Closer

Nice weekend with temps touching 80! There are several courses that are open, but we still have snow and wet turf. The good news is that there seems to be just a little damage from the prolonged winter/ice cover to the greens. I will post back later today with pictures and the update to a possible opening. The forecast looks good for today and tomorrow but reality sets in for the rest of the week,. Stay tuned!

Getting Close

Hang in there folks. There are numerous accounts of Old Man Winter leaving the area. If this is true, there will be an announcement soon that we will be opening. As of 6 am this morning, there is about a 2-4 inch covering of snow over the entire golf course. There are just a few high spots showing through. The forecast is for temps to soar near 70 the next few days. It will take a few days to melt the snow and then a few more days to dry out. As soon as I am able to drive onto the course to do maintenance, the course will be open! Stay tuned!

Patience

Patience is the key word for the golf industry. A lot of golfers are chomping at the bit to get going as well as golf course superintendents. The snow will finally melt over the next few days but will leave behind much needed moisture for the soil. Putting traffic on the course now will only disturb the soil profile and increase the stress level of the turf once we get to summer. In addition, rutting from vehicles or even footprints from golfers will last along time and will also cause bumpiness and worn areas quickly. The turf is waking up slowly this year so caution is needed when maintenance activities resume. And for you lawn rangers out there, you too, should use patience when beginning to work on your grass.

Yuck

Will the golf season ever come? Usually around the playing of the Masters, courses in this part of the world begin to open up. It may be another 10 - 14 days before we open for play. There is still a lot of snow on the ground, especially on the holes in the woods. From what little turf that is uncovered, there are signs of healthy turf in the fairways but a little bit of damage on the greens due to ice. The injured turf is on the poa annua plants where the bent grass looks very good. I don't see any major turf issues yet, but I haven't seen all the grass yet either. With more snow forecasted today, all I can say is.........Yuck!

That's Better

I went back out to 15 green to pull another sample on Thursday. Had to shoo away 14 deer from my path along hole 16 to get to 15. I went back to the area where I pulled my original plug from and was amazed at the growth in the area. The turf looked really healthy and actually some new roots were developing. I went over about 30 feet and took the new sample. This morning when I arrived in the shop, I was excited to see the plug had greened up nicely from over the weekend. I am feeling more optimistic about the turf conditions on the greens than I was a few weeks ago. That may not be the case around the rest of the course, but for now it's better. Now let's get the snow out of here so we can play some golf!