Dormant Bermuda-grass

The grass really isn’t dead.  It’s just taking a well-deserved rest.  A cold snap throughout the Southeast in late October to early November caused non-overseeded Bermuda grass to go into dormancy.  When this happens, the grass loses its green color and goes into hibernation until warmer temperatures return in the spring.  The loss of color is simply a plant defense mechanism in response to the cold air and soil temperatures.  The grass is still alive, but growing very slowly.

The outcry from golfers usually centers on the following issues:

• Brown color, which some golfers find objectionable.  The grass doesn’t “look” good.
• Thin, muddy lies – cart and equipment traffic on dormant turf compress the leaves, resulting in thin/ tight lies on the fairways. Earthworm activity complicates this condition even further as the worms bring soil to the surface and create muddy conditions.
• Slow divot recovery.  The sand-filled divots look like polka-dots throughout the course, and balls sometimes come to rest in these divots.

 We will just need the warmer and longer days of Spring and Summer to return to bring the course back to its beautiful green stripes.