The Never Ending Winter

Hello MLGCC! After a long cold winter, we are happy to be back online and bringing you updates about our beautiful golf course.

Most would tend to agree when we say this has been one of the worst winters for total snowfall and cold temperatures all across the province. For those of us who spend all year round here at the course and in the Muskoka, the sight of turf and the feeling of warmer temperatures has been welcomed with open arms. The golf season is fast approaching but first we would like to give you an update on how the winter went.

Throughout the winter, the greens staff recorded snowfall dates and totals for record keeping. Not only is this an interesting statistic to keep, but it aids us in determining turf health.

The golf course had its first snowfall on December 9th and we didn't see the turf again for almost 140 days. The winter was consistently cold and produced over 4 meters of snow. After some slow winters in years past, mother nature really let us know her fury this time around. There were times when it was very difficult just to get around the course in our snow equipment.

Due to the amount of snow we had this winter, new techniques were used to make sure the greens were going to come out of the winter as healthy as possible. Black sand was applied to greens surfaces starting at the beginning of March to help try and speed up the melt. With virtually no ice at the greens surface this winter, we were able to almost control how fast we wanted snow to melt off the surface of the green using the black sand. The great part about the black sand is that it is the same grade of sand we use to top-dress the greens with throughout the summer. This means if any were to get on the green after the cover removal, it would not effect our infiltration/ percolation rates on the surface and throughout the soil.

The following is a series of pictures of how the black sand worked on our 8th green.

First application of black sand on 8 in early March.

8 green after 3 applications

First cut on 8 last week

Unfortunately, our fellow turf managers in the city experienced what we did last year. The difference for us this year was a solid snow cover with limited freezing and thawing. The large amount of snow creates an excellent insulation from cold winds and the odd rain storm you could receive throughout the winter. Snow cover also allows gas exchange down near the turf plant. Ice traps that gas and does not allow the plant to breath. This is called anoxia. We had an ideal golf course winter with plenty of gas exchange and limited ice formation. 

Now that the snow is behind us, preparations for opening weekend have begun. First, the crew will be cleaning up the entire course of branches and other miscellaneous items. First cuts on greens, tees, collars and approaches have been done. This weeks soggy weather has delayed the first cut on fairways but they should be done by early next week. 

The irrigation system has been fired up and we are ready to put water out when we need it. This process takes about two days as we do not want to fill it to fast and risk causing any damage to the system.

May 9th is the scheduled opening date. By then, all course hardware including benches, ball washers, water coolers, tee blocks and pins will be out.
 

We are very excited about the beginning of the golf season after the long, cold winter. Last year was a tough start to the season but we feel this season we are going to start off on the right foot.

We are excited to keep you updated throughout the season and hope you enjoy opening weekend and the exciting season ahead!