When Do We Open?

There may be a belief that the only thing we wait for before opening the course for play is for the snow to melt and the ground to dry up. Most years this is true. In 2010 most of the course was free of snow by the end of the third week in March. This was more an indication of the general lack of snow cover not the warm weather. An important point to consider before opening the course (and certain greens) is soil temperature. In the fall when we get below freezing overnight there is considerable heat in the ground that allows roots the ability to keep growing and absorbing nutrients. In the spring soil temperatures need to reach temperatures near 10 degrees C or 50 degrees F in order for roots and most soil microbes to start functioning (maximum root growth occurs around 15 C or 60F). When cold fall and winter contribute to a deep frost it takes longer for the soil to warm up . Continual overnight lows of -8 to -2 such as what we've been experiencing make the warming of the soil a long drawn out process.

I have been taking soil temperatures over the past few weeks and have seen some dramatic reading between greens and even within a single green. For example, #17 is pretty much the sunniest and therefore the warmest green at KGC and last week (March 27) the soil temperature during mid day was close to 17 C (mid 60's F) at 1.5 inches. One of the coolest greens in the spring is #7 and last week it was 3 C (38F) at 1.5 inches. Number 9 had soil temperature readings of 10C (50F) at the back and 15C (60F) in the front.

I again went out on Friday, April 2 to check soil temperatures on #7 green. I took the following picture from the back of the green and the importance of soil temperature as it relates to greening up is fairly obvious. In the picture foreground (the back of #7 green) temperatures were 3C while at the front of the green temperatures were 7C.

The other important thing to note is that those temperatures were taken from a green that has been double tarped since we exposed it on March 16th. Tarps help turf by moderating the lows and by allowing the turf underneath to warm up during day to a higher temperature than if they were exposed to the air. We only have a limited number of tarps so most greens are openly exposed; as a result, the speed by which the soil warms on these green is more impacted by the overnight lows.

That was sort of a boring topic so I finish with to pictures that show difference between years. I started taking pictures yearly to compare the snow cover on a certain date and how that relates to when we open. The first picture was taken March 25, 2008. That year we opened 9 holes on April 27th and 18 on May 2nd. (I've misplaced the 2009 photo but opening was 9 holes on April 17th and all 18 on April 22nd). The other picture is this year on April 1st. Hopefully, 9 holes on .........

Spring 2008

Spring 2010