It is finally here. Barring any frost tomorrow morning, the golf course will re-open at 8:00 a.m. to normal tee times. Frost looks unlikely with a chance of showers and overnight lows in the low 40's. We will open with normal cart rulings and will only restrict carts to the path if weather dictates. Once temperatures and the weather decline, we will go to permanent cart restrictions just like every winter. This week looks to be good for 90 degree cart traffic unless we get rain tonight.
The greens have come full circle and are back in good putting shape. The on-deck putting green at the first tee has taken a little longer to grow in so it will remain closed to finish growing in. The greens are currently being mowed at .150", which is where we would normally like to be going into the winter. The speeds will be slow. Let me repeat that, the green speeds will be slow. Speed is and always will be a secondary concern to turf health. There is no reason to push the greens any lower or roll any more to gain a little speed for the next few weeks. While the greens are healthy and dense, the 12 week old turf will benefit from limited mechanical traffic. Once the temperatures warm back up in the spring, we will begin to make a push for better putting green speed.
The greens should receive balls well but we will see a greater impact from ball marks. During this time of continued recovery, fixing ball marks will be more important than ever. The greens are not growing as fast right now so any ball marks that do not get fixed will be visible for quite some time. Fixing your ball mark plus one more will make for smooth, consistent putting greens. Hold the players in your group accountable for their ball marks as well. Please watch this instructional video from the USGA on ball mark repair.
We hope that you are as excited as we are to reopen the golf course. The course is in good shape with a few new additions and a lot of healthy turf. We look forward to seeing you out there.
