Wednesday, December 07, 2011
The weather system that is currently moving through our area looks to bring heavy rains and cooler temperatures. Winter may finally arrive. I know that I have been thankful for the beautiful Fall but all good things must come to an end. If the projected overnight lows are correct, frost will once again be prevalent and in turn, frost delays. The projected lows over the next 5 days are 37°F, 28°F, 32°F, 26°F, and 28°F. We will have frost and we will have frost delays.
Frost on the grass blades tells us that the water inside the leaves is frozen. Water is the primary component of plant tissue. When this water is frozen, traffic on the turf causes the ice crystals in the cells to puncture through the cell walls, killing the plant tissue. Little damage is done to the crowns (growing points) or roots if only a light frost appears; however, when the frost is heavy, cell disruption may occur at the crown, thus killing the entire plant. Frost damage symptoms include white to light tan leaves where traffic has passed. Even if you do not see frost on the practice putting greens, we may have frost on a few greens on the golf course. Shade and location both affect how long it takes for frost to burn off of greens. Frost delays affect every tee time but overall membership satisfaction, quality of the turf and golf course conditions have to be taken into consideration. We also have to allow time for maintenance ahead of play so thank you for your patience on these cold mornings.
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| Foot traffic damage as a result of walking on frost covered turf. |
This weather system is also bringing heavy rains. The river looks to rise over the next few days to a crest of 13.7 feet. The golf course begins to take on water at 15 feet so initial projections are good. The best resource for river level information is the National Weather Services Westham Gauge.
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| This graph is current as of 4:00 pm on December 7. Click here for a current river level prediction. |
Our staff has been busy this week with post emergent herbicide applications, bunker depth adjustments, leaf removal, Pennywort (the floating aquatic weed in the ponds) removal, and routine maintenance.
REMINDER: Carts will be restricted to the path beginning Tuesday, December 13. The policy on exceptions to winter cartpath restrictions can be found
here. Carts may be restricted to the path between now and December 13 due to wet conditions.
