Marc H (and Anthony N)
you guys will know a lot more about this than me, but a decade ago, my old club had really firm greens through winter.
The Course Supt took advice from neighbouring clubs with good greens and rolled the greens more, sealing the surface. The previous approach had resulted in a more open, softer surface.
When it rained, there was significant runoff from the greens 9ie surface drainage) and things stayed firm.
The downside was that a short downpour resulted in greens that had water ponding on the surface, but 5 minutes later the water was gone.
If the surface hadn't been as firm, then the short downpour would have been absorbed by the green, ie no surface drainage.
Green conditions were fantastic that winter (I think this occurred for about three years) and poa ingress was less.
One year, we had a rogue car invade the course in the middle of winter, and blow a tyre doing donuts on a fairway (limited damage) and then drove across a green on the rim (again, incredibly, no damage) before finally bogging the car in a low area on the practice fairway - perhaps the area where surface drainage ended up.
Green renovation started very early at the end of winter/early spring, as the turf roots were crying out for some air, but the method worked. Of course, it also turned out to be too 'near-edge' for the next committee to deal with (a 'green is good' group).
James B