Ice on Golf Greens

Mild late-winter weather--including an entire afternoon of light rain Wednesday, January 14th, 2010--has led to a rather thick (5 mm, about 1/5 of an inch) coating of ice on Highlands' greens.

While the occurrence is relatively rare on this southslope property, low winter sun angle combined with virtually flat greens and mild temperatures, do create conditions that cause concern.

Nine years ago when the golf course was constructed, greens were seeded to Pencross bentgrass.  Over the years as the inevitable invasion of Poa annua occurred--via seed stuck into golf-shoe cleats--we've wondered how to eradicate the invader.

The current weather anomaly may just help us achieve that.

A turfgrass science study conducted in Alberta, Canada, concluded that--depending on duration of ice cover, up to 120 days--bentgrass is less susceptible to ice-damage than Poa.

"Only time will tell," suggests Kia, adding "I'll keep the deer off greens until then."