Rockville Links Turf : Spring?

Overhead view Friday March 6th

This Winter has been very unique. The first 2 weeks of November was amazing weather, followed by some record lows to finish out the month. December was beautiful and there was golf played right through New Years Eve. January was pretty normal, but did begin forming ice layers on playing surfaces. The end of January also brought a very impressive storm that left 18" on Rockville Links. This snow helped to insulate the original ice layer that formed. February was the coldest ever recorded in NYC and Long Island.

All this weather set up the crazy first week of March. Two separate rain storms followed immediately by snow and freezing temps in the same week.

Huge puddle formed on #10 Green on Wednesday March, 4 during the heavy rain storm. This was followed by 8" snow and temps dropping to 12 degrees.

All this weather formed 3-5" of ice on playing surfaces. Some greens have been under ice cover for 35-40 days. So the decision was made Friday March 6 to clear snow off greens to expose the ice.

Two potential issues led to this decision. First, ice cover for an extended period of time traps bad gases in the soil that can led to turf loss. Second, the long term forecast called for a freeze thaw pattern all week, and saturated turf the freezes quickly causes crown hydration.

Luckily the weather turned out better than predicted this weekend, and now is not going to drop below freezing till late in the week. The thick ice layers have begun to melt, and we are doing everything we can to help water move from the surface. In the next few days some frost should lift from the the ground and the Internal Drainage installed in the greens the last few years will really help out!