Winter Turf

Our major turf areas at The Gauntlet are the same as any course; Greens, Tees, Fairways and Rough. These four turf areas gather the most attention from both golfers and maintenance practices. Some of the most common questions asked this time of year are; "What is going on with your tees and fairways ? Why are they discolored ? Is your grass dead ?"



To answer these questions and more, let's first start with identifying each of our four turf areas:



Greens - L93 Creeping Bentgrass - Agrostis stolonifera

Tees - Vamont Bermudagrass - Cynodon dactylon

Fairways - Meyer Zoysiagrass - Zoysia japonica

Rough - Tall Fescue - Festuca arundinacea



Secondly, we have to understand that Fredericksburg is in the heart of the Mid-Atlantic Region, a region that is part of The Transition Zone. The Transition Zone is an area that experiences not only very inconsistent precipitation, but also temperature extremes in both Summer and Winter, making it the most difficult area in the country to grow and maintain quality turfgrass.

Creeping Bentgrass and Tall Fescue are Cool-Season turfgrasses, while Bermudagrass and Zoysiagrass are Warm-Season turfgrasses. Each turf type can excel in the Transition Zone, but can also suffer when temperatures are at extremes.

Once Late Fall and overnight frosts arrive, Bermudagrass and Zoysiagrass begin to go Dormant. As these grasses are going dormant for the winter, they lose their lush green color and turn a straw-brown or yellow color. The grasses do not "die-off" during the winter months, but simply remain in a stage of dormancy until Late Spring soil temperatures are warm enough to encourage "green-up" and shoot-growth again.

In an attempt to provide Winter Color as well as a better playing surface throughout the winter, we overseed our tees with a Transitional Ryegrass. We overseeded the tees the first week of October and thus expecting a much slower transition to winter in hopes the Ryegrass would have plenty of time to germinate and establish well. Although most of the tees did experience good germination, we will be overseeding the first week of September next year to ensure full-germination on all tees.


We do not overseed our Fairways. Zoysiagrass is a very dense turf, which makes it difficult to penetrate to overseed. Zoysiagrass is also a very dominant turf species and will compete with weeds for its own space. However, dormant Zoysiagrass is just as fine a playing surface as Summertime Zoysia.

Extended dry and windy conditions in Winter can cause dessication to any turfgrass species, even when dormant. In order to prevent winter dessication, it is sometimes necessary to irrigate tees or fairways to provide an adequate soil moisture level.