Suns Out, But Still Frozen
It has been a slow week on the Hermitage campus. The storm that moved through over the weekend brought just about every type of winter precipitation you could imagine. Overall, the forecast held true, and while some of the amounts varied, it was still no fun watching it all play out. In total, we received 3–4 inches of snow, topped off with a "wonderful" 2–3 inches sleet, and freezing rain to top it all off. Looking back, it’s clear that closing club operations on Sunday and into Monday was the right call.
The crew got busy Monday morning clearing the snow and ice mixture from paved areas across the property, which proved to be much more difficult than anticipated. The real stars of the show were, obviously, our staff, but also our Takeuchi track loaders. Without them, we would likely still have a thin layer of ice covering the asphalt surfaces around campus. Opting to keep them indoors before the storm was also another great benefit. Not having to clean the ice layer off before plowing made us much more efficient!
Our Ford dump truck equipped with a plow struggled to make progress on the paved areas. Most standard plows use a trip-spring system that allows the blade to fold forward when it hits an obstacle. This snow and ice mixture was so dense that it was nearly impossible to travel 100 yards without the plow tripping. For reference, we can clear a typical snow storm from the campus in about 4-6 hours. This past storm of snow and ice took all of 11-12 hours to clear on Monday.
The staff quite literally had to pick away at the ice just to get the sidewalks cleared. Removing any of the winter precipitation we received turned into a two-step process. First, chipping the snow and ice into chunks, and then shoveling those pieces away to clear paths. While the total snowfall may not have broken any records, most of the staff would agree this was one of the worst storms to impact the area during their time employed at the club.
Another huge shoutout to the limited number of staff who were able to make it in and help get everything cleaned up!
Once we finished cleaning up Mother Nature’s droppings throughout the day Monday and into Tuesday morning, we were stuck indoors to continue some of our annual upkeep on bunker rakes and the Sabot tee markers. We were only able to freshen up the bunker rakes that had been pulled from the courses last week, as the rest are still buried beneath frozen snow. We couldn’t get the Sabot tee markers into the shop until Thursday due to how slick the paths are. Look to see the paint booth set back up next week.
Here is a good example of what we DO NOT want to see on bermudagrass turf. You can see a thin layer of ice on the bottom of this piece, which was located directly next to a house. Areas like this are more likely to thaw and refreeze due to thermal mass. Which is when the foundation holds heat longer than the surrounding ground or from heat loss coming off the house itself. Either way, this type of freeze/thaw cycle is bad news for the bermuda turf along both courses. We were fortunate enough to receive some snow before any of the sleet or freezing rain moved in, which helped insulate the bermudagrass before temperatures plummeted and winds began to pick up. However, we aren't out of the woods yet.
Thankfully, for the time being, the forecast continues to push out the chances of snow moving in over the weekend. Of course, that could always change, just yesterday another 1–3 inches of snowfall was being predicted for this coming Saturday. We certainly won’t complain that the chances for more winter weather have dropped. Cold temperatures are here to stay through the weekend regardless. We do see some above freezing temps on the horizon for next week, and hopefully that trend continues as we work our way toward spring.
Next week, a few of us will be heading to Orlando for the annual Golf Course Superintendents Show, where we’ll likely enjoy a couple of days in the 60s and a nice change of pace. Have a great weekend!