Heat Wave Approaching

Finally, a hint of spring is in the forecast.  Temperatures are predicted to climb (?) into the 40s by Wednesday, and we might even make it to 50 on Saturday.  Thus far in March, we've only hit 40 degrees once, and the average high temperature has been 32 degrees; quite the polar opposite from last year.  Between the snow and ice that is on the ground and a frost depth of 18", there is a substantial amount of thawing that has to take place before the course can open, but the light is at least at the end of the tunnel. 

As has been mentioned in prior posts, the greens are covered by 1-2" of ice.  To accelerate their melting, we will be blowing snow from the greens this week.

The snowblowers are ready to get to work on the greens.

We've taken samples from 1, 6, and 8 greens to assess any potential winter damage, and it this point, it looks as if we may have some injury.  The samples from 6 look and smell great, but the samples from 1 and 8 are just OK.  The bad samples are nothing like they have been in years where we've had a lot of winterkill, but at this point, we're not expecting the greens to be perfect.  However, it really is hard to say for sure since this is based on two 4" diameter plugs that represent 0.00002% of the total putting surface.  We should have a better idea on winter's wrath by early next week.

Last Friday, we completed the major tree trimming projects that were slated for the winter.  Most notably, the black walnut tree limbs that were overhanging the left side of 16 green were cut back.  Not only will they no longer punish slightly mishit shots, but the relatively large nuts won't land on the green (or us) come autumn.  A silver maple that was crowding three nearby trees between holes 3 and 4 was also trimmed, and aside from helping the adjacent trees, the extra sunlight will also promote the rough in this area.

Our scheduled winter maintenance went extremely well this year, and with the extended winter, we were able to complete a few special projects around the shop, as well.  Now, we are gearing up to get on the course/rake all of the sticks that fell over the past few months.