WINTER PLAY...AND THE REST OF THE STORY

FINALLY I READ SOMETHING USEFUL CONCERNING THE WEATHER AND YOU COURSE (March issue of Golf Digest)!!

Winter in Elk City is sometimes difficult to understand for the golfer. We are a place where the ground goes in and out of thawing when as the temperatures change up to 50 degrees from one day to another.

Our general rule in Elk City, which is pretty safe for the course -you do want to have a fairly well course, don't you?- is to allow golfers on at 40 degrees or when the frost is totally gone off the greens. 

Usually, we get a few people -not belligerent as the article here in Golf Digest says-, who insist in going out saying, "we'll be careful". Really? How can you carefully walk on a green that has frost on it and not damage it? Impossible. Tip, even if you wear "Air Jordan" shoes, it does not mean you are walking on air, you need the ground to support you and if there is any weight on the ground, where the blades of the grass have frost (the blades are frozen), you step on these and they break, just like an icicle.

In the march issue of Golf Digest, there is an interesting article called "S#!T WEATHER, The Survival Guide for playing in bad weather" (Matt Adler). I really found it interesting, but there was one part of the article that really helps golf courses convey why is it that you can't go out under certain weather and temperature conditions...

The article describes how to play in frozen temperatures, cold, rainy, etc., BUT IT ALSO DESCRIBES WHEN YOU SHOULD LEAVE YOUR CLUBS IN THE TRUNK AND GO HAVE SOME COFFEE!, here is what it says concerning your course (in case you can't read the picture):

Is it playable? The person with the firm answer is your course superintendent. If there is frost on the ground, then no. "Grass is 90% water. When the cells freeze, they become brittle, and a single footstep, will shatter the plant's structure," says Keith Ihms, president of the Golf Course Superintendents of America. "Two or three days after the golfer walks on frozen grass, it dies. There is nothing you can do once the wound has been inflicted." You would think it means 32 Fahrenheit is the magic number for course safety, but vagaries in dewpoit and ground temperature make it trickier.

"It isn't completely understood when frost will do damage." says Chris Hartwiger, Director of the USGA Course Consulting Service. "There is sometimes a 15-to-20 minute window when the frost is there and the plant isn't as rigid as it once was, and it'd be safe to walk on." This window typically coincides with a group of golfers, belligerent from having drunk more coffee than intended, banging on the starter's window. The practice green and first tee look fine, but these guys can't see the second green, which is shaded by pines and gathers humidity and is frosted as Ia Poulter's hair tips.

The right thing is to always be conservative and just wait until the frost is off all the greens," Hartwiger says.

So why do some courses, particularly in the North-East, allow play all winter (Note: obviously when not snow covered)? Answer: Because the grass isn't growing. "if grass is dormant, and the turf is basically frozen, the golfers can have at it" Ihms says, "IT IS ONLY WHEN THE GROUND IS GOING IN AND OUT OF THAWING (*) THAT YOU CAN DO REAL DAMAGE"

(*) As in Elk City...

NOW, YOU KNOW THE REST OF THE STORY