Winter Please GO AWAY!!

Here are the conditions that we awoke to this morning. The cold temperatures turned the end of yesterdays rain event to a mini snow storm. Over an inch of snow has covered all our playing surfaces and with the cold weather predicted to be around for the next two days, it might be a few days before we see grass again.

APRIL 16, 2014

Bent vs Poa

This picture shows the rear section of the rebuilt 14th green. During the rebuild the original green sod was lifted and re-installed on the newly graded surface. The configuration of the new green was slightly larger than the old green and some sod from our greens nursery was used on the rear section of the green.
The new sod,( planted in 2009), has a higher population of bent grass than the 85 year old sod that was on the original green. The green was covered for the winter to try and protect and accelerate the establishment of the new putting surface. When the cover was removed it was clear that the bent grass wintered much better than the Poa on the right side of this picture. Once the warmer weather arrives the color difference between the two species of grasses will blend together and will not be as noticeable.

Spring Prep

First cut on 3 black tee

 It's hard to believe that when the temperatures reach 45 it's considered warm, but with the weather we have had this spring we'll take it.
This week we will be making our first cuts on greens, tees and fairways. Our goal is to open greens and tees later in the week. The new tees constructed last fall will remain closed to allow for some better rooting to help the turf mature to the point that can withstand play.

Keeping the cut lines straight

Brushing 16 green

View from 3 Blue tee

April 1 Update

The combination of the heavy rains over the weekend and the snow on Monday morning has left the golf course extremely wet and soft.The golf course and all practice facilities will remain closed this week. The weather forecast is for improving, with warm and drier weather predicted for this week .We hope to be open for play on temporary greens and tees this weekend. That decision will be made Thursday.
Our goal is to open for play on regulars greens and tees by mid to late next week,( week of April 8th).
All areas of construction including the entire 14th hole will remain closed for play until further notice.
Thanks for your understanding and cooperation.

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