So Close, Yet So Far

Here is an update about current course conditions at Olympic View.

Well the end should be in sight, after patiently waiting for the snow to thaw, which it has done on the majority of the front 9, the Grounds Maintenance Team are happy that all the playing surfaces have been cleared from debris and play can resume when it is time. Mother Nature unfortunately has had different ideas. With constant freezing over night temperatures and a very cold wind, the snow has given way to frozen ground conditions with the majority of the greens on the front 9 staying frozen all day.

This can be a difficult call to make as far as whether or not to open. Even though the wind is keeping the frost off the grass blades, the plant and ground it lives in are very much frozen. As the sun hits the green, it starts to thaw the top layer of soil, this can create a fragile environment for the root system of the plant. Foot traffic can cause movement in the upper thawed layer, shearing the roots from the frozen layer below.

Currently we are checking the greens every morning and afternoon to monitor daily thaw patterns. As it stands the day time temperatures are just not quite high enough to allow for a full thaw of frozen ground and the remaining snow across the front 9. Looking forward, there are some clouds and rain in the forecast which will hopefully give way to warmer day time highs and more importantly, warmer overnight temperatures.

Snow on 1 and 4 Greens still hanging on

1 and 9 Fairways still have some decent coverage

Moving focus to our chilly back 9. The snow still covers most areas and all but the green on hole 12 still has snow on them. Like on the Front 9 as the snow thaws is uncovers the debris left over from the wind storm last week.

12 Green and surrounds were littered

Hole 11 with thick ice covering the pond

Hole 12. Ever increasing snow moving back towards the tee.

Hole 13 still mostly covered from Tee to Green

Hole 14

Hole 15

Hole 17 Just the Tee and Green still have snow.

Hole 10

All photos showing snow coverage were taken on the morning of Tuesday 26th February.

Although we are seeing daily changes in the amount of snow on the back 9, partly due to the heavy winds, the thaw is still extremely gradual and it will still take some time to go completely. Hopefully we start to see some warmer temperatures soon as all of us here at Olympic View are ready for Spring to arrive and to welcome you all back for a great 2019 season.

Thank you for reading this update.