Snow stays on greens longer?

[Dunlop_White]

Snow remains on green surfaces long after the snow throughout the fairways has melted. Why?

[Brian_Sleeman]

I always thought it was just more visible since the grass is so much shorter - i.e. it's still there in the fairway and rough but sits lower and is tougher to see unless you're right on top of it.  I guess it'd also make sense that the longer the grass, the warmer the atmosphere at its base, and that'd account for less snow, too.

Of course this is all conjecture and I'm sure someone with actual knowledge will chime in.  I'm just taking a gamble!

[Bill_McBride]

Are these USGA greens?

[Duane Sharpe]

Because most greens are built of sand and the sand holds the cool temperatures longer. Topsoil generally heats up quicker and also holds heat better.
Sharpee

[Joe Hancock]

The photophytes present in the longer grass are more attractive to the long wavelength light frequencies that are radiated from the sun through the ionosphere, thereby generating an energy response in the crown of the plant. The energy response triggers a metaphysical induction of temperature inversion, hence the quicker snow melt off.

I have no damn idea....

[Adam Clayman]

If there are trees, or other obstructions, south of the green, the snow takes longer to melt. If there are slopes on the green, the snow can build up, like drifts, and it will take longer to melt. Plus, uh .... uh  what Joe said.

[Anthony_Nysse]

Because most greens are built of sand and the sand holds the cool temperatures longer. Topsoil generally heats up quicker and also holds heat better.
Sharpee

Duane,
  I've always been told the complete opposite. The sand warms up quicker than clay/native soils, therefore our fairways (bermuda) will green up quicker here because of years of topdressing. The greens are bent, but dont go into dormancy. At my dad's course in Michigan, I dont every remember the green holding the snow the longest, except for the 2 that had alot of tree coverage around them and are located in several corners.
  Think of beach sand-Its much warmer in the summer than a pile a dirt....

Tony Nysse
Asst. Supt.
Colonial CC
Ft. Worth, tX

[Kyle Harris]

Sand heats up much faster than topsoil - just go to the beach sometime!

It's always been my experience that the greens are the first to melt, regardless of soil composition and especially those facing south.

[Steve Curry]

Tony,

You are correct sand warms first.  The porosity expedites heat transfer.  The greens stay cooler because of the shorter grass.  But with frost the opposite is true.

Steve

[Greg Chambers]

How much snow are we talking here?  It's been my experience that with a dusting of snow, yes, the greens take longer.  I think it has to do with the shorter grass.  If the fairways get the same dusting, but are mowed much higher, then the snow tends to get down into the canopy easier, where the heat from the sun's rays will warm the leaf blade and melt the snow.  But with the greens being mown much shorter, the same amount of snow will blanket the green, not letting the sun get to the leaf blade, thus slowing the rate of the snow melting.  Now if you're talking snow like we get, when it's measured in feet, then all the snow melts at the same rate, but the drifted areas obviously take much longer.  In fact, our greens are usually the first areas to clear.

[Bradley Anderson]

Snow remains on green surfaces long after the snow throughout the fairways has melted. Why?

I have never read or heard of an explanation of this, but my guess is its because the soil in the greens freezes deeper than the soil in the fairways.

On the greens we topdress more frequently to dilute organic matter and thatch. On the fairways we aerate once or twice a year and the organic matter is diluted by the plug processing, but not to the degree that organic matter is diluted on greens. Regardless of wheather the growing medium is sand or clay, that organic layer in the fairways acts as an insulator or moderator while the ground is freezing on those cold nights. You don't have that insulating effect on greens because you have less of an organic matter layer, and subsequently the frost goes deeper and forms more of a solid mass.

On years were it freezes really deep, which you probably never experience in your region, the opposite effect allows the greens to thaw before the fairway. But in the Carolinas you probably never remain frozen all winter. Even in the north we have had mid winter thaws. Every winter is different.

[Phil_the_Author]

Isn't there a perception issiue with this as well?

The putting green is the target area where eyes are always drawn to and remain at. One notices aspects of greens more than any other area on a golf course, which explains why water, whether it be a slim stream or small pond, also draws our attention to it.

Fairways and rough especially, on the other hand, make up so much more of the land area of a golf course that the eyes take in far more but see far less.

Consider, so far we've had some fairly knowledgeable guys comment that greens are and greens aren't and that it is because of sand vs. soil and soil vs. sand.

I would imagine that there is a truism to this where one maintains snow slightly longer than the other, but believe that it is more negligable than effectual.

Also, because of the potntial damage that can be done to greens by both ice and snow, aren't they observed more intensely and for longer periods of ttime. Wouldn't this fall into the "Watched pot never boils" truism somewhere?

[Greg Chambers]

Philip,

Although your thought process is interesting, I don't think that's the case.  We had a snow storm last June, yeah June, where the snow collected on the tees, fairways, and greens, but not the rough.  The snow was gone from the fairways and tees much sooner than the greens were clear.  But this is like 1" of snow.  So in the spring, when we're waiting for 4-6 feet of snow to clear, it certainly doesn't clear from the greens any slower.  Totally depends on the amount of snow, I suppose.

[Phil_the_Author]

Greg,

I know less about snow than I do about grass, and trust me... You don't want me taking care of your lawn!

Maybe someone can get a USGA turfgrass grant to study this? Oh wait... never mind! 

[Ray Richard]

Cagey New New Hampshire Golf Supers have a cure for this problem. In late- November, they sprinkler golf greens with Milorganite, a black fertilizer in granular form. This product is has a very propensity to burn turf, so it can be applied at a higher product rate than regular greens fertilizers.The black absorbs heat, melting the snow and ice.

[Alan FitzGerald CGCS MG]

I think it's purely down the length of the grass. Light snow sits on the short denser greens turf as opposed to working its way into the fairway, roughs etc. It doesn't really seem to matter much after a heavy snow.

As for sand, it doesn't hold temperature very well, it'll warm up and cool down much quicker than a heavier soil, so during warm cold cycles it'll fluctuate more than the surrounding areas.

[astavrides]

gotta be related to why when you play in the winter, the ball bounces off the green like it is a parking lot, but not off the fairway or rough as much.

[Dan Boerger]

I see the same thing on baseball diamonds. Snow seems to stay longer on the sand areas.

[Kalen Braley]

I've always thought that because sand was a poor insulator that this was the case.  When sand gets warm, it tends to stay warm or get warmer, and when it gets cold, it tends to stay cold or get colder.

So as long as it has that layer of snow on top, its going to stay cold due to the protection from the warmer air and the suns rays.  So the sand stays colder longer, in turn keeping the snow which sits on it colder, in turn leading to a slower meltage rate.

As opposed to grass where there is a lot more air pockets, and many more opportunites for blades of grass to poke thru the surface of the snow allowing the leaf blade to warm up and transfer the heat to the snow that is contact with the leaf or in very close proximity.

[Marty Bonnar]

Albedo, baby.

Yet another major benefit of the ideal maintenance meld.

Straw coloured grass has an albedo of 0.39 whereas lush ANGC fairways are in the 0.82 range.

Ergo, there you are.

Believe nothing you read on the internet.

best,
FBD.