Three Green Snow Removal

Today, the decision was made to clear the accumulated snow from three green.  I'm probably beginning to sound like a broken record, but the arborvitaes and University Avenue bridge create an excellent microclimate for snow and ice accumulation.


 The above picture was taken prior to removing the snow, and the reason that we removed the snow was to facilitate the melting of the ice that had formed beneath it.  The ice was thickest on the front half of the green.  The sun had melted some of the snow on the front, but it reformed into ice during the cool nights.  Earlier this winter, we removed snow and ice on the back half of the green, but it wasn't as thick there this time.  The warm temperatures that we had today put a tremendous dent in the ice, and grass was already poking through the ice as of this afternoon (see the picture below).

Some of you may be wondering what effect this warm winter has on the golf course.  The short answer is that it's too soon to tell, but with the exception of three green, we aren't too concerned about winterkill.  However, that can quickly change if the Poa were to "wake up" (which is does much more easily than creeping bentgrass), take in water, and suddenly freeze.  This can result in crown hydration, which is something that has been discussed in length previously.  Otherwise, our main concern is degradation of the snow mold fungicides, and we'll be keeping a close eye out for any snow mold as the winter progresses into spring.  Currently, very little is present, even in the roughs, but pink snow mold doesn't necessarily need snow to form; it just needs cool, wet conditions.  To be sure, we're keeping our fingers crossed for a turf-friendly finish to winter.