Frozen bentgrass greens Cancel The title field is required!

1. Lydell Mack

   

   0 posts
   
   1/19/2016 12:01 PM

   We are all in agreement when it comes to the necessity for frost delays, but what about playing on frozen bentgrass greens? My personal philosophy has been to keep off of frozen turf until thawing has taken place, but many courses in my area are allowing play immediately after frost has melted, whether frozen or not. Anyone know of anything definitive on the subject?

   
   
   
   
2. Andrew Cross

   

   5 posts
   
   1/19/2016 12:01 PM

   We are in the Chicago area and have a 32 degree rule, no play unless it is above 32 and frost is burned off. We close for the winter so its not an issue too long after Thanksgiving.

   
   
   
   
3. Jeffrey Sexton

   

   0 posts
   
   1/19/2016 4:01 PM

   Frozen in Southern Indiana works as long as the frost burns off. We do not play if the surface is in the process of thawing. I do not allow golf if the upper rootzone is thawed and the lower is frozen. This means broken roots below a golf shoe.

   
   
   
   
4. Christopher Thuer

   

   101 posts
   
   1/19/2016 4:01 PM

   Root zone mix can make a difference. All of my previous positions were at courses with soil greens. Only 1 was not closed in the winter. The others at least closed the greens and played on temps or completely closed. We didn't play on the greens until after mowing a few times.
   
   I currently manage USGA mix greens and we remain open all winter. I have never seen damage caused by play on thawing/partly frozen greens on these greens in 14 winters.

   
   Chris Thuer, CGCS, Bear Slide Golf Club, Cicero, IN
   
   
5. Keith Fellenstein

   

   0 posts
   
   1/20/2016 11:01 AM

   Frozen turf, no play. Frozen soil is a different story. I would prefer to stay closed, but that isn't practical. Have not seen any damage as long as the plants have thawed. We do not perform any mowing or rolling until the profile is completely thawed.

   
   
   
   
6. Joshua Sawyer

   

   0 posts
   
   1/20/2016 11:01 AM

   About the same here...I will allow play if the soil is frozen, but no frost on surface. The idea being that any root/crown shearing should be minimized by the frozen soil. However, there is certainly a grey area where that soil interface is crunchy if it isn't frozen-we will not be open in that scenario. I always feel like its a bit of a gamble though...

   
   
   
   
7. Joe Wachter

   

   5 posts
   
   1/21/2016 2:01 PM

   Same as Josh and Keith. Frozen soil, they can play. Frozen/frost plants must wait for thaw. February thaw or sometimes January we usually shut down until frost has moved out as has water. If like a sponge, we hold until drained enough. Usually 3 days for the most part but sometimes longer. We don't have to worry about 100-150 rounds like some folks, so I would understand if restrictions were tightened a little bit due to heavy use.

   
   
   
   
8. Hamilton Griffith

   

   0 posts
   
   1/27/2016 6:01 AM

   At one time I did keep people off of frozen greens until a highly respected neighboring course put a little pressure on us by allowing play during those times. After talking to the superintendent and discovering that after many years of allowing play, he had never seen any adverse effects from it, I decided to try it. We have been allowing play on frozen greens for about 5 years now and I haven't seen any damage or adverse effects. I do not put any type of machine on them while they are frozen or thawing though. Lydell, look forward to seeing you at the next Georgia GCSAA meeting.
   
   Scott Griffith
   UGA Golf Course

   
   
   
   
9. McBurnett Lee H

   
   1/27/2016 8:01 AM

   We play on our greens as soon as frost is burnt off. I think most everyone would rather not play if root one is still frozen. However we have never seen ill effects from allowing golfers to play

   
   
   
   
10. James Moore_2

    

    1 posts
    
    1/28/2016 10:01 AM

    Don,t you have unfixable ball mark damage or do you light top-dress biweekly to cover damage?

    
    
    
    
11. Brent Venenga

    

    0 posts
    
    1/28/2016 2:01 PM

    We let golfers play whenever they want to. I can usually keep them off until the frost burns off. We have ball mark damage but we have that in the middle of the summer also. I've never had damage from playing on frozen bent.

    
    
    
    
12. Christopher Thuer

    

    101 posts
    
    1/28/2016 6:01 PM

    James Moore said: Don,t you have unfixable ball mark damage or do you light top-dress biweekly to cover damage?

    
    James,
    
    A third or so of our winter play is from our pass holders who take good care of the course. The fee play is mostly from die hard better golfers from area private clubs that are closed and they do a decent job taking care of the course too. Thus, the greens don't look any more beat up than they do in the summer. We do not topdress before or during the winter.
    
    The worst golfers seem to be the discount golfers playing on the winter rates from about late March or when it warms up to April 15 when our rates go up, then again from Mid October, when we punch greens and drop our rates, until mid November or so when it gets too cold for them. All areas of the course take a beating during those times: unrepaired ball marks and divots, carts in restricted areas like no mows and off paths by greens and tees, unraked bunkers, etc. The only good thing about April 15 is our rates going back up.

    
    Chris Thuer, CGCS, Bear Slide Golf Club, Cicero, IN