The count down has begun.....

Last week snow - this week sunny skies!  So where were you a year ago? Chances are if you're a Links regular you were waiting on winter! It was a particularly cold wet spring and we had to endure snowfall after snowfall. This year it looks like we've seen the last of the white stuff.

The extended shoulder season is finally coming to a close. This weekend for the first time temperatures are expected to reach double digits during the day and, more importantly stay at or above freezing at night!  The course is mostly bare and all we need is some sustained warmth and a little bit of rain and things will be green in no time!

Regional micro climates mean that Taylor's Lone Wolf course is always the first local course to open. Flying home from Vancouver last week, my plane descended over Taylor and I noted that the course seems to have come through the winter well. Another friend who lives in the Charlie Lake area tells me their snow has also retreated but never as fast as residents would like. Pictures taken April 21stth at Links show we are almost snow free. We've pulled the snow blankets off the greens and had our first peek at what's beneath. Greens 2, 4, and 6 came through really well. The others will need a little TLC but should be ready soon. Len was out with the seeding machine this week and if the weather is as predicted, warm and a little moist, new growth should be popping up in no time.

Some of the patchiness you will see early on comes from the presence of poa annua in many of our greens. An invasive species that is actually a weed, the poa did not do well with the extended freeze thaw cycles of the past winter. Similarly, there has been some ice damage to low spots where slower drainage caused water to stand and freeze. Fortunately, due to the forgiving nature of grass the greens should bounce back quickly

From here on the news should be good!  With the Canucks faltering in the playoffs, the golfing jokes are flying. With some continued good weather and concentrated preparation efforts members shots will soon be flying too! Opening day is projected for sometime later in the week. Hopefully, the weather cooperates and folks will be able to start swinging by before next weekend!

The More Things Change...

Just when it was beginning to look a lot like spring, winter returns for one last blast! Trade Show weekend is supposed to help get everyone excited about returning to the course. All the snow that came down over the past 24 hours will certainly generate some excitement, but not necessarily of the positive variety. Hopefully next week will see a return to warmer temperatures and the schedule for opening day will not be set back too far.

With outside preparations temporarily on hold attention turns to the equipment. Over the past few years science and technology have brought all sorts of innovations to golf.  In 2010 Golf Digest published its list of Golf's 60 most important innovations. That's a lot of innovating. My father at 75, has been playing the game for over 60 years. While he has certainly taken advantage of many, if not most of the innovations described by Golf Digest, his list of key innovations is much shorter. He cites mower technology and course maintenance as the two most significant innovations, because they determine the nature of the playing surface. Dad has never actually worked at a golf course, but as an avid player and huge fan he has seen a lot of courses over a lot of years.

As a maintenance worker (and good son) I have to agree with Dad. The modern riding mower has been a huge step forward. It now seems unthinkable that as late as the 1960's greens were still being mowed by hand and fairways by tractor drawn gang mowers. Companies such as John Deere, Toro and Jacabsen now have entire divisions dedicated to producing specialized mowers designed to groom and prepare uniform playing surfaces across a course,

Course maintenance is a broad topic that can be used to describe a lot of things. Certainly the amount of science and technology that now goes into preparing and maintaining the playing surface is at least equal to the amount that goes into the evolution of clubs and equipment. The development of climate sensitive grass cultivars, irrigation and drainage systems, stimpmeters, soil testing, course design, and hazard design and placement are just a few of the innovations that have impacted the game.

A relatively new innovation is consideration given to the demographics of persons who play the game. Recently the European Institute of Golf Course Architects put out an article suggesting that as golfers age, courses will increasingly need to consider the needs of older players. Designing and maintaining courses that are user friendly for golfers of all ages may be the next innovative challenge the game deals with. I know my Dad would certainly approve!

Waiting out the freeze/thaw cycle

April is here and with it has come increased sunshine and rising temperatures. Coupled with media coverage of major tournaments for both the men's and women's professional tours and anticipation for local opening days has begun to mount. While its nice to finally see the sun, this shoulder season is actually a high risk period  for the course due to repeated freeze thaw cycles.

The freeze thaw cycle describes conditions where warming day time temperatures produce good melting conditions, but evening temperatures remain below freezing. Situated in latitudes between the the far north and southern Canada, the Peace country experiences more of these days than the rest of BC.  The freeze/thaw cycle repeats itself more than 70 times annually, with more than forty of those instances coming in the spring.

Repeated freezing/thaw cycles are hard on everything. Repeated creation and melting of ice  causes the extreme weathering that leads to potholes and damage to course infrastructure such as cart paths and tee boxes. The real threat, however, is to the grass. Dormant under a protective layer of snow, grass is sensitive to warmer temperatures and literally comes to life. Repeated exposure to ice can cause new plant cells to rupture and the grass to die. 

Extended ice cover is also damaging.  Once roused from dormancy, grass, like all living things, begins to breathe. If ice blocks proper air exchange, the build up of carbon monoxide  can literally cause plants to suffocate. When surface temperatures rise and cause the snow to melt from the bottom up, air pockets form,  creating conditions that can produce snow molds. Where wind removes the snow cover too quickly, evaporation sucks up surface moisture and grass ends up wind burnt, dessicated or freezer burned.

Patience remains the name of the game. Nature moves at its own pace and human attempts to speed the process can cause unexpected and expensive consequences. Left on its own, nature usually finds a balance. A wise grounds crew takes its lead from nature and where necessary, provides restorative assistance, rather than try to unnecessarily rush the process.

A recent walk of the course indicates that even though the calendar says spring is here, Links is still a few weeks from opening day.  Much of the snow is gone but there are still areas that are either under deep snow or spring run off. Until these areas clear and green grass returns, local golfers will have lots of time to assess their equipment, prepare for the season and purchase memberships at the upcoming trade show. 

Other signs of spring include organizational meetings for the coming commercial league season. Jeff will be posting updates to the course's web and Facebook pages. Hopefully this weekend we'll be lifting some of the blankets protecting the greens and tee boxes to assess growing conditions. If nature is kind it won't be long before we'll all be out on the course swinging for the greens and making the cut!