Winter Weather

If you've spent the winter in Chicago I don't need to tell you the weather has been relentless.  From the "polar vortex" to constant snowfall events, sunny days on the golf course seem a long way off.  Of particular interest this winter season is the potential for winter damage to the golf course given the harsh winter weather.  While snow cover is fine and can even provide an insulating blanket to our fine turf, extended periods of ice coverage are another mater.  At this point areas of the golf course have been under continuous ice coverage since a rain event on January 13th.  Expert opinions vary but generally poa annua (our primary grass species) can survive 30-60 days under ice before death begins.  Bentgrass on the other hand can survive 90-120 days under ice coverage before damage occurs which is yet another reason for the re-grassing portion of the upcoming Renovation Plan.

Winter Injury and Turf

Several types of winter injury can occur depending on weather and grass types:  Low temperature kill, snow mold disease, winter desiccation, crown hydration and ice encasement or suffocation to name a few.  Plant protectants applied in the fall do a good job of controlling snow mold.  The covers used in the past provided protection from desiccation injury but do little to protect plants from ice encasement or crown hydration injury which are of particular concern this season.

Our primary turf type is poa annua on greens, tees and fairways.  It is this poa annua that is most concerning as we surpass the 30 day mark under ice cover.  With the long term forecast showing a slight warmup next week I have made the decision to remove the snow from greens and help Mother Nature break up and melt the persistant ice layer.  The beginnings of the process are outlined below, updates to follow next week as the weather warms...

Snow blowers and shovels are used to clear the 18" - 24" of snow from each green on the golf course.  Exposing the ice layer to sunshine and warmer temperatures next week will help speed the thawing process. 

Using a 2" hole saw core samples were removed from several greens.  These samples will be placed indoors in a greenhouse setting as test samples.

Above is a core sample from the 18th green, the ice layer is approximately 3/4" thick.  In 5-7 days we should have a good indicator of how our greens have handled this winter.

Stay tuned....