Upcoming January Thaw/Friday Evening Special Dining Service

As many of you have already seen, the forecast for the upcoming weekend appears to be pretty good

Well, that's pretty good air temperature wise but not necessarily good for greens since they are currently frozen.  Most recommend that play does not occur on frozen greens.  In most cases here at Glen Echo when greens are frozen, it is usually too cold for most to play anyway.  The worst condition to play on from a plant health standpoint is when the top 1-2" are thawed and the rest of the green is frozen.  This leads to the surface of the green shifting side to side with each step made and the roots that are growing through the profile being sheered off at the freeze line.  What we then have is a root that was 3-5" long sheered and is only 1-2".

This reduction in root mass does not hurt us now but can create issues for us in the summer when we need fully developed root systems.  The plants must work all spring long to gain the total mass and length that they had going into winter before they were damaged instead of increasing in size and improving in overall health.  We can also get foot imprinting in the greens since they are like sponges during the thawing process and moisture cannot release through the profile.  Heavy imprinting can severely effect green smoothness for weeks at a time if the greens are played upon.

So what are you saying Joe ?  I would expect the course to be open early in this warm up process but potentially being closed the later we go into the weekend because of thawing greens at the surface but frozen below.  I would not be surprised if I do not have to shut the course down on Sunday but we will evaluate the conditions each day to determine the current condition of the greens.  Western facing and or greens in open and receive air movement could thaw quicker than greens that are shaded and or north to east facing due to the angle of the winter sun.

Be assured I will give our members every opportunity to come out and play.

Also a reminder that the club will have a special dinner service the next three Friday evenings; January 16, 23 and 30.  Come out and hit a few golf balls and eat some great food produced by Matthew Daughaday, yes that's Mr and Mrs Daughaday's son who is one of the top Chefs in our city and received great acclaim at TASTE in CWE.  He has left that position and is in the process of opening his own restaurant in 2015.  In the meantime, he will be giving us a treat over the next three weeks.  It would be most helpful if you made a reservation for this special event since the club is closed during the week to assist the staff in planning for the evening. I think Beth and I will be sitting in on these 3 nights!