Hello Andrea,

Wow! Over what timeframe did the damage occur? I see a lot going on, but it is going to be a tough diagnosis from pictures alone.

The hole next to the concrete looks like a mouse of vole hole. Voles do damage over the winter but once the snow has melted, their damage is limited to holes. They are likely not responsible for the grass damage. https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/winter_damage_to_lawns_molds_moles_and_voles

It looks like there is some uneven soil. Do you have raised mole tunnels in the lawn? You can tell if they are mole tunnels because the soil is raised in a linear path and it is soft and can be tamped down by stepping on it. However, the moles generally only cause cosmetic damage from the raised tunnels and do not terminally damage the grass.

The most likely causes of the damage are grubs or a fungus infection. How was the lawn going into winter last fall? Was it thick and green or was it “dried-out” and straw colored? If it was straw colored and looking stressed, you might have had a fungus infection last year in the late summer that killed a lot of the grass plants.

Grubs eat the grass roots just below the soil level and kill the lawn by drying out the grass plants. You can peel back a roughly 1 square foot section of grass that remains and look for grubs in the soil. If you find a large number of grubs in the soil, they may be the cause. Here is an excellent article on testing for grubs and what products to apply to remediate. https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/how_to_choose_and_when_to_apply_grub_control_products_for_your_lawn

What’s curious is that there is no dead grass leaf material anywhere. It is almost like it did not die, it is more like it was never there. Did you rake up a bunch of dead grass material this spring? Did you reseed the lawn recently? Do you remember if annual rye was a component of the seed mixture? Annual rye grass seed germinates quickly and can supply quick, green growth, but it dies out over winter and does not return the next year. It almost looks like this could be what you have happening.

Here is an article about overseeding the lawn in spring: https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/tips_for_reseeding_lawns_in_the_spring

Here is a general article about seeding lawns: https://www.canr.msu.edu/resources/establishing_a_new_lawn_using_seed_e2910

Hope this helps.