Weather Warning P A recent spate of winter injury from weather anomalies has local clubs fighting back with bentgrass. * BY JOSEPH OBERLE * erhaps the three most stress-inducing words heard by golf course superintendents each fall are " winter is coming. " Superintendents annually put their golf course turf " to sleep " in late fall, and the succeeding four months of potential Minnesota weather anomalies provide them with little sleep of their own for fear of winter kill turf damage the following spring. But a recent trend of Twin Cities area private clubs re-grassing their primarily poa annua-fi lled turf with more winter-injury resistant bentgrass strains may be changing that. " Most defi nitely, " Edina Country Club superintendent Brandon Schindele said when asked if the 2010 re-grassing of his course allows for better winter slumber. The club re-grassed its turf as part of a course renovation, and the changes have put some control back in the hands of the grounds crew. " It's been a game changer, " Schindele says. " Our winters are becoming more erratic with these rain and freezing-rain events. In summertime, superintendents can control some things [with irrigation, fertilizer, chemical inputs and cultural practices], but once winter comes and everything starts freezing up, your hands become tied. " 18 MINNESOTAGOLFER Directory 2020 mngolf.orghttp://www.mngolf.org