Design in winter conditions

[Jari Rasinkangas]

When designing golf courses in places where winter conditions are difficult (cold temperatures, ice covers etc.) certain things have to be taken care of.  The most important I guess is to have enough slope on all surfaces to get water off the course before winter comes.  Then of course all northern slopes and shaded areas should be avoided to get grass to start more quickly in spring time.

Do you have any design issues that have proven to be efficient to fight against hard winter conditions or that help course to start faster in spring?

Jari

[Tyler Kearns]

Jari,

Here in the cold climate of the Canadian priaries, positive surface drainage is very important. In spring, we cannot rely on drain lines beneath the green, because they are often frozen as the ground slowly thaws. Therefore, water must be able to vacate the green surface naturally or else damage to the grass is likely to occur - which can be costly to repair, and an inconvienence to the membership.

TK

[Jari Rasinkangas]

Tyler,

We have the same problems here in Finland too.  The ground is frozen usually two to three weeks after snow melts so there is no subsurface drainage then.  We also cannot use irrigation to help keep the greens moist because the pipes would freeze then.  The only way is to keep protective covers to prevent drying.

Jari

[Don_Mahaffey]

Jari,
It's helpful if the first few holes have plenty of southerly exposure. In the North frost delays are common in late spring and early fall and it's good for business if the first few holes are the first to thaw. Seems simple, but I'm not so sure it's always part of the routing equation.

[A_Clay_Man]

Jari- Is covering, the only option? And how prevelant, and for what duration, is this drying-out period?

Is spraying a little water, perhaps from a truck, a better alternative (avoids using the system)?

Do you battle Poa Annua over there?

[Jari Rasinkangas]

Adam,

The covering is common routine on Finnish courses.  It is a thin fabric that is also commonly used on gardens to prevent frost bites.  The fabric is put on the greens when the snow melts.  The fabric also breathes so it doesn't kill the grass if it gets warmer.

During nights it keeps greens above freezing point while the nights still can be quite cold.  It also keeps greens more moist and prevents from drying when cold winds are blowing.  In May when the season starts in Oulu where I live the biggest problems are cold nights, cold winds and very little rain.  The dry season usually lasts about one month.  The time between when the snow melts and the irrigation can be used is usually a couple of weeks.

We haven't used any manual watering because the covers usually keep greens moist enough.

We are not fighting against Poa anymore because it is our grass on greens nowadays.  When the course was opened in 1992 we first had a fescue mix on greens but it did not survive the heavy stress of players.  We then tried with greeping bentgrass but it did not survive during winter.  All greens were totally dead after winters and then it recovered too slowly after reseeding it.  We then changed to Poa Annua but of course it does not give very goof putting surface.  In late 90's I discovered new variety of Poa called Poa Annua var. reptans (creeping bluegrass) that is a biannual Poa that has been developed in the University of Minnesota.  It's brand name is DW-184.

Here's some info about DW-184: http://www.gcsaa.org/gcm/1997/nov97/11talk.html

We have had this new Poa on our greens for few years now.  It has given the best results we have ever had on our greens.  It is much darker and gets thicker than ordinary Poa.  It also can survive the winter that Poa Annua never does.

Unfortunately our winters are very bad for greens.  It is very common that we get a thick ice layer on greens during winter because we always get snow but we also keep getting periods when the weather gets above freezing points.  The rains and melting snow get under the snow layers and freezes on the ground.  This ice layer can be there from December to the end of April so no grass can survive that long under ice cover.

Last November we tried to experiment on a couple of greens to put a bubble plastic on the greens and then cover it with another plastic cover that prevents water to go to the green surface.  Bubble plastic keeps there an air layer and helps grass to breath during winter time.  We have had some good results from this on some Finnish courses and I have read that many Canadian courses use this method also.  

Unfortunately the weather surprised as and we could not do that.  First it was too warm to set the cover and suddenly we got snow storm.  After that the snow didn't totally melt so we have to try again next year.

Anyway it is constant battle against nature here up north.  Each year is different and you always need luck to survive the winter.

Jari

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