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Thursday, November 26, 2015

COURSE UPDATE: Frozen Greens & Cart Path Removal

What damage can be caused by traffic on frozen greens?
Our regular greens are closed and we have been forced to utilize temporary greens for play.  The sub-zero nighttime temperatures on several consecutive nights that we've been experiencing have resulted in frozen greens.  The problem with playing on the greens right now is that they are not frozen enough.  If they were frozen to a depth of 4" or more and frost-free at the surface, they'd be open for play.  Right now the deepest they've been frozen is no more than 1.5" below the surface.  Even worse, when they are thawing during the daytime, there are large sections of them that are only thawing to a depth of about 1/2".  This is when the greens are prone to severe damage.  I completely understand the frustration that many have with the regular greens be closed on a beautiful sunny day and I am also well aware that there is a feeling amongst some that we are being too overprotective of the putting surfaces, but please take the time to read this excerpt from the USGA Green Section that describes just how damaging it would be to open the greens under these conditions:

"Traffic damage on frozen turf areas usually occurs during periods of freezing or thawing.  The most devastating situation occurs when the grass blades and the upper one-half to one inch of soil has thawed, but the ground beneath their level remains frozen.  Traffic will create a shearing action of the roots, rhizomes, and crown tissues at this time.  This is comparable to cutting the plant tissue from the underlying root system with a sod cutter.  Complete kill of leaves, crowns, and rhizomes can occur if the temperatures soon drop below -6°C.  Symptoms from this severe injury include whitish to dark brown leaves that may mat on the surface.

Once temperatures allow thawing to a depth of three to four inches, the probability of turf damage declines since about 75 percent of the root system is in the upper four inches of soil.  Frequent soil probing is the only positive way to effectively monitor the freezing level.  Traffic should be adjusted accordingly."

Again, we are currently experiencing the conditions that will result in the most severe damage with only the top 1/2" thawing during the daytime.  

Protecting, not over-protecting, your greens is our #1 responsibility and we will continue to ensure any unnecessary damage is avoided so that they remain healthy.

Cart Path Removal
With the very heavy frost conditions that we’ve been experiencing, I’d like to make you aware of what we have been doing to keep busy since there isn’t much we can do on the frosty and frozen turf.  We are removing the asphalt path to the right of #9 green that is in terrible condition, has a negative impact on playability and is more of an eyesore than a functional path.  The path material is being relocated to build a temporary roadway off the path just past the tees at #14 to the large “brush area” behind #15 green.  This temporary roadway will serve as a suitable path to dispose of tree debris and other “green waste” to avoid astronomical disposal fees for removing this material from the property.  Any dead trees that need to be removed will be disposed of here, which is certain to result is significant cost savings.  It’s remarkable how much space we’ve cleared out behind #15 green!

Once the path at #9 is completely removed, we will remediate the working area, including regrading around the existing drainage catch basins so they function more effectively, and then we will prep it for either seed or sod.  We are confident that this will provide significant aesthetic and playability improvements in this area.

We will also be removing the existing gravel path to the left of the forward tee deck on #18.  Cart and golfer traffic will be rerouted around the right side of the tee with the use of stakes/rope and signage, much like at #1 tees as you can see below:


This will not only be a significant aesthetic improvement, it will also improve the playability of the hole.  The gravel path that is removed will also be used to dress the temporary roadway at #15 green.

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