Nick Christians
September 23, 2016
This is about two lightning strikes on creeping bentgrass greens in Iowa during the summer of 2016. The first was at Des Moines Golf and Country Club and they come from superintendent Rick Tegtmeier.
The strike occurred on July 12, 2016 and it was spectacular. Luckily it happened at night when no one was on the green. The question was, how long will it take for recovery.
The next picture was taken on August 8 and is showing quite a bit of recovery. Rick did not do anything special, there was no overseeding or plugging.
The final picture was taken on Sept. 21, 2016 and shows nearly complete recovery.
A second strike took place a few miles away at Terrace Hills Golf in Altoona, IA on August 2, 2016. The pictures are from superintendent Kurt Seedorff. It first appeared that there was live grass in the damaged area.
However, by August 15, it was apparent that the creeping bentgrass was dead and would not recover.
The final picture from Kurt was taken on Sept. 22, 2016. Most of the grass that has returned is Poa annua that has germinated into the area.
While the first one recovered in about 8 weeks, the second one did not. In the future, I will recommend that the superintendent do some plugging or overseeding shortly after the strike to assure recovery.