I often get asked what I do, to which I usually reply "I grow grass." As the conversation progresses I get asked the inevitable question - what is there to do on a golf course in the winter and what do you do?
What we do is very weather dependent but there is plenty of work to keep our reduced staff busy. I always go into the winter with a list of outside and inside jobs to accomplish. At times the list of tasks is never fully completed but each year a number of small, long -term projects are crossed off of the list. The nice part is once they are all completed, it is usually time to create a new list!
Working on the Clubhouse decorations
A few examples of some of the items we have done thus far this winter are updating our personnel and operational handbooks, painting and doing repairs around the shop, working on the club buildings and pursuing as much continuing education as possible.
The snow has kept us busy outside this winter - Like removing snow from the Clubhouse roof
The equipment techs will have all the equipment fully serviced and ready to go before the season starts. They have done a great job over the last 18 months, organizing the shop and getting all the machinery to a point where it can be serviced over the winter.
Continuing education is valuable to ensure we keep up with new trends, while also ensuring that we stay on top of any issues that Mother Nature throws at us during the season. It also ensures our credits for pesticide licenses and other required licenses are up to date.
The Central Pennsylvania Golf Course Superintendents Association Winter Education Meeting at LedgeRock
The course has been covered with snow for most of 2014 so far. I had planned on covering the weaker greens going into the winter but the snow arrived before we were able to get to it. The snow cover does not hurt the turf and it makes for a great insulator so the fabric covers are not needed. How much insulation the snow provides can be seen from our sensors.
John and I checked the greens this week to see how much ice and snow still remained. The amount of ice largely depended on how much snow cover there was. There was about an inch of ice on 1 and 2 greens with 4-6" of snow on them. 4 green had slushy ice on spots and no ice at all in other areas as the foot of snow still on it was insulating it. The biggest surprise was the new (white) roots that appeared in the plugs. The turf has been slowly growing under the insulating snow cover, which is great news as it gives us a nice head start to growing roots going into the season.
Ice under the snow can pose an issue but it is more of an issue for poa annua. Thick ice cover for around 30 days can suffocate poa annua, whereas bentgrass will survive under a solid ice cover for over 90 days. Since we are nowhere near 90 days, we have nothing major to worry about.
Snow mold can cause issues under prolonged periods of snow cover, with gray snow mold being worse than pink snow mold. The greens and tees were sprayed so I have no worries about them. The fairways did not get sprayed (again the weather caught us) so there is some superficial snow mold on them. I do not expect any major issues from the snow mold on them and will spray them as soon as they are clear of snow and dry enough to put the sprayer on them.
The sensors from 2 green showing the soil temperatures at 2" & 8" are above freezing
John and I checked the greens this week to see how much ice and snow still remained. The amount of ice largely depended on how much snow cover there was. There was about an inch of ice on 1 and 2 greens with 4-6" of snow on them. 4 green had slushy ice on spots and no ice at all in other areas as the foot of snow still on it was insulating it. The biggest surprise was the new (white) roots that appeared in the plugs. The turf has been slowly growing under the insulating snow cover, which is great news as it gives us a nice head start to growing roots going into the season.
New roots in 4 green - they are especially evident in the aeration channels (light sand)
Close-up of the new roots growing under the snow
Ice under the snow can pose an issue but it is more of an issue for poa annua. Thick ice cover for around 30 days can suffocate poa annua, whereas bentgrass will survive under a solid ice cover for over 90 days. Since we are nowhere near 90 days, we have nothing major to worry about.
Ice Cover on 1 green
The roots on 4
Snow Mold on 3 fairway
The long range forecast is for colder than normal temperatures to stick around for most of March so it will be a slow start to the 2014 golf season; so what do I expect at the start of the season?
I don't expect the course to look much worse than before the arrival of the snow. The bunkers will be washed out, so it will take a day or so to tidy them up, followed by a few weeks of making them perfect. From a few course tours there does not seem to be much tree debris, so clean up should go pretty quickly. We had a few trees marked to come down, but they may have to wait until during the season if we get delayed.
I don't expect the course to look much worse than before the arrival of the snow. The bunkers will be washed out, so it will take a day or so to tidy them up, followed by a few weeks of making them perfect. From a few course tours there does not seem to be much tree debris, so clean up should go pretty quickly. We had a few trees marked to come down, but they may have to wait until during the season if we get delayed.
The new truck has had a baptism by fire (or um snow!)
The turf should come out pretty good. I am predicting the course to be very wet for a period after the snow melts. This means that I expect there to be a lot of cart and golf restrictions at the beginning of the season. I explained last year the issues that frost and freeze/thaw cycles can cause. The decisions made over the next few weeks will be crucial to how the turf health is conditioned for the summer. We lost root growth last fall dealing with the issues we had so we need to maximize root growth this spring. Healthy roots ensure the plant can withstand the stresses of summer. We have a nice head start with the roots growing under the snow but need to make sure we do not damage them which will set them back.
Slushy ice on 4 green
The course is currently saturated and I expect it to be a while to fully dry out. The issues occur when the surface is frozen but thaws during the day; the top of the surface melts while the soil underneath stays somewhat frozen. When this occurs, traffic on the turf causes the roots to sheer at the frozen/thawed interface setting the plants back. (See picture below.) We will try to minimize any inconvenience but protecting the course at the start of the season will pay dividends once the season starts in earnest.
Bentgrass is slow to wake up in the spring so green-up will take a while and it also means that it will take longer before we can put the turf under stress as it needs to be actively growing to withstand it.
We are scheduled to aerate the greens on April 14th but that will depend on what the weather does. Most likely we will be able to aerate at that point as hopefully the turf will have dried out by then. Aerating the tees shouldn't be too much of an issue but I am concerned about getting the fairways done as it is hard to predict when they will be dry enough to do. I will be updating the blog regularly once we get started.
Even if we get delayed, by mid May the weather will be warm enough to make sure the aeration is healed and the turf up to speed. And this winter will be a distant memory!
If you are interested in some more info on ice and snow cover the USGA green section has some nice articles on the topics.
What Is Going On Under The Snow
Snow/Ice Cover
Icy Situations
Early Spring Is An Exciting Time On The Golf Course
If you are interested in some more info on ice and snow cover the USGA green section has some nice articles on the topics.
What Is Going On Under The Snow
Snow/Ice Cover
Icy Situations
Early Spring Is An Exciting Time On The Golf Course
