]

 There is some sentiment to go to temps this winter but the "crazies"(i am one) who play all year want to play the real greens.
  It usually makes sense to err on the side of conservatism but i like to know the facts if possible.

[A_Clay_Man]

We play year round here with no overseeding. What I have seen is that as long as there is some intermitten moisture and the traffic isn't contained just to one spot, the bent will be fine. The poa is pretty cool right now, cause its actually green and requires a touch more attitude in ones putting stroke.

On another side, there was an article last year or two in Supt. News about the proliferation of the poa when greens get covered for the winter. The results seemed to show a marginal increase in the speed at which the poa encroached.

[RDecker]

If we put the age old battle of bent vs. poa aside and look strictly at agronomy of turf the argument gets alittle simpler.
In the Fall and winter of the year when daylight is greatly reduced and temps. are at their lowest all plants go into a decline and in many cases dormancy.  At this point the plant slows and or shuts down it's growth, production of carbs. and tries to basically get by on what it has stored up.  The plants will reduce their existence to the minimums and the crown of the plant is really all that is "awake" for the most part.  If you consider the plant in this way then you realize that it can't fix itself and put up any resistance to the wear and tear and damage it's sustaining,  ballmarks won't heal... Further more if you were to put and weight on a frozen plant, where the intracellular fluids are frozen then the cell walls will burst and the plant can die.  When grass has fully hardened off this isn't as much of a concern but when you have an unusual weather period like were having here in the Northeast a type of damage similar to the typical frost damage we worry about in the fall and spring of the year when plants are more actively alive and growing can occur.  I know of some clubs along southern coastal New England that allow play year round and feel that the lack of green quality in the spring is an acceptable trade off, but I think I'd rather have better greens from April thru November than to be able to use them Dec.thru march.  Keeping turf quality at it's highest is a challenge enough during the golf season and to stress a defensless plant in what should be the offseason seems like a big risk to take and a great way to make a difficult job harder.

[Steve Curry]

MM,

Foot traffic on winter greens will thin Bent and allow for the greater possibility of poa germination into those damaged areas.

Regards,
Steve

[mike_malone]

 Thank you for your responses.There are about 20-30 of our 335 members that even venture out in the freeze to play.I doubt if it is worth it to take a chance for the delight of so few.

[Tony_Chapman]

Mayday - At my dad's home club here in Nebraska, the new superintendent has let them use the whole course during the winter. I have found the greens usually don't have any trouble recovering in the spring when I play there with him. And, they usually run fairly quick during the summer. In fact, they do quite nicely.

During college, I played at one of the best conditioned courses in the state and we played on the greens year round. Only bad time was when they aerated in the spring and putting was like "Plinko" on The Price is Right.

Again, he plays at a club that has few die hards so not much play goes on when it is below 50 degrees.

[A_Clay_Man]

May day- If it is so few, that's a good thing, no matter what.
Plus, this seems like a good way to ferret out those that don't fix their ball marks.