Course Thaw

Finally. . . the freezing cold weather we experienced last week that closed the course has finally come to an end.  The weather forecast for the next week or so has replaced the below-freezing temperatures with lots and lots of rain.  So, what does this mean for the golf course and it goes without saying that the million dollar question is, is when will the golf course be open again?  

The answer to that is, it depends.  Over the next few days, we will be watching the impact of the rain and warmer temperatures on the greens.  These two things combined, will slowly thaw the permafrost that formed below the surface during last week's freezing temperatures.  What is going to happen over the next few days is, the greens (and all other surfaces) will thaw from the top down as the warm rain softens up the soil, eating away at the permafrost as it moves through.  Going forward while this process is occurring, we have to be careful not to put any traffic on the greens until they are all the way thawed.  

Sheeting water on greens due to frozen surfaces.

Until the permafrost is completely gone, it will act like a back-board inhibiting any type of drainage through the profile making the greens very squishy.  Moreover, any traffic on top of this backboard will essentially squeeze out any existing pore space which would have a very detrimental effect on the turf health.  The grass depends on this pore space for proper gas/oxygen exchange and root growth.  This is why we need to be judicious about when we allow play to resume on the greens.

As of this morning, I could only get my ice pick into most greens about a  quarter of an inch.  It might take a couple of days depending on how warm it gets.  

Ice pick hit permafrost at 1/4".