The 2012 winter golf season in Florida has been one of the best in the past several years. The lack of any significant cold weather has been very favorable to increased play at most courses and at the same time minimizing the impact of peak season play, traffic and wear damage. As the saying goes, "all good things come to an end" and in another few weeks this will be the case with the 2012 South Florida winter golf season. After the Masters, Easter and spring training baseball, seasonal residents will begin migrating north and back to their home courses. No doubt many courses would like to extend the current winter season for as long as possible and maintain maximum revenue flow. With spring arriving four to five weeks early in the north however, a delay in the migration north will probably not occur and with car haulers starting to be spotted around town, there is further confirmation that the end of the season is near.

However, it is not too late to take advantage of an education opportunity prior to the end of the winter season. As USGA agronomists, we see and hear it all. A common concern is always how to get golfers and course officials to understand why basic golf course maintenance practices are so important. Times have changed, and we all have less to work with and greater demands to meet. Doing more with less, or even keeping basic levels of maintenance practices in place is more important than ever before. To help your facility successfully meet such challenges we invite course officials to attend a Regional Golfer Meeting to hear USGA staff explain golf course maintenance practices, why they are important, and the long- and short-term ramifications of cutting back the maintenance program. A USGA rules official will also be on hand to discuss changes in the 2012 Rules of Golf. This is a good opportunity to have course officials hear from an unbiased source and to have all of their questions answered. 

I just heard that over 6,000 weather records have been broken across the country so far in 2012. The record breaking weather serves to emphasize how challenging golf turf maintenance can be. It also reinforces what should be a cardinal rule - hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.

The timing of product applications is currently 3 to 4 weeks ahead of last year. Of course, a return to colder weather could force schedules to change again. One of the best ways to plan product applications is to monitor growing degree days. The GDD tracker offered by Michigan State University (http://www.gddtracker.net/) is an excellent tool. Growth regulator applications to manage or suppress Poa annua seedheads are a priority for many, and the warm weather pattern this year has necessitated much earlier applications. In addition, the difficult 2010 and 2011 seasons have made pre-emergence herbicide applications for crabgrass control a growing concern at courses throughout the region. Whether your challenges are Poa annua seedheads, crabgrass or spring broadleaf weed control, check out the GDD tracker to improve product timing accuracy.

Disease activity has not been a major issue yet this season in the North Central region, but that could quickly change. Widely scattered pink snow mold (Microdochium Blight) and leaf spot damage has been observed on recent visits while last week's warm temperatures favored Dollar Spot. Here are some links to some helpful sites regarding the incidence and control of turfgrass diseases.

http://www.otgt.org/Bucks-for-Turf-Home/Turfgrass-Disease-Management-Notes-4833.html.

Purdue's turf disease risk forecaster (http://btny.agriculture.purdue.edu/turfcast/) is a good site to monitor.

Dr Vincelli's publication "Chemical Control of Turfgrass Diseases 2012" can be found at  http://www.ca.uky.edu/agc/pubs/ppa/ppa1/ppa1.pdf  and offers in-depth guidance for season-long turfgrass disease management.

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Let 'Er Rip

It's not often that turf is "wearin o the green" before St. Patrick's Day at courses across the north-central tier of states. However, little snow cover or deep frost along with recent rainfall and unseasonably warm temperatures during early March have definitely jump-started turf growth and the golf season.

No doubt, both private and public courses welcome the bonus of unanticipated cash flow from early spring green fees and cart revenue in light of the sluggish golf economy during the past several years. Golfers benefit from extra-early opportunities to play their home courses, but let's hope they keep their expectations reasonable with respect to turf quality. Only an April Fool would demand 4^th of July playing conditions on Easter Sunday in Minnesota.  

Irrigation systems throughout the Region are not likely to be up and running during early March and the average maintenance crew will be operating well below full strength until Memorial Day. As a result, an early opening can be quite disruptive to the turf maintenance program. For example, mild weather during late winter always makes it very difficult to predict when to apply growth regulators for Poa annua seedhead suppression.  

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