Glen Eagle Mainteance: Glen Eagle Maintenance (11/12/25)

Tuesday, Veteran’s Day we honored those who served and defended our freedom with American Flags on the course. Thank you for your service to our great country!

We continue to see more and more members returning from other parts of the country and it appears someone brought the cold weather with them. This week several historical low and high daily temperature records were broken as we have been unusually cold here in SW Florida. Our weather station recorded 43 as the low on Tuesday but with the wind chill, it felt well into the 30’s.

Despite the cold weather the golf course is looking good with normal amounts of wear occurring due to slowed turf growth and increased traffic.

Since we had a drop in temps this week I thought it was a good time to discuss how southern turf reacts to cold weather. Many of these will apply to your home lawn too.

With recent cooler mornings, lower humidity, and increased play, you may start to notice subtle changes in turf color and growth around the course. These shifts are completely normal this time of year. As daytime highs dip into the 70s and nights fall into the 50s, our Bermudagrass begins to slow its growth and transition into a semi-dormant state typical of Southwest Florida’s winter season.

Slower Growth, Not Full Dormancy
Bermudagrass thrives in warm weather, performing best when daytime highs are in the 80s and soil temperatures stay above 65°F. When temperatures drop below that threshold, growth slows considerably.
Here in Southwest Florida, we rarely experience temperatures cold enough for complete dormancy, but the grass does enter a semi-dormant phase. In this condition, Bermudagrass retains some color and limited growth, but recovery from divots, ball marks, and traffic becomes noticeably slower. The turf is still very much alive—it’s simply conserving energy until warmer weather returns.

Color Changes
During this seasonal slowdown, the turf often loses some of its deep summer green and takes on a lighter or slightly straw-tinted appearance. This isn’t a sign of disease or decline—it’s simply reduced chlorophyll activity as the plant adjusts to shorter days and cooler temperatures.

Occasional cool fronts or light frost may temporarily dull the turf’s color, but once temperatures rebound, so does the green.

We do have one not so secrete weapon to fight loss of color during the colder months. That is Fertigation. With Fertigation, we inject small amounts of fertilizer into the water as it is used to irrigate the turf. This fertilizer usually has Nitrogen and Potasium but also a critical minors package containing Fe, Mg, and Mn that help the plant produce chlorophyll and improve color rapidly when temperatures rebound into the 70’s and 80’s.

Playing Conditions
From a playing standpoint, semi-dormancy can actually enhance some aspects of course performance. With reduced growth, fairways and approaches tend to play firmer and faster, and putting surfaces remain smoother for longer stretches between mowings.
However, because the turf isn’t actively regenerating, traffic management becomes more important. Our team makes several adjustments during this period to protect turf health, including:

Slightly raising mowing heights to maintain more leaf tissue.

Reducing nitrogen inputs to avoid weak, frost-sensitive growth.

Closely monitoring irrigation to balance plant health and firmness.

Rotating traffic patterns and protecting high-use areas from excessive wear.