Transition, What Does it Mean?

    Every year at The Clubs at St. James Plantation we overseed our tees and fairways to ensure better-playing conditions for our membership.  Essentially, what happens is that the cool season grass overtakes the bermuda grass on the fairways and tees that are going dormant.

     It is because of this process that we go through a transition from late spring into early summer when the bermuda grass is actively growing and the cool season grass is fading because of warmer temperatures.  Please understand that the courses at St. James will look different during this time, but this is natural.  Please click on the link provided below to learn more about golf course transition.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uq0mdjXcdRg

Intermediate Rough

       One change we made to our overseeding last year was the addition of an intermediate rough. We added this to improve the playing quality of the course through the winter. Now that we approach summer we need to gradually reduce the higher cut of rye grass.
       The taller rye grass competes with the underlying bermudagrass for light, water and nutrients. This competition makes it difficult for the bermuda to recover from dormancy. Mowing the intermediate to fairway height improves the environment for the bermudagrass until we can effectively phase out the rye in June.
       We began decreasing the height two weeks ago and we will continue until the intermediate cut matches the fairway. You may notice some discoloration over the next few days, but don't be alarmed. We are completely aware of the effects of scalping and understand that we need to do this to enhance the playability of the bermudagrass in the summer.