| Course Opening - 2011 |
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As of Wednesday March 16, 2011 - All 27-holes are open. Current Conditions - We are planning on mowing the greens for the first time this season on Thursday March 17. This assumes that we do not get rain in the next 24 hours. How appropirate to mow greens on St. Patrick's Day! Off Season Green Fees - Off season green fees (25% off the regular rate) will remain in effect until April 1. Motorized Carts - Motor carts are available on both courses. The course is drying out nicely. Practice Greens - All four practice greens will remain closed for the next week or so. We might be able to open the practice greens by Saturday March 19 if we do not get rain.
As of Monday March 14, 2011 - The 9-hole course will open today, Monday March 14 at 12:00 noon. Current Conditions - As of Monday morning March 14, the ground frost that accumulated over the last few days had almost melted, allowing us to open the 9-hole course this afternoon. The 18-hole greens are not yet growing enough to mow. The greens on both courses are soft. We will mow them as soon as they firm up a little. We could begin mowing the greens by this weekend if we do not get any rain in the next several days. 18-Hole Course - We expect to open the 18-hole course Wednesday morning. Off Season Green Fees - Off season green fees (25% off the regular rate) will remain in effect until April 1. Motorized Carts - Motor carts are not available. We might be able to rent carts later in the week, depending on the weather the next few days. Practice Greens - All four practice greens will remain closed for the next week or so. We might be able to open the practice greens by Saturday March 19 if we do not get rain.
As of Thursday March 10, 2011 it looks like we might be able to open the 9-hole course sometime next week. The weather forecasts are mixed. Many forecasts are calling for freezing night time temperatures that would delay getting open.
As of Monday March 7, 2011 we have opened the practice tee for the season. There is still frost in the greens. The 9-hole course should be able to open in a few days if it does not get too cold at night. The practice tee is a bright green. The rest of the golf course is still brown and lifeless. Driving Range Open on Grass Tee
As of Saturday March 5, 2011 the weather has taken a step backward, with a light snow covering the golf course. That snow does not push back the 2011 course opening. We are at about the same point we were on March 3 - a few days of moderate temperatures where the thermometer stays above freezing over night and we could be open. As of Thursday March 3, 2011 the frost is melting slowly. Most of the fairways and roughs are frost free. The greens still have frost and that frost is not melting lately because the night time temperatures keep dropping below the freezing mark. The weather forecasts have been changing quite a bit the last few days. If we can get a few consecutive days with high temps in the 40ºs or 50ºs and night lows above freezing, there is an excellent chance that the 9-hole course will open on regular greens. The driving range practice tee was covered all winter and the protected turf under the covers is bright green. We want to avoid shocking the lush green turf with a blast of cold weather when we remove the covers, so we will look for a window of several days where the low temperature is forecast to not drop too far below freezing.
When Do We Open The Golf Course For The Season? 9-Hole Course - We open the 9-hole course as soon as the frost is out of the greens. When there is frost in the greens, the layer of frozen soil prevents roots from growing and prevents water from draining down through the soil. The greens are inordinately wet because all moisture is trapped between the surface and the frost line. Once the frost line dissipates, the moisture trapped at the surface quickly drains away. Because the greens are mostly made of sand, they are the first part of the course to freeze and the last part of the course to thaw out. A good indicator of the presence of frost is ice on our lakes. Normally, the greens are free of frost within a few days of the the last of the winter ice melting off the lakes. How Can We Tell How Much Frost is Still Down There? Why Do We Use Winter Turf Covers On The Practice Tee But Not On The Greens? 18-Hole Course - We open the 18-hole course as soon as the creeping bentgrass on the greens is growing enough to be mowed. Depending on the weather, this is usually a week to ten days after the frost is out of the greens. Average Date of Course Opening - We typically open the 9-hole course around the middle of March and the 18-hole course toward the end of March. Only four times in our history have we not opened in March. Twice we were lucky and opened in February. Twice we were not so fortunate and did not get open until April. The earliest that we have ever opened the course on greens was February 25 - the course was as green as mid summer and we were able to use motor carts. The latest that we have ever opened was April 8. The bad news is that when the course opens in February, it does not stay open. Things tend to even out weather wise and bad weather in March can close us down if the greens freeze again. On the other hand, if the course does not open until April, it usually remains open from that date forward. In 2006 we opened the 9-hole course March 10 and the 18-hole course March 30. In 2007 we opened the 9-hole course March 20 and the 18-hole course March 24. In 2008 we opened the 9-hole course March 26 and the 18-hole course April 2. In 2009 we opened the 9-hole course March 6 and the 18-hole course March 16. In 2010 we opened the 9-hole course March 12 and the 18-hole course March 16. In 2011 we opened the 9-hole course March 14 and the 18-hole course March 16. |
