Course closures

Our course has been open, no snow...just frozen. Haven't gone since last Friday...although I might go out with the swindle in the morning. Sunday it starts warming up, but even though I might play on Monday.....I expect it to be gooey on top and still hard underneath for a couple of days.
 
Snow hasn’t budged since Sunday so we’ve been closed all week. Meant to get warmer after tomorrow but unfortunately that’s too late for our Christmas comp, which has just been cancelled. Was looking forward to some daft golf in the snow, buying some mulligans and having free mince pies and mulled wine afterwards!
 
timd77 said:
Snow hasn’t budged since Sunday so we’ve been closed all week. Meant to get warmer after tomorrow but unfortunately that’s too late for our Christmas comp, which has just been cancelled. Was looking forward to some daft golf in the snow, buying some mulligans and having free mince pies and mulled wine afterwards!
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Our Christmas Comp tomorrow has moved onto the top tracer range - if the ball machine thaws out by then!
 
AddisonRoad said:
They should just keep courses closed when they're frozen. No point damaging them when the golf is horrible - let the course rest
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It's a myth. For years, we had winter greens and the course closed when frosty. Then approximately 10 years ago they had a change of policy and just kept it open and on the main summer greens with only the safety of the golfer being a consideration for closing when too icy.
The naysayers were up in arms claiming that the world had come to an end, in actual fact nothing happened, the course was no worse and there are plenty of people, myself included, who think that the greens have never been better. Of course that may have coincided with improved green management over these recent years, but playing on our frosty, icy greens has not been detrimental to them.
Now when it thaws on Monday and the course gets soft the course is likely to suffer substantial damage, but it does so every year, and recovers every year.
 
Ours closed last Sunday morning & has been closed all week.
We still have frozen snow covering the course
Have been told that it will remain shut all weekend
Rain is forecast later on Sunday, which together with the thawing snow will undoubtedly flood the course.
The longer forecast is another cold period, so it's looking very unlikely that I will be able to play anytime soon.
 
Golfnut1957 said:
It's a myth. For years, we had winter greens and the course closed when frosty. Then approximately 10 years ago they had a change of policy and just kept it open and on the main summer greens with only the safety of the golfer being a consideration for closing when too icy.
The naysayers were up in arms claiming that the world had come to an end, in actual fact nothing happened, the course was no worse and there are plenty of people, myself included, who think that the greens have never been better. Of course that may have coincided with improved green management over these recent years, but playing on our frosty, icy greens has not been detrimental to them.
Now when it thaws on Monday and the course gets soft the course is likely to suffer substantial damage, but it does so every year, and recovers every year.
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Exactly this.
I have a very similar experience at my previous club.
People moaned about temporary greens & the head green-keeper got so fed up he said, ok we won't use temps but don't blame me if the greens are ruined for next year.
Come Spring the greens were brilliant & were not affected at all by being played on whilst frozen.
My present club love their temps & introduce them at the merest hint of a frost, which drives me mad.
It wouldn't be so bad if the temps were playable, but they aren't, they are shockingly bad to the point where it becomes pointless playing.
So I don't bother, if I fancy a knock, I just chip it as close to the pin as I can, pick up the ball & move on.
 
Is it just a myth? All I have to do is walk on our lawn during a good freeze....and there are my footprints when the grass thaws. Nothing too bad, but it's there. Tramping all over a hard frozen green may not cause long lasting damage, although one of my last courses let people do this a couple of years ago......in March when things were starting to grow......greens were not good all summer. I can't see any good from lots of foot traffic on frozen greens...other than people don't want to play on temp greens.

I can add a lot more articles than what are below. It could still be a myth....but I took a quick search and didn't see any articles showing that it is a myth.

https://www.bunkered.co.uk/golf-news/golf-course-closed-due-to-frost-this-is-why
https://www.nationalclubgolfer.com/news/how-does-frost-affect-golf-courses/
https://www.carolinasgolf.org/images/CarolinasGolf/site/agronomy/frost.htm
http://qgolfclub.blogspot.com/2013/11/what-damage-can-be-caused-by-traffic-on.html
https://www.usga.org/course-care/what-is-the-purpose-of-winter-play-26322.html
https://golf.com/lifestyle/how-much-damage-frost-really-causes-a-golf-course-and-your-yard/
http://blog.standrews.com/2017/12/15/the-frost-effect/

Whoops....just found one possible article....https://www.asianturfgrass.com/post/playing-golf-in-ice-and-snow/
 
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The issue with frozen greens occurs when it’s defrosting and there is soft soil and grass an inch above frozen soil - that causes a little bit of damage

We don’t go to temp greens when it’s a solid frost and don’t appear to have had any issues at all

Also the type of grass will also have an affect
 
I've seen most of the articles on this over the years, I've seen the black footprints after walking on frozen / frosty grass.
I've played on frozen greens where the ball skips & bounces across it like playing on concrete.
I'm just relying my experiences, despite what is claimed grass is massively resilient & in my experience playing on frosty greens caused no lasting damage.
Why anyone would want to play on a frozen rock solid green is a whole different question.
 
banjofred said:
Is it just a myth? All I have to do is walk on our lawn during a good freeze....and there are my footprints when the grass thaws. Nothing too bad, but it's there. Tramping all over a hard frozen green may not cause long lasting damage, although one of my last courses let people do this a couple of years ago......in March when things were starting to grow......greens were not good all summer. I can't see any good from lots of foot traffic on frozen greens...other than people don't want to play on temp greens.

I can add a lot more articles than what are below. It could still be a myth....but I took a quick search and didn't see any articles showing that it is a myth.

https://www.bunkered.co.uk/golf-news/golf-course-closed-due-to-frost-this-is-why
https://www.nationalclubgolfer.com/news/how-does-frost-affect-golf-courses/
https://www.carolinasgolf.org/images/CarolinasGolf/site/agronomy/frost.htm
http://qgolfclub.blogspot.com/2013/11/what-damage-can-be-caused-by-traffic-on.html
https://www.usga.org/course-care/what-is-the-purpose-of-winter-play-26322.html
https://golf.com/lifestyle/how-much-damage-frost-really-causes-a-golf-course-and-your-yard/
http://blog.standrews.com/2017/12/15/the-frost-effect/
Click to expand...
I know that there is a body of opinion against using greens during frosty conditions, there are plenty of experts with a mountain of evidence to say the course will be irreparably damaged.

I also know how our experience has panned out, and I'm happy to believe my own eyes. Fortunately for us the Head Greenkeeper, his staff and the members of the Greens Committee are also happy with the outcome.
 
Another heavy frost list morning. Open but on temps. Though I suspect that as it warms up today and the next few days, and the top cms thaw but ground below still solid, the course may be closed to protect against damage to fairways and surrounds, either that or we‘ll be ask to carry where we can.
 
Had a winter k/o singles match scheduled for 9am this morning, but we both played yesterday and it was nonsense…fun but nonsense - and separately decided we couldn’t have an enjoyable and decent match in the conditions. We’ve got a couple of weeks to play it so fingers crossed we can find a time and better conditions.
 
7th day of closure..
Rain is almost here, falling on still frozen ground....going to be carnage on the roads for a while.
Due to be dry during daylight hours tomorrow so there's a chance as long as the ground has thawed...
 
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