Winter Update #3

Currently we are sitting at 50 days since the ice formed on the greens around the December 23^rd mark.  All the articles that I have read in the past week have said after 45 days begin to worry.   So what we are talking about here is the ice cover on the greens.  Some have seen grass die by being covered less than 45 days and some have seen it go closer to 90 days and survived. 

So where does St. Clair Parkway stand with this situation.  Well I have been monitoring the ice weekly since December.  The bad news is I believe there is ice on every green and it is in that crucial time whether it is going to survive or not.  The good news is I believe very little of the greens are covered by ice.  Number 2 green is approximately 20% covered by ice.  Most of the greens on the front 9 are very similar to this.  The back nine is harder to tell, I certainly have not been back there as much as I have been able to observe the front 9.  I would estimate that some of the sheltered greens have ice cover closer to 50%. 

The last couple of weeks I have certainly thought about blowing the snow off of the greens.  But, the weather is just not appropriate for that.  Last night the temperature dropped down to -28 C.  Exposed turf would not like this after being covered by the nice blanket of snow which insulates it from harsh temperatures.  Yesterday I attended a one day conference in Windsor.  One of the presenters told us a story of a winter in the mid-90s.  It was similar to this one and a bunch of Superintendents went out in cleared the snow off there greens anticipating a melt.  The snow melted and the greens cleared.  Then they had another bout of winter but, in the spring the greens were nearly 100% healthy.  Two weeks after that, some other Superintendents went out and cleared off their greens anticipating a melt.  The melt did not happen fully and they were left with a lot of water on their greens.  This water froze and killed the greens.   In the end it is up to mother-nature.  Much like in the summer the cards we are dealt are the cards we got, just play them accordingly and make the best out of it.

 

I have gone out and checked the snow and ice coverage on two green today.  As well I have removed a small plug from under the ice on 2.  It is now in the window of the shop and hopefully it will grow.  I have had the unfortunate experience of smelling dead plugs from greens at a previous golf course that I worked at.  The one I brought in today smelt okay but time will tell.

 

Stay Warm

Kendall