Wintertime musings

Well I thought with another batch of uncertain weather on the way, I would discuss what this means to the course and maybe what to expect when we start to thaw out.  If you know me, I always begin with "it depends on what mother nature has in store".

Right now some wonder if this winter has been a blessing to the course.  First off, repeated freeze thaws do not benefit anything.  Cart paths get worse, runoff erodes areas, freezing crowns of plants get trampled in the snow and ice which sets back growth.  The only real benefit is a lack of play, but in the same vein, nothing has grown to overcome the traffic when we were open.  A wash so to speak.

What happens now is the soon to come thaw will create saturated conditions that make areas very wet, prone to compaction, and if the subsoil stays a little frozen, shearing of roots that are in the frozen soil while the top 1 inch softens.  Most notably the soil is very cold, so all growth (even poa annua) will be delayed due a slow soil warm up.  Now I do expect crocus, daffodils and other bulbs to begin the steady climb out of the soil, but more likely where the suns shines most of the day.

This weather pattern has also has created uncertainty on the timing of the poa seed head control.  We employ degree day counting to time the emergence of these green speed wreckers, and the timing of the spray is very critical to reducing their impact.  Unfortunately when we get very warm for 3 straight days then cold for 2 weeks it is difficult to gauge when we time our applications to prevent seed heads.

We have several areas we are trying to plant trees but with the frozen soil trying to get them here and installed is frustrating to say the least.  We are working on a plan to provide divot bottles to the walking golfers this year so look for that notice in the next few weeks on it's implementation.  In the meantime we are working to comply with around 100 new EPA regulations and a complete change to the reporting of chemicals applied as well as documentation that concerns the safety of their use.

Lastly many wonder how do we determine the schedule for opening the course.  Well it's a mostly wait and see decision, which makes planning difficult for everyone.  Determining how fast snow melts, how deep is the frozen layer, and how quick the warm up develops cannot be forecast.  We have to be on the ground monitoring situations, so trying to say "Satuday at 10" on Thursday afternoon is really a guess.

The playability of the greens is the determining factor for opening and they do not all react the same. Shade, location (high or low) and composition (sand or clay) all play a part.  Too soft conditions can spell disaster later in the spring.   I wish I had some better prediction for the opening and closing, but as you know " it depends on what mother nature has in store".

Brrrr......6 Degrees this morning

The wall on Military Road

You may have noticed the missing stones on the wall that separates the 8th tee from Military Road.  This wall was constructed back when Arlington County widened the road in the 60-70's.  During the latest freeze thaw cycles the wall lost several large stones from this wall thus destabilizing this section, requiring us to use cones and tape to close the sidewalk.

Sometime in the past Dominion Power installed a support pole and wires for the power transmission poles across the street.  This support pole was tied to a post buried in the wall.  Over time, weather and loads have now caused the wall to fail where this support is located.  We are in contact with both the county, who does not like closed sidewalks, and Dominion Power.  We hope to have some resolution within the next few weeks on how this repair work gets completed.

Missing stones, support post in the wall can be seen to the right

Areas of missing mortar and loose stones

Shade...before the storm

Before the next day or two fills the course with snow again, I wanted to post a couple of pictures illustrating shade and turf relationships.  As most people know shade and healthy grass do not play well together.  This can be helped by limiting the shade to allow for multiple angles of light to get to the turf during the day.  Simply illustrated grass grows around individual trees but not well in the forest.   Properly spaced trees to allow the sun to move around the tree thus we have sun and shade but at different times of the day, where the forest filters most of the useable light most of the day.

Turf and trees can coexist

I bring this up as we look at how to improve certain areas of the course.  As you can see below, the main landing area of 3 is shaded.  So much that even after all the snow has melted there is still lingering snow and ice in this heavily trafficked area.  We will need to improve this sun /shade ratio if we hope to make this area more playable.  Over time trees continue to not only grow tall, but spread out and as the picture shows, we have a significant shade issue.  Back to the basics, grass does not do well in a forest and essentially that is the effect we have created in the landing area at 3.   Filling divots, limiting traffic, adding more drainage all help but it will be hard pressed to overcome the basic biology of the suns impact on turf health.

Hole 3 landing area

We love our trees, but sometimes the purpose of planting a lot of trees to make an impact when small, needs to be followed with proper cultivation as they grow.  The idea of "plant thick, thin quick" is meant to make pruning and removal a natural process,  and ensures the best health for the trees as they mature and develop.  After all we play the game on grass and that should be our first priority when deciding any course of action.