Well what more can I say it is certainly not the same as last spring, in that the course was open for play and we mowed the green 3 times already.
Last week, I worked on clearing snow off some paths and yesterday we were out scouting the condition of the greens. I have been keeping an eye on the ice situation. Worst is anywhere from no ice to 4 inches of ice on a few greens. Yesterday, I wanted to make an attempt to clear off some snow from 2 green which is about the most snow and ice that I have seen in years. 4 inches of snow on top of nearly 5 inches of ice. After at least one hour getting to 2 green we managed to remove only the top layer of snow down to the ice layer. I was able to expose a small portion of the turf under the ice and noticed a very faint odor of anaerobic conditions. To the best of my understanding this ice formed in mid January. I exposed a few other areas of turf on 5, 4, 3 6 greens and noticed that if the ice is under 2 inches the turf has no odor over 2 inches the smell is faint. If you can remember back a few years ago we had similar conditions but the ice was formed much earlier. The odor was much stronger actually it was so bad that you could smell the dead grass even before the ice was removed. Is this the same??? I do not think so but removing the snow from the green right now is not an option we just can't get around the course. Am I worried yet?? this is not a simple answer, I sure would like the snow and ice gone, the smell is very faint at this point and the sooner we are open the better. I feel we may have some minor issues out there but not too nervous YET.
Last week, I worked on clearing snow off some paths and yesterday we were out scouting the condition of the greens. I have been keeping an eye on the ice situation. Worst is anywhere from no ice to 4 inches of ice on a few greens. Yesterday, I wanted to make an attempt to clear off some snow from 2 green which is about the most snow and ice that I have seen in years. 4 inches of snow on top of nearly 5 inches of ice. After at least one hour getting to 2 green we managed to remove only the top layer of snow down to the ice layer. I was able to expose a small portion of the turf under the ice and noticed a very faint odor of anaerobic conditions. To the best of my understanding this ice formed in mid January. I exposed a few other areas of turf on 5, 4, 3 6 greens and noticed that if the ice is under 2 inches the turf has no odor over 2 inches the smell is faint. If you can remember back a few years ago we had similar conditions but the ice was formed much earlier. The odor was much stronger actually it was so bad that you could smell the dead grass even before the ice was removed. Is this the same??? I do not think so but removing the snow from the green right now is not an option we just can't get around the course. Am I worried yet?? this is not a simple answer, I sure would like the snow and ice gone, the smell is very faint at this point and the sooner we are open the better. I feel we may have some minor issues out there but not too nervous YET.