Winter greenkeeping

[Mark_Rowlinson]

It's wet, cold, dark and miserable.  In this part of England it won't change much between now and the beginning of April.  But golf is still played and various measures are adopted by clubs to preserve and protect their courses:

Greens.  In frosty weather most clubs move onto temporary greens, a pre-prepared patch of fairway anything up to 100 yards short of the real green, mown a little shorter than usual.  In some cases the cup is about twice the normal size.  I know of one or two clubs which, in wet or cold circumstances, cut the hole at the back portion of the putting surface and ask golfers to enter and leave the green by the back.  Most clubs draw white lines short of the greens and beyond the bunkers to the side.  Trolleys are not allowed inside the white line.  I know of three local clubs (Wilmslow, Dunham Forest and Sandiway) which habitually take an overly shaded hole out of play for the whole of the winter, having a spare hole to insert elswhere in the round.

Fairways.  Some clubs ban trolleys and buggies all winter, others simply when it is too wet.  Some clubs ask golfers to carry a mat from which all fairway shots are played.  At Conwy you have the option of either teeing the ball up on the fairway or moving the ball to the semi-rough at the side of the fairway.  It's not always a straightforward choice.  Almost everywhere Winter Rules will be played, allowing the lifting and cleaning of the ball on the fairway with the option of replacing it within a few inches of where it came to rest.

Tees.  Some clubs are lucky enough to have sufficient choice of teeing grounds to be able to play from grass tees all winter, but most will be in forward positions (perhaps regular ladies' or juniors' tees) and some will be tees not used at all in summer conditions.  Others, in more restricted circumstances, may lay matting tees and insist that all tee shots are played from these.  

Of course our climate is very different from North America, much of Continental Europe and Australasia but I'd be interested in your views on what are good winter greenkeeping practices and those that are just an infuriating nuisance.

[Craig Sweet]

Here in Montana we have to close the course at some point. Right now we have frost delays, and we often have to wait for the greens to thaw out. That has generally been by 10:00 or 10:30 in the morning. The temperatures are only getting into the 40's so its pretty damn chilly for most of the day! We're not using temp. greens, but we are using temp. tee's on the par 3's and we have closed one of the practice greens.

This has been an unusually mild Fall and I expect this week will be the last golf played on our course until Spring.

[Brian_Gracely]

Mark,

In the US, temporary greens are pretty boring as they are just a mowed piece of fairway, which is usually flat.  But I can imagine that there could be some really interesting temporary fairway greens in the UK on those rolling fairways of the link courses.  

I'm thinking of #13 at Troon or something very undulating like that.

[Mark_Rowlinson]

Brian,

I've not played Troon in frost so I'm not even sure if they have temporary greens.  Generally speaking in the UK they mow a circle on the flattest bit of fairway they can find so they are just as boring as yours.  Unfortunately the grass is coarse and putting is silly - a lottery.  I always think they should paint three circles around a flagstick - don't bother to dig a hole.  Inside the inner circle you're given 1 putt, inside the second 2 putts, inside the third 3 putts.

Interestingly, at Troon in winter I have played the Old Postage Stamp, which is from the same tee to a green to the left of the big mound beside the normal green, mostly hidden from view in a depression with some very wild country all around.  It's a horribly difficult target and almost certainly a lost ball if you fail to find the green.  Even if you do find your ball the recovery shot will be every bit as hard as recovery onto the summer green, if not harder.  They also maintain a tee on the 6th with the markers pointing at 90-degrees to the fairway.  This is to allow you to play to the 14th green (again across some wild country) if you want to play a short round.  The 2nd is played from a winter tee to the left of the 1st green making it a right-to-left dog-leg.  The summer tees are off to the right of the 1st green when the hole plays as a very slight left-to-right dog-leg.

I'm thinking of posting some photos of Royal Ashdown in the British Courses series.  These were photos taken in frosty conditions and they were playing the real greens.  I'm told it doesn't do any harm if the greens are properly frozen.  It is if they are thawing that you should keep off them.

[ForkaB]

Thought I'd pass on this piece I wrote for my "blog."

Winter Golf in Scotland

October is the finest month, covering
warm but cooling turf with dying leaves
full of breezes that do not waft, but prevail;
descending into darkness, with shafts of light.

On my home course, the winter greens are appearing. They have been demarcated for several weeks now with lines of lime and even officious signs, but as the year grinds to an end, they are becoming more lifelike very day.

It will not be long that we will be playing "winter greens," patches of mown fairway to the front and side of our "regular" greens. So small (200 sq. ft. or so) that they can be hit only by the most accurate and creative shot, and yet so close to the tee that you think you should hit them all, even those still 450 yards away......

fortunately, the days when we will be playing only winter greens will be few and far between. On an average day, there will be only 3-5 of the regular greens will be out of play, due to early morning frost. On at least 1/3 of the winter days we will be able to play to all 18 of them. It will be a rare (but excitingly bracing) day when all winter greens will be in play.

My course is probably an "average" one for Scotland--on the water, but with "parkland" turf. Inland parkland courses will rarely see their regular greens from November to early March, whilst proper links courses will probably not even see the need for "winter" greens.

Regardless of the condition or set-up of the course, however, winter golf in Scotland is a pervasive and often magical thing. For the most avid golfers there are regular inter- and intraclub competitions. Where I play, in Fife, the Scratch Winter League runs from October to March, and is as competitive team matches as one gets all year. At my club, the Winter-long 4-ball knockout is one of our most popular competitions. For less avid golfers, wintertime is chance to get out on the course for a brisk walk with your friends, or even yourself. For parents, it is a chance to get out with your children without fear of mindless reprobation.

The light in Scotland can be amazing in October. In the deepest days of the winter, the sun hardly rises above the horizon before it is time to slide back into the West, leaving only traces of light pink and dark blue to let you know that there has been a day at all. In October, the pinks are pinker and the blues bluer, and they last longer than they will do in the months to come.

But, even in the darkest days, you can still golf, and golf well. On Christmas Eve you can golf in your shirtsleeves in Dornoch, at the latitude of Juneau and Moscow. In Fife, you can play 5 holes in a blinding snowstorm in February, go sledding with your children that afternoon (after a malt whisky or two in the clubhouse....), and then play the next day when the snow has melted. And then.......before you know it, it is March, and the snowdrops are come and gone and the daffodils are out in all their colour and turf is warming, and the "true" golfing season is upon you again.

I, for one, always look forward to that day, but I will never ever regret that there has been a winter. In many ways, winter golf in Scotland is as good as it gets.