Covering The 6th Green

This winter will mark the second winter in a row that we are covering the 6th green with the bubble wrap and non permeable plastic cover (Green Jacket ice shield). This system has been developed and successfully implemented at The Glendale Golf and Country Club over the last few years. However I want to see how it performs at The Royal Mayfair with our unique environmental conditions down here in the river valley. This winter is shaping up to be different than 2012 when the snow cover was pretty much ideal for overwintering sensitive turf. It may come to pass that we eventually cover all the greens. Or not. Another option is the conversion to bentgrass that I've mentioned previously but that discussion is for another time.

The purpose of covering the green is to greatly reduce the effects of freeze / thaw weather patterns or to keep freezing rain events from causing ice on top of minimal snow cover. Fresh air is blown under the cover and bubble warp every 10 to 14 days throughout the winter because there is minimal oxygen available to the turf. It's still a living organism requiring gas exchange even though it is almost completely dormant. When snow is present on top of the cover surface temperatures stay between -5C to -1C even when air temperatures are far below zero. This is very similar to the same naturally occurring phenomenon that happens in nature depending on snow type, depth  and moisture content.

The following pictures show the 4 main stages of covering a green. You'll notice that we have shoveled off the green. When the snow fell the green wasn't frozen enough so exposure to a few very cold nights took care of that.

1.) Laying down 3 rows of inflatable perforated plastic tubing. We don't use hard drain tile as the mice will travel along the edges and can cause damage to the turf.

2.) Connecting the plastic tubing to sections of non perforated drain tile that run outside the cover. Each line is then attached to posts beside the green. Back pack blowers are inserted into the end of the tile and fresh air is then blown in (about 10 minutes). If you recall the video from last year it showed the heavy snow cover lifting up and then settling back down when the blowers were shut off. The fresh air is being being pushed laterally to all areas of the green at that point.

3.) The bubble wrap is laid down with the side everyone likes to pop facing the turf (more air channels).

4.) The non permeable cover is laid over top and spiked down along the edges. On the high sides we use 1/4" plywood strips to assist in keeping a tight fit to the undulating surface. This helps reduce the potential for runoff  travelling under the cover. The other option is to "tuck in" the tarp by cutting the turf but the ground is frozen so that won't work in this case.

All done.I hope this further adds to your knowledge base or begins to pique your interest in our turf management practices here at The Royal Mayfair.

All for now,

Wade