Shade issues

Now that the grass has mostly greened up and looking like summer time, we can finally see what damage the winter left us to deal with.  One area of turf in particular that is quite thin and unsightly is the grass around the greens on holes #13 and #15.  This grass is zoysia grass, and while it does like the shade more than bermuda grass, it still needs plenty of sunlight to survive and grow correctly.  These areas around the greens on #13 and #15 are the same areas we fight each year coming out of winter dormancy.  The only way to solve the problem for good it to remove the trees, but in some instances we do not own the land the problem trees grow on.  Take a look below at the pictures to see the shade issues I am talking about.

These pictures of #15 green were taken at 11:15am.  You can see the shade line across the green, and the whole right side of the green (as you play the hole) is still in shade.  The sun rises each day before 7:00am, so that is 4 hours of daylight this area of the green and surrounding turf is losing each day.  The putting green, on the other hand, receives full sun throughout the whole day, and the grass around the green is full and healthy.  There are other factors of course which cause these areas to struggle each year, but lack of sunlight is predominately why we see issues each spring when the grass greens up.

We have sod coming for these areas next week and will get it repaired quickly so it can grow-in and become healthy this summer!