Green Covers

With a steady dose of winter weather in the forecast, the decision was made to close the greens for the year.  It was great to see that a number of you were able to take advantage of the unseasonably warm weather that surrounded Thanksgiving by getting in one last round for the season.  Now, reality has set in, and with a forecasted high temperature of 42 degrees, today is supposed to be the warmest day for the foreseeable future.  As was noted in an email to the members, the golf course was open for 235 days, or 64% of the year, (not counting an occasional rain day) in 2011.

On Monday, we took advantage of the nice, calm conditions to prepare the greens for winter.  As has been done for many, many years, a heavy layer of sand topdressing was applied to all of the greens, except 11 and 17 (more on that in a bit).  Not only does the sand improve the overall soil profile, but it also helps to prevent winter injury by protecting the plants from desiccation.  In response to the winter injury that the greens have received in recent years, 11 and 17 greens were covered with specially-designed, impermeable white plastic covers that are called GreenJacket covers.  Through our own research and in consultation with USGA agronomist Bob Vavrek and Maple Bluff's superintendent Tom Harrison, these covers were chosen among the many options that exist.  Essentially, they are supposed to eliminate injury by keeping ice off of the greens, and as you may remember, ice can kill turf by either rupturing the plants' growing points or by suffocation.  To promote air exchange when the covers are layered in snow or ice, we will force in air using our backpack blowers on a weekly basis.  It's our hope that we have an ice-free winter, but if we don't, these covers should keep these two particularly-susceptible (read: nearly 100% Poa annua) greens as healthy as possible.

Below are a couple of pictures of the covering process:

First, a thin layer of insulating foam was laid onto the greens and secured with sod staples.  Since snow will be less likely to stick to the slippery surface of the covers, this foam will help in times of extreme cold.



Next, the custom-sized impermeable covers were spread out and stretched as tightly as possible.



Finally, the covers were secured with long spikes that were spaced 2' apart on the north and west sides and 4' apart on the south and east sides and with 9-12 vacuum preventers in the scattered throughout the center of the covers.