More Bandon Photos (brrrr...)

[Ian_L]

Trying to get out early proved fruitless this week at Bandon.  Here's why...

Bandon Trails #18 at 7:45am on Sunday:


The practice greens:


The first hole at 8:45am:



The second green at 10am:


It didn't snow Monday night, but it was even colder Tuesday.  The frost delay lasted until 11 a.m., and even then there was plenty of frozen ground.

Putting across the frost on the 5th green in the afternoon:


The 9th hole at about 2p.m.:

[Anthony Gray]

  Ian,

  Carpe Diem

  Anthony

[Tom_Doak]

Ian:

I'm surprised they let you out to play at all with that much frost on the ground.

[JSPayne]

Tom,

Unfortunately, such are the demands on the superintendent to make that decision when the pro shop/GM is struggling to meet their rounds quota/budget goals.

Gets to be pretty siginificant....assuming a booked tee sheet, approx every 10 minutes of frost delay the course is losing $300-$400.

On the positive side, once the greens are more or less unfrozen/unfrosted, I have yet to see any damage from playing on frost in other turf areas created by NON-CART traffic that I would classify as significant enough to put a real hurt on the conditions of the course.

Now.....I do have some pictures of what happens when you send mowers out too early or when cart-riding golfers fail to abide by the "Carts on paths only" rule.....yet another point in favor of focusing on letting golfers walk instead of ride.

[Tom Huckaby]

Now.....I do have some pictures of what happens when you send mowers out too early or when cart-riding golfers fail to abide by the "Carts on paths only" rule.....yet another point in favor of focusing on letting golfers walk instead of ride.

JSP - could you either post those pictures or send them to me?  Sitting through these delays with clueless friends, I have never been able to adequately explain to them the damage that can occur.... seeing might be believing.

Thanks.

[JSPayne]

Tom,

Unfortunately, my work computer is firewalled from using photo posting sites....and my pics may not depict the worst damage possible.....mainly there were black tracks from carts and in circles around a tee where a rough mower started too early in a low area. Your cynical golfer would look at them at say that the damage is insignificant.....

But here are quick blurbs from the GCSAA on frost and the last link actually shows a good picture of severe damage from footprints....which luckily I've never seen in person, but that's why I at least wait for the greens to thaw......I can handle footprints on the rest of the course, but repairing that kind of turf damage on greens is a pain in the arse.

(BTW....I have time to write all this because we're currently in a frost delay holding pattern! )

http://www.gcsaa.org/cm/contentm/modules/display_dynamic.ahtml?params=MSw0MDYsMDAwMDIuMDAwMDQuMDAwMjQ=

http://www.gcsaa.org/cm/contentm/modules/display_dynamic.ahtml?params=MSw2MzEsMDAwMDguMDAwMDMuMDAwMDc=

http://www.the797elksgolfclub.com/frost.html

[Tom Huckaby]

JSP - excellent!  I have saved all of those and I am gonna send them to my tournament club for distribution... those guys being the primary bitchers about having to wait.

I saw the results ONCE, at Santa Teresa... that's all it took for me to never bitch again - the tell-tale footprints.  Man that is scary.

TH

[Ian_L]

Ian:

I'm surprised they let you out to play at all with that much frost on the ground.

So was I, especially considering there were only 10 rounds booked on the course, and we were the last to tee off at 11:40.  The only rounds they lost were replays at $40 each.  I suppose they figured 10 people wouldn't do too much damage, and if they'd held us until all the frost came off we might still be waiting.

[Adrian_Stiff]

Frosts come in different strengths, opinions are divided probably most super's in the UK think that no real lasting damage is done when frosts are light (form and thaw within the day). I think ALL agree that when frosts are more permanent ie several days old, at the point when it then starts to thaw the roots can be frozen whilst the top is soft,  the movement of feet can severe the roots that are still in a frozen position, in that instance real damage occurs and no money or loss in revenue can compensate.
Black lines are a bit unsightly but I guess that becomes a monetary call.
Gorgeous pics though!

[Mike Benham]

Trying to get out early proved fruitless this week at Bandon.  Here's why...

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder of golf clubs ...

[igrowgrass]

One year while working on the East Coast we had to remove snow and ice to get out an application of Snow Mold Control.  We ran snow blowers across the greens and scraped remaining snow/ice off with scoop shovels.  We were even driving Toro workmans on the greens to remove piles of snow.  (http://www.toro.com/grounds/vehicle/workman/heavy/index.html#) The temperature outside was ~25 degrees.  At that time it was hard to determine if any damage was going to take place.  We were able to make the application a few days later when temperatures rose about freezing.  Even at the time of application there were still areas of the green were you could not shove a tee all the way down into the profile.  When things greened up in the spring minimal if any damage or turf loss was present.  (85% Poa annua sp.  population)  The areas with the most damage were on the sides of the green were the snow piled up from being blown off the greens and remained for the duration of the winter.
I'm not convinced that frosted turves will die as a result of traffic.  A few unsightly footprints or buggy tracks are possible, but ultimate death of that particular plant, I'm not sold on it.  It should be noted I do believe it is possible but a few people playing golf on it is not enough traffic to make a difference.  I believe in frost delays in protecting the golf course, I do not think we know the true effects of frost damage and at what threshold does permanent damage result.