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Without knowing shade problems, soil profile issues (drainage, compaction layers, etc)- the simple answer is most likely climate.
If you sprig too early and get a late freeze, you run the risk of your sprigs not being established enough to survive the lower temps. Sprigging at Memorial day guarantees good conditions for grow in. Areas with lots of trees around the green (too much shade and/or poor air circulation) may be to blame for the slower establishment.
I suspect some shade issues and the Supers have mentioned draining issues in their weekly e-mails.
I doubt there are soil profile issues as both greens projects have started with completely digging out the old greens down about 12"-16" and bringing in a news greens mix. They then gassed them for several days to ensure a sterile start for the new sprigs.
Given the soil work, they didn't sprig either project until AFTER July 4...which really is the basis for my question. Would it have been better to start digging in March/April and sprig in May as it heats up to allow a long summer growth season?
I understand this year's abnormal rains may have caused a different set of problems, but it occurs to me that sprigging earlier to allow for a longer grow-in may have a lot of advantages over the path taken.
Of course I'm not an agronomist and I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn last night.