Collar dams form over time around old putting greens from sand topdressing. Little by little, year after year, small amounts of sand settle at the low points or outlets of each green. Overtime that sand builds up and causes problems to the putting surface. Dams are also accelerated by greenside bunkers and the sand comes out from golf swings and wind.
Putting greens are designed to surface drain. During large storm events and snowmelt greens should have an outlet to allow water to leave the surface.
Dams limit or prevent water from draining and can cause bigger problems. In the growing season these areas stay wetter and become hosts for water loving poa annua. These valleys can also be soft and not as true as the remaining surface.
In the winter, these dams catch melting snow and ice forms. During prolonged snow cover or shady areas, these dams can keep ice long enough to deprive the plants of enough oxygen and become deadly.
This winter we didn't have a lot of snow but we did have some early storms in November and December that stuck around for a long time with low temperatures and short days. Greens 11 & 12 on the Maxwell Course sustained some minor turf damage on the green and some further damage on the collar.
During aerification we heavily attacked these areas to return healthy turf for the new golf season. These areas were core aerified and aggressively verticut. These methods allow space for new sand, compost and seed to host new plants. Some of the existing turf will come back as it needs a lot of attention. We applied new bentgrass seed to greens and all of collar areas with ryegrass and bluegrass seed to provide diversity for long term health.
Today we took a peak under the covers to see new turf coming in. The covers will come off soon as the weather looks to be more consistent over the next week.
Having these areas exposed will allow us to mow more frequently to encourage lateral growth and we can continue to push fertilizer and water.
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