The Joys of Winter

Rain in early January created a buildup of ice on greens three and four. The presence of ice on a putting green can be devastating to what once was a healthy stand of turfgrass. There are varying opinions as to what actually happens to turf when it is under ice. The most common explanation as to why turfgrass can’t survive in these conditions is that the plant suffocates. Even through the winter months, the plant is respiring, meaning it is taking in carbon dioxide and emitting oxygen. The presence of a layer of ice completely covering the plant means this gas exchange can’t take place and results in the death of the plant. After detecting the presence of ice on greens three and four, the decision was made to remove the ice in an effort to avoid any damage that might occur. Here are a few pictures of the process of removing the snow and ice.

This is a trailer that is typically used for transporting greens mowers in the summer that has been modified with snowmobile skis in order to transport a snow blower.

The first step is to find where the ice has formed under the snow. (We are standing on #3 green.)

Where there is ice, we can safely use the snow blower to remove snow without damaging the green surface.

We find the edge of the ice with shovels to avoid running the snow blower on the turf.

This is what is left after removing all the snow: the ice layer on the green.

The ice buildup was close to two inches in places.

Once the snow has been removed, solar radiation unfreezes the ice from the surface of the green allowing us to easily remove the ice from the surface with shovels. As to why there was ice only on greens three and four, we believe it is due to the snow depth. It is often slightly more windy in this area of the golf course. The increased wind blows the snow off this area and also promotes more melting.