Much of our turf, excluding the greens, consists of Bermuda grass, which goes dormant and loses color when soil temperatures drop below 55°F. Since Pelican Hill does not overseed, we must manage our dormant Bermuda grass surfaces through the winter, which can be a challenging task.

During dormancy, the turf experiences minimal growth and recovery, meaning divots take longer to heal and high-traffic areas become thin and weak until warmer temperatures return. Additionally, this last November and December were, on average, 5 degrees cooler than usual, and we’ve experienced nearly nine months without measurable rainfall.

The months of December, January, and February are particularly difficult for our Bermuda turf. However, by late February or early March, we expect the turf to begin greening up and emerging from dormancy. To address the color issue, we apply a special turf paint to our fairways and some tee tops every few weeks throughout the winter. This paint not only enhances the visual contrast between fairways and rough, but its darker color helps absorb more sunlight, which raises the grass temperature, encouraging an earlier transition out of dormancy.