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January Golf Course Update...Ice!

The winter weather in Southwestern Ontario has again brought upon us many challenges. The ideal situation for us would have been to have the ground freeze, then follow up with a nice blanket of snow for the majority of the winter months. The snow acts as a nice shield from the bitter elements of winter.  The week of December 18th brought forth a snow melting event that concluded with a couple of days of pouring rain.  This type of weather pattern is not desirable when managing turf grass. If persistent, ice accumulation on greens, tees and fairways can lead to damage of the plant. When the Poa annua  plant is smothered with ice for longer than 45 days (approx.) toxic gases begin to build up and can be detrimental to the viability of the turf.  Our ice formation began on Dec. 23rd.

As with any challenge on the golf course we have developed a plan of action to help minimalize the potential for damage to our greens. During the latest thaw we removed a good portion of the deep snow that had fallen on top of the ice. The ice populations were reduced by doing this, but are not completely gone. Another advantage of a reduced the depth of snow coverage is to allow us to apply a black sand product prior to the next warm up event. The black sand will attract heat and melt through the ice, therefore allowing the escape of toxic gases as well as helping to break up the ice formation. This of course would ideally be done prior to the 45 day mark. Currently we are at day 23. Typically the London area experiences a late January/early February thaw, this would be ideal for us in the management of the ice accumulation. This management plan has been used time and time again at a number of other golf courses that experience these problems annually. A number of other golf courses also employ varying methods such as mechanical removal, aeration to break up ice and manual removal of heavy, thick ice layers. We are fortunately not is that type of situation, our ice is thin and relatively minimal. Stay tuned for further updates....

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