Temp Greens for Extremely Wet Conditions

Unfortunately, we were forced to close the golf course on Wednesday after it had endured over 24 hours of continuous rain leaving the greens unplayable.  I'm sure many of you are wondering how we determine whether or not the greens are playable.  Well, it's actually quite simple.  Once the turf is so saturated that puddles or standing water begin forming, they must be closed.  Allowing traffic on saturated turf would be detrimental to the playing surface.  The turf is at great risk of serious compaction in this condition.  

standing water on #1 green after heavy rain

A single foursome takes on average over 200 steps per green, so yes, even allowing play on the greens for the maybe 10-20 golfers that wish to play in the extremely wet conditions has a potential for severe compaction issues.  We have been working very hard over the past 4 years to continuously relieve compaction and reduce thatch levels on our greens to provide the best possible putting surfaces for our members and guests.  Traffic on saturated greens would be a giant step backwards against the progress we've made.

The greens are most susceptible due to the fact that all golfers ultimately end up on them and therefore they receive the most concentrated traffic.  We are not as concerned about the tees as we can dictate where the tee markers are placed on the tees to evenly distribute the wear and tear on them.  Obviously, traffic of fairways is spread out even more since golfers don't typically hit the ball in the same spot as their playing partners.  Also keep in mind that we will ALWAYS be more protective of the greens than any other areas on the course as they are the most important asset of any golf course.

We do understand that some golfers don't particularly mind playing golf in the extremely wet conditions and we are well aware that wet conditions are quite normal here in the lower mainland from the months of October through April....and well into May and even June in recent years.  In an effort to ensure the golf course remains open for play as often as possible, we have decided to go to a system of using temporary greens under extremely wet conditions.  If at any time during wet weather we begin experiencing standing water on the regular greens, the flag sticks will be removed from them and placed on the temporary greens in the approaches or fairways ahead of the regular greens.  When we are under a temporary green condition, ALL the regular greens, including the practice putting greens, will remain closed until deemed playable again by either the Superintendent or the Assistant Superintendent.  Please understand that this Temporary Greens Policy must be adhered to or we will have to revert back to closing the golf course under extremely wet conditions to ensure the integrity of our regular greens is not compromised.

Thank you for your understanding as we continue to do our best to protect YOUR investment!