Course Update

Golf Course update March 24^th 2014

The cold winter weather continues: Several area of the golf course are still under snow cover and a deep frost layer exists in our soils. These conditions will keep the golf course closed to all play and practicing until at least March 31^st. Let’s hope the predicated snow storm for this week does not materialize, delaying the opening of the course any further.

Several days of warm temperatures are necessary to melt the snow cover and thaw the frost layers in the soil. Until all frost is out of the ground no traffic is allowed on the course. Traffic on thawing turf can harm the root systems and playing surfaces of our fine turf.

Please follow the club website and turf blog for updates on conditions .Thanks for your understanding.

Peter Rappoccio, CGCS

Golf Course Update March 2014

Spring is only days away according to the calendar; but Mother Nature has other ideas for our area. The coldest winter in many years has pounded the northeast with storm after storm and some of the coldest temperatures ever recorded. The month of March has been so far the coldest on record.

Presently the golf course has up to a foot of snow and ice on the playing surfaces. A snow cover has been present since early January. The prolonged cover can present problems for turf grass. The variety of grasses that we have on our greens, tees, and fairways can usually survive being under snow cover for 90 days. When ice is present under the snow that survival time decreases to 60 days.  The golf and grounds crew has been monitoring the playing surfaces for several weeks and this week we decided to remove the upper layer of snow to expose the 1 to 3 inches of ice below the snow. In most areas the ice is removed as well when thawing starts. . The danger of constant melting and freezing can cause the grass plant to die from anaerobic conditions, (the lack of gas exchange), and crown hydration that can develop under the ice. Removal of snow and ice is a delicate procedure. Many hours of hand labor is required to clear one green. A combination of warmer weather and through the efforts of the golf and grounds crew all of our greens have been cleared of snow and ice and playing surfaces look viable.

The golf course will remain closed throughout the melt down process. Even after the snow and ice are gone, the several inches of frozen ground has to thaw and stabilize to support any foot or cart traffic. Traffic on as little as 1 to 2 inches of thawing ground can cause damage to both the playing surfaces and the developing root systems  that can take several weeks to recover from. The colder temperatures this winter have produced a frost level that is several inches below what the average frost depth usually is.

We will continue to do all we can to get the course open ASAP and keep updating the membership on conditions as they improve. The course website and blog will have weekly updates starting March 24^th.

Peter Rappoccio, CGCS

Checking ice levels under the snow

Opening a channel on #3

 Every winter that has a prolonged snow cover has Turf managers keeping their fingers crossed that the snow cover does not turn to an ice layer on the greens. Turf that is covered with ice can survive for a period of time without damage. Different turf grass varieties have different thresholds for survival. Bent grass is 90 days and bent/poa which is the predominate grass at Silver Spring can survive up to 60 days under ice. Our greens have been under snow and ice for 40 days.

Our ven-trac snow blower

 This past week the golf and grounds crew removed snow on several greens to see if any ice was present and if there was the thickness of the ice. Using hand shoveling and our mini ventrac snow blower, channels of snow on 3,6,8,9,1,and 18 were removed. A 1.5" layer of ice was present on all greens examined. Fortunately the mini thaw we experienced this past weekend quickly melted the ice and exposed the turf below. Presently the turf looks good.

The inspection team

 We will continue to monitor snow and ice levels throughout the winter and remove the snow and ice when levels dictate.

Ice on the 3rd green

Winter of 2014

Just adding to the pile

 Many hours of snow removal have added to the work load of the Golf and Grounds staff this winter. What seems like a endless series of snow storms has keep the crew busy plowing and keeping  our four paddle courts operational.  With over 11,500 square feet of decking and court space at the paddle facility; a six inch snow storm produces over 200 cubic yards of snow that has to be shoveled from the facility before play can start. Unfortunately the heaters under the court are a help in light dusting storms but whenever the snow amount exceed 2 inches its shovel first and use the heaters to melt the light coat the shovels leave.

Can you find the new tees on #3

View from the new forward tee on #3

Many thanks to my staff for the fine job they have done this winter keeping the paddle facility running on schedule.

Hole # 3 completed

View from the new back tee on 3

The new middle tee on 3

#3 before construction starts

Rough grading of the new # 3 tee complex

The Master plan work will be completed this week. All the tee and bunker work have been completed and the construction company is spending it's time this week repair haul roads and doing cart path tie in's.
Lets hope for a mild winter so we can open the new tees by mid April 2014.

Master Plan 11/1 update

We are nearing completion of our Master Plan project for 2013. As of November 1st the work remainig consists of draining of the green side bunkers on 2; Sod installation of the forward tees on 2 ,8 and the three back tees on 3; Shaping of the forward tee on 3; shaping of the green bunkers on 3;  construction of the fairway bunker on 2 repairing and sod installation on all the construction roads created by the project.
We estimate another two weeks of work.

New forward tee on 14

Installing fill to build the back tee on 3

Fill from the old football field at Joel Barlow High becomes the new tees on 3

Master Plan work Starts on #2 and #3

# 3 before demo

# 3 Ready for fill

#2 at sunrise

Looking back at 3 from the fairway