An Update To Take Your Mind Off The Wonderful Weather Today

Early this week we made the decision to remove the snow from the 4 practice greens. The warmup green and the 2 new bentgrass greens were clear on Wednesday and the putting green was about 50% clear. Our plan was to get those areas ready to go as soon as possible while you wait for us to prepare the other 18 greens. The weather forecast has put a full stop to everything. We treated the exposed greens with a spring application of fungicide and we will now wait out the cold conditions. The deep snow cover on the golf course greens will keep surface temperatures at or near zero. The value of an effective fungicide now becomes apparent. It will be over 150 days of continuous snow cover on the greens and by the middle of the month it will be 170+ days of  snow cover on the tees and fairways.

If you recall last October we were fortunate to get all our main turf areas treated with over winter fungicides before the snow  arrived on the 15th of the month. Unfortunately we couldn't treat any of the side banks and susceptible areas of rough that always seem to be affected by snow mold. As well there will likely be some ice damage on fairways due to a few freeze/thaw periods early in the winter. The low spots tend to be comprised mostly of Poa annua and that's where water accumulates. That combination of factors doesn't bode well over a long winter.Time will tell.

Back to the exposed greens. They look pretty good especially at the short game practice area (remember they are new bentgrass). The Poa on the older greens will probably cause us some grief here and there but it is too early to tell. In past years I've seen it look good and then have it go backwards a few days later so I'm being cautious in my assessment. A few pictures and some short comments are all I  can give you until the sun shines again.

Snow mold is severe on the trail we blew off to the greens at the practice area. It looks bad but the turf tends to recover quicker in the rough.

Notice the definition between the treated green/collar and the rough. I think that will be a common look on many golf courses in the Edmonton area.

Snow blower damage. That is why I don't like mechanical removal of snow cover without a solid layer of ice. Unfortunately we will need to blow off some of the greens next week. Proceed with caution and repair as necessary with our nursery turf.

Notice the aeration holes filled with sand. There is still quite a bit of sand on the surface to spread around when we clean up the greens. All good.


It looks like I have one more weekend to reflect on life before we come out of the starting gate. Enjoy yours.
Wade