Chicago/Northern Illinois Update: Derek Settle -
If you live in the upper Midwest, you should be smiling. If you are a golfer you should be beaming. Dry conditions and warm temps create fast ball roll speeds on greens - more like midsummer they say. I take note because it is a departure from the cool, wet, and nasty springs that we experienced in 2010 and 2011. Back then a superintendent was not considered quite the mastermind of their club! To be sure 2012 has been different and it's about Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit or, if you prefer, Anders Celsius. Especially warm from the get-go and it all started this winter - if you can call it that. The story 2012 warmth is told by more than just early appearance of flowers, insects and fungal diseases (we scout). For example a weatherman's blog headline today said, "Lake Michigan's water temperature hits 60-degrees Friday--three weeks ahead of the first 60 a year ago." When a really big pond gets such a head start, that says a lot.
In other news, this week was special because we passed a key frost-free date in northern Illinois. And guess what I saw all week on Chicago's courses? Flower planting of course. At the same time plant health is peak, a cool-season turf thing. Kentucky bluegrass and other Poa spp. are enjoying life and words like supraoptimal temperature have yet to be spoken. We wish we could just press a big red hold button and have highs of 70 to 80 and lows in the 40 to 50 range. HOLD
Click here to view the May 18, 2012 Scouting Report.
Enjoy more near perfect weather this weekend, though we need some rain.
Derek Settle, PhD
Director of Turfgrass Program
630-685-2307
dsettle@cdga.org
Weather Blog
Timothy A. Sibicky, MS
Manager of Turfgrass Research
630-685-2310
tsibicky@cdga.org
Research Blog
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