Glen Eagle Maintenance (1/28/26)

Well if I thought it was cold last week Mother Nature took it as a challenge and is giving us the coldest temperatures our area has seen in 16 years. Some forecasts for Sunday and Monday are predicting temperatures in the low 30’s with windchills in the 20’s. I know parts of the country are much colder but for SW Florida that is pretty cold. I did hear one comment this week to keep it in perspective, that was,  “it may be cold but at least we don’t have to shovel it”.

We did have 0.3” of rain earlier this week which again isn’t enough to make a difference in our lakes but along with the warm weather over the weekend, helped the turf color and density.

Pictures after the weekend, before the really cold stuff got here…

The course was looking good on Monday and Tuesday, sunny days and the aforementioned rain and warm weather produced adequate chlorophyll production in the plant to produce good green grass. That’s all about to change though. Now that the cold weather is here, and the soil temps dip into the 50’s the turf will slow down its internal physiological processes which means less chlorophyll production. Less chlorophyll equals less green and reduced growth.

Bermudagrass like we have here at Glen Eagle is a warm season grass. When temperature get cold, it naturally slows its internal processes. Chlorophyll, the pigment responsible for green color, is produced thru temperature sensitive reactions. Those reactions slow down, photosynthesis becomes less efficient and the grass produces less chlorophyll. At the same time, chlorophyll continues to break down which leads to the lighter green or straw colored appearance of the grass. This is a normal response and not an indication of turf decline. As temperatures warm back up, the chlorophyll production process increases and the turf regains its color again. How long that takes depends on the duration and severity of the cold weather. If it is a mild cold like we normally have, it may happen in a matter of a few days but severe and prolonged cold temperatures can force a longer shutdown that we call semi-dormancy which takes much longer for the turf to recover.

I will try and document the effects of the cold weather with pictures that I take over the next week and compare them to the pictures above. During this cold period it is extremely important to use the 90 degree rule, scatter cart traffic, fill divots, and repair ball marks. Unprepared stress to the course, if not treated properly, will be visible for weeks and weeks to come.

We will be monitoring the weather closely and adjusting our maintenance practices accordingly, including reducing irrigation as the turf won’t need as many inputs over the next week or so while it is slowed down due the to cold weather.

Bundle up and have fun our there!

I look forward to seeing everyone on the course (under several jackets 😂), and as always, if you have any questions, flag me down or shoot me an email. I always enjoy talking turf!