Winter Weather Restrictions

We are headed to a record setting December this year.  The driest in over 100yrs.  We have also had our share of freezing temperatures as well. Dry cold conditions, freezing temperatures all add up to less than satisfying turfgrass growing conditions resulting in course restrictions and closure.

www.storyofsnow.com

In the Northwest, turfgrass continues to grow all year long.  The winter months become cold, but not so cold to initiate dormancy. As the temperatures get low for a week or two at a time it causes us to become cautious with letting people on the course.  This can put the turf team and the golf shop in a tough situation as we communicate course delays and closures to members that would like to go play.

Usually, a cold snap will produce frosty conditions which is straight forward on holding people back from playing until the frost lifts.  I have mentioned it before and most people understand why we cannot allow traffic on frosted turf.  Traffic on frost conditions can destroy leaf tissue and leave turf thin and weak all winter long. The slow growing conditions during the winter can slow healing down to a crawl and it could take months to come back with any other disturbances.

If the cold snap continues for an extended period of time then we have the possibility of the ground freezing. This opens up a completely different set of issues that are much more difficult to explain because they are not as visible as the frost conditions.  In fact the ground could be frozen and the turf not frosty at all.

When the ground is completely frozen and the turf is not frosty we can allow play.  When the ground begins to thaw and the top layer is thawed but frozen underneath we cannot allow play.  It becomes a little confusing because we could be open one day when it is cold and then when it warms up it only makes sense that it is better for golf, but it is not for the course.

www.wunderground.com

As the ground thaws and there is a layer beneath that is frozen we are susceptible to a couple damaging issues.  One is the potential of the top layer shifting form the golfing traffic.  The other is the potential for extreme soil compaction.

If the top layer shifts from the traffic of players we have the potential to have root shearing.  A portion of the roots remain in the frozen layer while the rest of the plant has been thawed and in usually a saturated layer.  The saturated layer is not much for structure and can shift fairly easily.  This is why we do not allow any traffic onto the course even the turf equipment.  The damage is not easily seen like a frost damaged foot print but it can show its ugly head in the spring as the turf begins to need water and nutrients.

As I explained above, the top layer is in a saturated area which also lends to severe compaction.  Not even an inch below might be frozen like concrete which gives a good back board to squeeze that top layer between a foot and the frozen ground.  This also is not damage that is easily seen, but will give us problems as we enter the next season.

Please bear with us as we tread lightly through the winter months.  Although instant damage may not occur it is the future complications that we want to avoid.  If you have any questions please feel free to contact me.

Justin Ruiz, CGCS, MG
justinr@indiansummergolf.com  

Fairway Plan

This fall we were planning on aerifying the fairways but with the weather turning colder and the summer staff going away for the winter months we have decided to take a different approach.  This fall we are going to solid tine to reduce the amount of labor needed for the cleanup and then follow with sand.  We will continue to topdress the fairways to keep our outstanding winter playability.

The spring will be the time we turn to wall to wall aerification.  To help us get this project done in a timely manner we will hire in a contracted company to help with the process.  The weather in the spring is always intermittent so we will try to communicate the dates the best we can as we get closer to time.  This year we aerified greens in early May.  We will try to get the fairways done well before we do the greens in 2014.

If you have any questions about the upcoming processes please feel free to contact me.

Justin Ruiz, CGCS, MG
justinr@indiansummergolf.com

Small Putter Repair

The last aerification cycle we harvested some of the plugs to replace some of our small putting green.  If you have been around the practice area lately you probably have noticed this area.  We currently have it roped off and it will not be usable until spring.

Thanks for your patience.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me.

Justin Ruiz, CGCS, MG
justinr@indiansummergolf.com

Fall Aerification

The leaves are falling and the temperature is dropping.  I didn't think it was going to warm up today.

A couple weeks ago we aerified the greens with quad tines.  We typically do the quad tines in the fall and the larger, longer tines in the Spring.  I like to vary the depth and size each year.  This fall the project went well with very few hiccups.  We timed the weather nearly perfect as we had as much rain over the next few days as we did all summer.  The rain helped wash all the sand into the canopy.  Unfortunately the weather has been a little cooler than my liking.  It is making the healing process a little slower than normal although the greens are nearly 100% now.  We topdressed this week to help smooth out any left over bumps, but the greens have done fairly well given the cooler weather.

One week ago

Couple days ago

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me.

Justin Ruiz, CGCS, MG

justinr@indiansummergolf.com

Junior Tournament

The junior event that we hosted recently was a district tournament that was weeding out players for the state tournament.

One of the highlights from the tournament was by a young man Alec Charles from Gig Harbor. He had a near hole in one on hole #14.

Organic Fertilizer

This year we've been trying a new organic fertilizer. The fertilizer comes from the water treatment plant at Chambers Creek. It seems like the fertilizer is doing a good job because the grass is greener this year than it was last year. The turf is holding up well to the heat of the summer.

If you have any questions about the organic fertilizer please contact me.

Justin Ruiz, CGCS, MG
Justinr@indiansummergolf.com