Course Conditions Update

If you glance back to the post dated January 4, I wrote of our concern for the health of 3 and 6 greens.  Due to the location of these greens, and 3 in particular, northerly winds blow and deposit significantly more snow in these areas than on the rest of the greens.  This, combined with nearly complete winter shading, prevented these greens from clearing off during the New Year's Eve thaw.  Instead, some of the snowpack melted and turned into ice.  Similarly, snow melting from the bank adjacent to 16 green ran across the green's lower tier, towards the lake, and also formed ice.  Two years ago, when we had extensive winter damage, the extra snow on 3 and 6 actually allowed them to emerge unscathed from winter, but the opposite appears to be true this year.

On February 13, Chad and I chipped through the ice on 3 and 6 greens and brought in some plugs to assess their health.  The good news is that the plug from 6 looks healthy, but the not so good news is that the plug from the back half of 3 indicates that some winter damage has occurred.  Due to segregated populations of creeping bentgrass and Poa annua, these plugs likely don't tell the whole story of these greens, but they are indicators of the bigger picture.  More than likely, the weaker Poa annua plants that compose much of our greens succumbed to crown hydration, which occurs when free water in the plant turns to ice and causes the crown, or growing point, of the turf plant to explode.  Creeping bentgrass, on the other hand, tends to remain dormant and to not take up water during winter warm spells and is thus much less susceptible to crown hydration.  Thus, the areas on these greens with higher P. annua populations are likely to be most affected.

Right now, it's too soon to speculate on the extent of winter injury, and the common late winter thaw/freeze cycles have the potential to change the severity of the situation over the coming weeks.  Regardless, we are already make preparations to bring any damaged greens back to health as quickly as possible, while hoping for the best.

Last week, while touring the course, the higher sun angle resulted in significant melting, despite a high temperature that only reached 40 degrees.

The water was really flowing off of 12 and 13 into the drainage area that's to the right of 13 fairway.

In the flatter areas, such as 7 fairway, ponding water was commonplace.