Air.... Whats water got to do with it!

Now that the yo-yo pattern of spring is starting , some wonder why we don't open at the first sign of a thaw.  When snow melt and temperatures rise we all get the itch to swing a club.   After all, that's why we are here.  When we close the course due to wetness it always begins and ends with the greens.

Wet conditions rarely stop us from opening the course,  after all we put golf carts on the paths and away we go.  Not so fast, the greens are the most important and most expensive part of the course.  With our multi-constructed greens,  many drain slower than a bad sink in a teenagers bathroom.  The few sand greens drain quickly after a thaw, but the soil greens are very slow.  The importance is to remember the 3 things all greens ( and most plants) require.... Sunlight, air and water.  Well the only part we have in these conditions is water.

The soil needs to have as much air as possible for the plant and roots to thrive.  After a cold  wet period the soil fills with water and occupies all the air spaces, leaving no room for the plant to breathe.  We see this in the picture below, a putting cup full of water.

So we use this indicator to determine if and when we will allow play on to the greens.  The roots in the soil greens are relatively shallow compared to the sand greens, so we need this water level to move to the bottom of the cup before we put traffic that further squeezes air in the top layer out of the system.

How long this takes depends on the conditions,  will we see it dry out, how long has it been filled with water ( termed " field capacity"), is the plant actively growing, etc.  There are never any hard and fast rules, since everything depends on multiple factors.

Be assured we know you want to get out and get some exercise, but these greens are a delicate balance and a day or two of rest at the right time can mean the difference in starting out with better performing greens over the long haul of the season.