The weather up until this point has been very mild for this time of year. The average first frost for our region is typically October 15. So far we have only had one or two nights that have been cold enough to produce very small pockets of frost in a few of our low lying areas. Tonight will be different as the temperatures are expected to drop to a low of 25 degrees by sunrise tomorrow and as such we are are expecting a fairly significant frost or freeze. They are calling for winds to continue throughout the night and if so that may reduce the amount of frost we would normally see with this type of temperature.
Covering Ultradwarf Greens
The decision to cover or not cover and when to uncover takes into account a lot of different variables but the one factor that is most important is the temperature. The USGA, based on field observations and University research, has shown that the low-temperature threshold to strongly considering covering Ultradwarfs is 25 degrees Fahrenheit. There are a lot of other factors that come into play such as duration of the low temperature, soil moisture, wind speed, revenue, soil temperatures, high temperatures on the following day(s), etc. all can play a part in when we decide to cover the greens.
The simple rule of thumb as for when to uncover a green is if the following day temperature does not exceed 50 degrees and the following night's temperature once again drops below 25 degrees. When this scenario occurs the covers might remain on the greens and the course will, therefore, remain closed for the day.
Based on temperatures currently forecasted for tonight we will be shutting down the front nine of the Farm course around 1:30 today to cover the last two greens that were planted (the two chipping greens) along with #5 and #8. Our number five green was also planted late and the #8 green is our shadiest green on the course, which results in cooler soil temperatures than the remaining greens. As Saturday night's low is currently 28 degrees and the high on Saturday is 45 degrees we will uncover these greens Saturday morning and not recover Saturday evening. Part of the covering and uncovering strategy is to allow the plant to go dormant and retain some of its cold hardy tolerance, so it is not always bad to allow some cold temperatures to come into play.
As this is our first time covering greens this unique set of weather conditions will provide a good training exercise for when we eventually have to cover all the greens. Tomorrow is our first 10:00 shotgun start on the Farm course this winter and based on the risk of frost, time spent with covers and with plenty of leaves on the course we are expecting a slight delay to the planned 10:00 start.
Doug Lowe, CGCS
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