Winter Preparations

As the weather pushes the course into dormancy and the off season, there are a number of practices and applications that we implement to improve playing conditions for the winter months, and make sure transition in the spring goes smooth. Here are some of the things we do to prepare for winter.

We raise the mowing heights on our high maintenance Bermudagrass areas. We do this to help bolster the health of the Bermuda as it heads into its most stressful season, and help improve play ability through the winter months. Dormant Bermuda can create some tight lies in fairways.

We perform many chemical and fertilizer applications. Potassium can help "toughen up" the Bermudagrass for the stressful winter that lays ahead. Pre-emergent herbicides can help suppress winter weeds, which can stand out like a sore thumb in dormant Bermuda. We also do some selective fungicide applications to help prevent disease which may not even manifest itself until spring. Many of these application need to be watered in, so if you see irrigation running on a cold day and wonder why, this is a likely explanation.

Another exciting part of winter preparation is assessing areas in need of improvement, and coming up with a comprehensive plan of what we hope to accomplish in the off-season.


All of the things we do now influence how the course will look for 2017!