So far this Winter from mid December in to the new year we have seen some extremely cold weather. It started with snow around the 6th of December, where at Olympic View we saw about 3 to 4 inches on course.
Then a week later we saw more snow on the 12th. During this period we did not see temps rise above 2.5C.
Almost exactly a week after on the 18th we saw yet more snow, admittedly not at much as previous snow falls. During this period we didn't see temperatures rise above 1.0C.
However, on Dec 21st after a brief frost delay we managed to open. This was after two consecutive days of temperatures rising above 5.0C. These higher temps allowed for our greens to thaw completely which meant that a pre-Christmas round of golf was possible. Unfortunately this wasn't to last and on the Christmas Eve the temperatures plummeted again to 0.9C that day and the following three days also didn't see a huge rise. On the 27th we once again opened after a frost delay and it seemed that from then until the next closure on the 30th and 31st we got rain as temperatures settled around the 4.0C mark.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!! More Snow arrived
on the 1st of January 2017. 
What followed was referred to as an Artic Blast by meteorologists. Temperatures plummeted to -3.0 and biting wind gusts reached 70kph only adding to the coldness on course. This lasted for 5 days with temperatures only making it up to -1.4.
Course conditions were impossible with ice building up on cart paths, fairways as well as the fountain from water run off.
These remaining photos were taken on Monday the 9th of Jan. 7 Cart Path and carry along with considerable ice build up on 3 and 17 ranging from 2 to 3 inches deep.
It is worth noting that during December we had a total of 20 days of rainfall resulting in around 152mm of precipitation. The following rain - freeze - rain - freeze cycle has meant that we have developed a thick frozen layer under ground.
A heavy downpour at about 4 am on the morning of the 9th help to show the extent of the frozen ground conditions on the greens. The below photos were taken in the afternoon of the 9th and they show the water from the 4 am rain still sitting on top of the green.
10 Green
8 Green
Measurements taken with a probe show that the frozen layer extends 3 to 4 inches in to the ground, (a hammer was needed to be used to penetrate this layer). This long cold period has taken it's toll on some of our greens with our grass going dormant with the ground temperature being far lower than the current air temperature. To allow play on the course before a complete thaw of this frozen layer would result in a huge amount of irreversible damage to the plant and weaker greens moving into Spring.
The forecast for this week once again looks cold with temperatures not looking to rise above 2-3 C with nights getting in to the minus figures again. The grounds staff are out on the course everyday checking for the frost depths and thawing of the ice and we will open as soon as possible. We thank you all for your patience and understanding.
Grounds Staff ' ROCKS ' ⛳
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