Winter renovation on a Golf Course

While tee-offs may slow in the winter, there are always those die-hard golfers who will come out to play, rain or shine—especially in areas accustomed to rain, like those offering turf services in Olympia, WA. According to USGA Magazine, winter is a major time for off-season maintenance projects. It can be tricky for golf courses to manage their turf with folks still on it.

You may wonder what a golf course superintendent does during the winter. Here are a few things they often do during the wet season:

• Setting up winter play – This does not look much different than in other months. It does, however, require more aftercare. With wet, saturated turf, the sod is more fragile and can tear or form depressed spots. Filling these in behind golfers increases in the winter.
• Debris cleanup – With the winds that pick up in Olympia and the surrounding Puget Sound area, there are branches, leaves, and even fallen fencing to pick up after.
•  Monitoring for Ice – Layers of frozen frost hold in gases and hold out oxygen. This exchange in necessary to the health of the grass. For that reason the golf course maintenance crew may need to head out and break up the ice to avoid turf loss.
• Fungicide – The wet climate encourages mold and fungus to grow, and often a fungicide must be applied to the turf to keep the mold out.
• Correcting drainage issues – Proper drainage is crucial to a healthy turf. The winter is the obvious time to watch for pooling water and spots where the rains are not draining properly. While correcting these issues may mean closing areas of the golf course, there is no better time to correct it and not have to wait long for the next rain to see if the problem is indeed solved.

For assistance with renovation services or any questions about turf, contact your local turf experts.