I'm Superintendent at a course that has used tarps in the past to success along with failure. Most recently in 2010 we had winter damage on 4 greens. Of those 4 green 3 of them were covered with tarps. So to say tarps save you from winter damage is false. Like Andrew Hardy stated, it's very dependent on what you do with the tarps. The winter of 2009/2010 we had 2" of rain on Christmas Eve then a high of 11 degrees the next day. That was then followed by 7" of snow which then melted a week later adding to the ice cover. At 20 days of ice cover we made the decision to break the ice by using a vibratory tamper, this created a lot of large cracks allowing for oxygen in and gas out.
Following that procedure all the ice melted and everything was exposed about a week later. So, as we pulled covers and seen what we had to look forward to I naturally asked myself questions about our process. The one question I didn't have to ask was whether or not the tarps were the savior or not as we had dead grass under the covers as well.
I believe a lot of success through winter is built through the season and especially in fall. You must have healthy/vibrant turf going into winter especially with Poa greens. Otherwise substandard health will only make it harder for that Poa to survive a tough winter. For the most part ice is the main concern and water can still get through the tarps and create ice underneath. This then sets you up for multiple freeze thaw cycles as the tarps warm thawing the ice but then freezing again and again, not good for the turf.
In reality Mr. Mucci it is a "yes/no" decision to apply the tarps. But you have to take all the other practices into account with that decision. Tarps aren't the saving grace. Just when we, Superintendents, think we have the cycle figured out, Mother Nature shows us we're wrong. Case in point last winter/spring here in Chicago when a number of courses experienced damage. Courses that tarped, courses that didn't, courses that removed snow/ice, courses that didn't. There is no rhyme or reason, but the healthier your turf going into winter the better chance you have. But is there a trend that we are trying to push our greens for performance later into the season?
My personal feeling about last year was people were fine until early to mid March. Snow melt took place and removed a natural cover/protection from the turf only to be opened to record lows of the teens and single digits. Turf had started to take up water and begin their processes when hit with these sudden freezes. We took plugs from ice covered fairway spots at 30, 50, and 70 days from ice formation. The 30 and 50 grew fine inside and looked promising while the 70 day one we took mid March had nothing, completely dead.
To end, we regrassed our greens and approaches in the fall of 2011 to A1/A4. With the winter of 2013/2014 we had not a blink of damage due to ice, cold, or whatever it may be. Turf type is where the answer sits, not covers.