Much of the north-central U.S. has been blanketed with snow for an extended period, but the snow is melting quickly with recent warm temperatures. There is no doubt that golfers will be looking to schedule tee times as soon as possible, but expectations must be tempered for the conditions they will experience.
If the playing surfaces are free of snow but still frozen below the surface, reopening the course may be delayed to avoid issues that can occur from traffic on partially frozen ground. There is a risk of surface disruption that comes with foot and cart traffic on a soft surface with frozen ground beneath, and potential root damage that could result in turf health being compromised later in the season.
Extended snow cover also limits what can be completed from a debris cleanup standpoint, so golfers can expect to see pockets of leaves and limbs throughout the course. In time, the agronomic team will address these areas, but cleaning up a course after winter is time consuming – especially because seasonal employees have not been hired yet.
Cart restrictions will likely need to be put in place because the course will be saturated from snow melting. It takes longer for playing surfaces to dry during late winter than in the spring because turf is not growing, sun angles are lower, day length is shorter and temperatures are colder.
It may seem obvious, but no maintenance has been performed on the playing surfaces recently. When compared to the peak part of the golf season, conditions will be soft, fairway lies will not be tight, and ball roll on putting greens will be bumpy. As weather conditions improve going into spring so will playing conditions, but the timing of this transition will ultimately be determined by Mother Nature.
Warmer weather will be welcomed by all, but golfers must have realistic expectations as the first rounds are played for the year. For those who play golf in warm places during the winter, they should not expect comparable conditions from courses that were recently covered in snow. Reach out to your regional USGA agronomist for help navigating the challenges of getting the course prepared for the upcoming season.
Central Region Agronomists:
Zach Nicoludis, regional director, Central Region – znicoludis@usga.org
Tom Gould, agronomist – tgould@usga.org