Wacky Winter Continues

Just as winter was shaping up to be similar to that of 2012, here we are looking at another.... cold spell with snow!  This year makes me feel badly for everyone who plays golf since our dear friend, Mother Nature, continues to toy with us and takes away any glimmer of hope that we would be playing golf sooner rather than later!  But alas, we know the season will be here before we know it.

#13 was looking great last week!

One annual winter concern on my part is how well our greens survive the elements.  Before heading into this cold spell, most turf around the course was looking good.  There are a few spots of annual bluegrass (Poa annua) here and there that are suspect, but show signs of life.  Samples have been taken, as seen below, to confirm either way.  Since our surfaces endured a couple couple cold nights this past weekend following warm temperatures, it would not surprise me if there are some spots which have been set back even further.  As anticipated, all bentgrass (the tallest and greenest plants) is looking healthy and strong.

All the samples above do show signs of life, but
these were taken before the cold spell this past
weekend.  Succulent growth is susceptible to
injury from cells freezing, expanding and exploding.

Through the ups and downs of the off season, we have continued to complete our winter tasks as well as get a start on course clean up by bringing back a few seasonal employees earlier than normal.  We have also gotten a head start on some much needed work to our fairways by using our new deep tine aerator.  We are just punching holes in the ground and not pulling any material to the surface to minimize disturbance as much as possible.  After a couple mowings, holes will barely be noticeable.  I will write more about our aeration practices and other new maintenance practices in a separate blog post.

Remember the couple of days were we had 60 mph wind gusts?
Assistant Superintendent, Zac Houfek, braved the elements to
get a head start on aerating fairways.

The finished product looks great and with a
couple mowings any holes should disappear. 

We were able to get our roller out to firm up surfaces before an
application to prevent snow mold from forming.

The pump house replacement project we had scheduled for this winter has sadly been delayed.  We ran into a number of permitting issues with the Department of Natural Resources from our property being the headwaters for Lincoln Creek and having wetland type soils present.  We are currently working through the permitting process and are anticipating starting and completing the project next winter.

To address the topic that is on everyone's mind: when are we opening the course??  The answer is not so simple since March is so unpredictable.  What I do know is our average opening date is the second week of April.  With this in mind, there are a few factors that weigh on the opening date and are always kept with the best interest of the course during Spring:

Frost in the ground:  Not wanted with traffic to avoid grass roots shearing below the surface.  We did not have frost before this cold spell, but some has built up again.

Plant growth:  While the course was starting to "green" up from the warm temperatures and plants were growing, our fluctuating temperatures are really playing tricks on plants.  The issue with growth is having enough to handle traffic from golfers and the equipment we use to maintain our surfaces.

Soil moisture:  Soils are typically wettest in spring and any sort of precipitation is amplified from existing conditions.  Since plants are slowly waking up and not using as much moisture, soils stay wet longer.  Cart traffic during this time can really set back course conditions since plants are not growing enough to recover and the chances for soil compaction are highest.

Considering everything that goes into making a decision to open the course, you can see it is just a bit too early to make any educated guesses.  We will be in contact with you when one of the most anticipated dates of the year arrives.  Until then, hang in there and we look forward to seeing you in a short while.