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