Photo Credit: Juan Wilson on 28 October 2010 for Island Breath - (http://islandbreath.blogspot.com/2010/10/frost-on-pumpkin.html) |
It finally happened.....Frost on the Punkin! I had to scrape a good layer of ice off my windshield this morning and our fairways, roughs and tees were covered with billions of gleaming white ice crystals when I pulled into the shop parking lot at 5:30 AM. While this frost was not quite a full-blown hard frost (the low was 33 degrees) it did put a kink in the maintenance crew's plans for the day as we had to wait a few hours before starting some of our planned tasks and ate into our head start on play a bit. Luckily it did not affect our regular 9:00 AM tee times this time around.
Here is what we ask of our members and guests during frost:
Following Mother Nature's cue, I figured now would be a good time to review a little bit on frost protocols here at the club as it pertains to golf course prep and tee times. Now to state the obvious, frost delays are something that none of us like to experience because as I mentioned above, it steals precious time away from the maintenance crew's head-start on play and does the same to the valuable playing time of our members.
It messes up plans for everyone involved, simple as that.
However, at the end of the day we are all in this together as we have the common goal of making sure that the golf course is looked after in order to provide the best playing conditions not just right now but next week, next month and next year as well. In order to do that, sometimes we have to make decisions that look past the short-term. Managing frost delays appropriately is one of them.
Here is what we ask of our members and guests during frost:
- Before coming to the club to play, track the weather. A basic rule of thumb is when predicted temperatures are to be around the 40 degree mark or colder, chances of frost are high.
- Upon arrival at the club, please check in with the pro shop for the thumbs-up to use the range tee and putting green before starting your day. Normally, the putting green and range are among the first to clear and delays for these areas are usually minimal. We do have our covered hitting bay on the South end of the range for your use during those prolonged delays.
- Get confirmation from the pro shop that it is OK to tee off on the first tee before proceeding. Sometimes, things may not be what they seem. Our first two holes have tall Douglas Firs around them that block out the morning sun and significantly prolong the burn-off of frost relative to the greens that you can see around the clubhouse (putting greens, #18 and #10).
- Keep your cart on the cart path. Often times, we will allow play to begin before the frost has fully cleared off shady areas of our fairways and roughs (but has cleared off our greens). This is a calculated risk that we take as well as a concession that we make in the name of providing excellent customer service. Please take this request seriously and be considerate of your golf course.
Fir trees blocking morning sun on #1 green. |
We do our best to provide estimates of if and when frost will clear, however, this is often very difficult if not impossible to do. Truth be told, if I had the ability to predict this with 100% accuracy, I would be a self-made millionaire and probably on a beach somewhere in Hawaii. (Insert big grin here). Each frost delay is evaluated on a case-by-case basis and we will do our best to communicate the progression of the thaw-out through the pro shop.
One thing that many of us often forget is that even after the frost clears, the maintenance staff still needs to get out on the turf to prepare the course for play in front of golfers and this takes time. We do not mean to prolong the delay as our goal is to provide you and those after you with the best possible playing conditions that day whether that means mowing the greens, cutting a fresh cup or raking the bunkers. Now enough business talk, here is a nice little poem by James Whitcomb Riley (1853-1916) to get you in the mood for frost season:
"When the Frost is on the Punkin" |
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