Stupid winter choices I feel I force myself to make.....

We're well on our way into winter now. Over the past week temps are getting to low -20's and staying well below zero during the day which is what I wanted to slow any disease development. We had a bit of snow (4 to 5 cm) this past Sunday night which is providing a bit of token cover. However that snow is the sh*tty part and reason for the title of this post. It has forced me to clean off 15 green so I could lay out tarp. 

Anxiety Inducing Snow Plow Job

 I know I said I would clean off snow on the problem greens if needed but in my mind I was only doing that as long as the ground was not frozen.  Once things set up I planned to keep the snow cover. I've been watching forecasts and I have shoveled, by hand, the small skiffs of snow for all the reasons mentioned in the last post. The part I'm unsure of is the type of impact plowing snow on frozen ground will have. Every spring this paragraph from an old USGA article plays in my head:

Traffic damage on frozen turf areas usually occurs during periods of freezing or thawing. The most devastating situation occurs when the grass blades and the upper one-half to one inch of soil has thawed, but the ground beneath their level remains frozen. Traffic will create a shearing action of the roots, rhizomes, and crown tissues at this time. This is comparable to cutting the plant tissue from the underlying root system with a sod cutter. Complete kill of leaves, crowns, and rhizomes can occur if the temperatures soon drop below 20° F. Symptoms from this severe injury include whitish to dark brown leaves that may mat on the surface. 

There was no way the top inch was thawed with a high of -2 for that day but I can tell you there was lots of sheared off grass blades. My hunch/hope is what I saw was mostly leaf tips. 

Neil L. plow did work really well and I believe I would use it again but, depending on results this coming spring, I may want to do a heavy sand top dressing as further protection from the plow blade. 

Not Exactly Routine

Previous to last week I was trying to get a few unusual tasks out of my hair so I could focus on more traditional spring maintenance. With winter winding down we needed to get a pumper truck and rubber tire back hoe out on the course before the ground got too soft from all the melting snow. Back in the beginning of February I ploughed a road to the restroom on #7 as well as to the snack shack. With the ground being unfrozen under the snow this year I needed to expose areas so they could freeze and handle the weight of the equipment I needed to bring on the golf course

Driver weaving the "Honey Wagon" through the trees

All restrooms located on the golf course are on septic and of the 3 tanks only one had been pumped in my time there.

Sucking out the tank

During the process we discovered a problem in one of the tanks.  A root ball had grown inside the tank at the snack shack and had broken off.  Potentially, the "floater" could plug the inlet or discharge side of the tank so we made the choice to dig up the septic tank lid and remove the root ball (it was too big to fit through the access port).

Betcha' didn't know that is where the septic is!

Goo and Root

Removing root ball...carefully!

The snow was too deep to get to #12 but with cart paths on either side of that particular restroom we should be able pump out that septic most any time.  That same week we began limbing the tree that blew over on 6 fwy and I cut off the root ball had a back hoe come in and haul it off the course.

Knocking of excess before hauling it away

By the end of week we'd finished most of the bull work with minimal disruption from either the pumper truck or either back hoes and I began to remove snow off #7 and #15 greens. I needed to knock down the snow on #15 with black sand to make removing the snow more manageable. It's still a work in progress but I was able to clear #7 and remove the tarp. Much to my dismay there was disease under tarp, again! It's no where near as bad as last year but it's far from perfect. The worst part is as I began to see other greens open up I saw more signs of disease so I've spent the last 5 days removing snow from all greens in a hope to lessen the severity of the disease. I'll keep you informed once I get all greens cleared and things dry out.

In Like a Lion.....

You know the old saying.  I guess we just have to wait until the end of the month to see if it's true.  The impact of this type of snow and cold over last couple weeks on the course should be negligible.  It's put a bit of brake on attempting to do any work on the course but the good news about March snow is it seems to melt faster with the longer and warmer (?) days.  Things are still frozen and since we've been cold there hasn't really been any more ice develop.  Possibly this snow may provide some insulation so any heat coming from the ground might warm the surfaces under the snow and help melt any ice that has already formed....probably just wishful thinking.

As we get closer to opening some of the planned projects are coming on line.  The clubhouse will receive a thorough cleaning and painting throughout the upstairs dining room, washroom, and kitchen areas.  Also, the wheels have started to turn on the golf clubs water connection to the Mathew Creek water line.  I referenced connecting to Mathew Creek in the past (go HERE) and with money from the sale of assets last fall it was decided that now would be the time to establish an emergency/back up water source.  It's not perfect but for our cash situation it's a reasonable alternative.  It might be extremely fortuitous that we choose this year to finally address an alternative water source since the River Forecast Center shows the East Kootenay at 80% of normal snow amounts.  If we continue to see dry and above normal temperatures for the summer our source at the river might dry up sooner than normal.

We've actually been busy at the shop for a February since the new mechanic we hired started earlier than usual.  Unlike last year when the dude I hired in June sort of got baptized by fire, I wanted the new hire this time out to have the option to get familiar with the equipment and type of maintenance required before staff comes back and things start falling apart.  He's been at it for a month and has cleaned up a lot of  loose ends left dangling from last year and is making very short order of the repair list I created at the beginning of February.

We will start to move out onto the course this month and most likely we'll begin removing snow from the tarped greens (starting on #15) before or near the middle of the month, weather depended.  We also plan on removing some trees (a couple missed green attack Ponderosa pine) on the left of 2 green and some on the left of 12 green and possibly the back of 15 green .  Next time out I'll give some detail and pictures highlighting those events.

Early Spring Update

I've begun to plough some cart paths so I have a way to get around and in the process I've checked the surfaces of some of the greens.  So far things still appear pretty good.  In some cases the snow level is as low as 9" with no obvious ice.  Other greens with more snow (14") have changed.  The surface ice visible a few weeks ago has now become sort of less "ice like" (?) and those greens themselves are mostly thawed.  We've been below seasonal norms the past couple weeks so I am glad we're not in a situation where we would have to remove ice; it just doesn't work very well and usually creates more problems.  The river forecasting centre has the snow pack around 97% of normal for this time of year which hopefully translate into a long sustained run off. 

When I am not ploughing snow I am prepping/painting the accessories (flag stick, garbage cans, blah, blah, blah) getting them ready for this season. Also, as part of preparations for the up coming season I sent out a survey to certain people.  If you received it please compete it (it's only 10 questions) as I am seeking your input.  I'll discuss the result in a post after the AGM in February.

Rule of 1/3's

You could divide the off season in 1/3's.  The first third starts once everything is put to bed and after the first substantial snow fall that is too much to reasonably remove, somewhere around 6-8".  During that time you're on pins and needles praying for more snow and no rain.  The middle third is now: full on winter.  If there is any warmth during the day it very short lived.  Hopefully, there is enough cover to withstand the dreaded mid-winter season "warm spell/rain event".  The weather is generally cold and I am mostly inside.  It's only me and, as anti-social as it sounds, I like it because there is very few distractions.  The final third begins somewhere around mid-February.  With the days getting longer and with some heat in the sun its not unusual to see some turf areas begin to open up.  Also, if you have ice problems now is the time when you start to addressing them.  Any earlier doesn't necessarily make sense based mostly on the short days, lack of warmth, and the potential for severe winter weather. 

Along with the first 1/3 the final 1/3 is where, I feel, some of the greatest potential for turf damage can occur.  Mostly this suspicion relates to damage caused by the development of ice (leading to anoxia: low oxygen) and its removal (possibly causing crown hydration: water taken up by the turf freezes and burst cells when temperature drops).  But even without ice an early melt that saturates the surface followed by a severe temperature drop or sustain cold snap can also lead to damage (again, crown hydration).  The one good thing about the final 1/3 of the season is you can usually address problems and somewhat lessen their severity since the weather in usually changing for the better.

Sometimes you get a season like we've had so far.  The first 1/3 was not the best but we've had way worse.  I suspect the biggest impact may be increased disease on those fairways that were sprayed early on for snow mould and saw a very large amount of rain on a treatment that doesn't like rain.  Right now we are in the middle 1/3 and I feel sort of guilty since it has been an easy time with no obvious problems.  We did get some ice as mentioned in a earlier post but as of yesterday it is still pretty loose and things look and smell "green".  If the rest of the off season remains similar we could be coming through looking pretty good.  Oops, I jinxed it, didn't I?

Winter Preparations

Just a post summing up where I am with respect to being ready for winter.  This past week I applied the last treatment to the greens and finished the fairways as well as installed all the posts for the fencing around select greens.  Generally speaking the greens are entering the winter in good condition with #7 being the worst since it never really grew out the fall disease and seems to have developed more over the past few weeks.  Since the last spray was completed we will now put up fences (too late for some greens) and start in on tarping.
A refresher on tarps is here if you are so inclined otherwise read on.  The two impermeables are out and ready to be deployed but I'm waiting for more winter like weather.  The semi-permeables are on #1, #6, #7, #9 and #12.  I threw 9 and 12 into the mix because of how they overwintered this past year and the hope is the extra coverage may help limit damage if they become exposed or if ice develops (I've had some success removing ice from the semi-permeables quicker than from a greens surface in the past).
Tarps aren't my favorite because they introduce another variable in the overwintering of greens which can be negative.  You heard me talk of anoxia (low oxygen) in regards to both ice and tarps. Obviously, if there is thick ice tarps help remove the ice but don't do anything in the case of anoxia which can occur because of ice or because of impermeable tarps - go here for a history.  Anoxia is sort of hit and miss when it comes to tarps, and luckily we've been in a mostly miss situation.  However, this year I am experimenting with a product that could help.

Enkamat

Enkamat is really an erosion control mat but it is also being marketed as "a three-dimensional lofty matrix that provides a protective layer over vulnerable turf. Enkamat prevents the formation of an ice layer over greens that can seal turf, and prevent gas and oxygen exchange that is vital to turf health".  I plan to use the "lofty matrix" trait to provide an air layer under a section of the impermeable tarp on 7 green.  I'll be comparing it with our usual covering system on 7 green (green covered with semi-perm. covered with imperm.) along with just the impermeable directly on the surface.  That all sounds awkward so take a look:

Layout of Tarps Under Impermeable

I will cover this whole mish-mash with the impermeable and see if the Enkamat is benefit or no different than what we normally do.  I also plan to lay the mat on back of 9 green surface by itself where ice has been a problem to see what the product can do if ice again develops there.  Further, I will put a strip on top of the tarp on 15 green where we always get ice no matter what and see if, when the time comes, does the mat speed the ice removal or not.  One more thing I plan to do is cover the entire top end of the new putting green that was hammered this spring to see what will happen....which can't be much worse that what happened this spring!

More Winter Activities

As is my style, I have not been keeping up on my commitment to explain some of our winter tasks so I'll try to remedy that now. Part of our time is spent primping and/or fixing the golf course accessories (i.e. ball washers, benches, garbage cans, etc., etc.). Mostly this is pretty mundane stuff so I'll pick the one which maybe slightly out of the ordinary. One of the items that everyone gets up close and personal with every time they golf is the flag stick. With all the handling that occurs throughout the season the flag can look pretty beat up in a short time.

Chipped flag pole

Purely by trial and error we have realized some brands withstand the groping better than others but eventually they all reach a point where they need painting. We've tried touching up spots but the paint never matches so this time out we strip the poles.

Spinning pole and
belt sander

The process we ultimately went with involved spinning the pole on an electric motor and sanding off the paint with a belt sander and 60 grit paper. We finished off with a very quick hand job using a finer grit to take care of the fiberglass slivers. It took about 10 minutes per pole to remove most of the paint.

Sanded
Pole

We used the same machine to paint the poles with three coats of whites and two coats of red to give the barber pole sort of look.

Original pole on left
Refinished pole on right

Replacement on these poles is $40 to $50 (or at least it was the last time we bought some!). Materials to do 24 poles was less than $100. Each pole from start to finish took about one hour so 3 complete days in all. Including wages refinishing was about 30 to 40 percent cheaper than buying new. The big unknown is how well the paint will stand up. We are hoping to get up to 2 years between paint jobs....time will tell. I guess the other thing is now that we've done it once we should be quicker since most of the bugs have been worked out.