It's That Time of Year Again...Frost Delays

It's that time of year again when mother nature begins to interrupt golf course maintenance programs as well as suspend the start of your golf round. During late fall and winter months golf is often interrupted by frost delays.

Grass blades can be damaged during periods of early and light frost if walked or driven upon (Figure 1). As temperatures begin to drop further, the individual cells of the blades can become frozen and traffic can lead to plants being damaged severely and or die.
 

Figure 1. Grass can be damaged during periods of frost by foot and cart traffic.

For these reasons, the course will not open until until the frost has lifted. It is recommended that you call the pro shop before 9:00 a.m. and the temperature is below 40 degrees. We will make every effort to give the pro shop an approximate time when play might begin.

Below is a very informative video from the USGA regarding frost and the damage that can occur from both foot and cart traffic on frost covered turf.

During the week of September 22^nd through the 25^th, two of our assistants, Jared Nemitz and Brooks Riddle, volunteered for the PGA Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, Georgia.  Some of their tasks included mowing greens, cutting cups, and raking bunkers.  While working along side other industry professionals was a great experience, Jared and Brooks felt the most valuable part of the week was witnessing different management practices used to achieve championship caliber ultradwarf putting greens.