Well there is no doubt its been a while and a lot has happened since the last post. I have committed the cardinal sin of blogging.... not keeping up with updates. That being said, I will commit to posting updates on a regular basis from here on out. It is now November and the golf course is closed yet activity still continues within the turfcare department. Preparations made to playing surfaces for winter survival went well this year and were complete and wrapped up ready for the snow on November 10th. Unfortunately, a day of rain came before the snow did and as I write this post we still only have 1 1/2" - 2" of snow on the greens whereas last year at this time we had 5" of snow cover. Weather conditions this time of year play a large part in what type of turf conditions we will have come spring and thus conditions are being monitored closely. Temperatures in the zone known as the "crown", where the plant continues to function during winter months, are being monitored and recorded as weather conditions change. Ice formation on the putting surfaces is also being observed closely. Currently a few greens have some ice formation under the snow cover but to date still seems quite porous and likely will not pose too much of a problem. On a positive note, there are greens that still look very good and as long as the snow shows up before the cold temperatures we should be fine. Below are some pictures showing conditions to which I have made mention of.
Thermometer on top of ice 3 green
Crown temperature under snow and ice on 3 green
Able to poke through ice on 4 green
Crown temperature on exposed area of 6 green
Looking good on 9 green
