Winter Conditions - PNW and beyond

[muskegman]

Generally speaking golf in the Olympia area has been quite good this winter. There have been some wet weeks but the courses I play in seem to drain very effectively for the amount of rain we get. I played up towards Bellingham and was suprised by the amount of water at the surface. Much of the fairways and even tee boxes were squishy and some of it just mud. It didn't make for the most pleasant walk down the fairway (having said that, a wet golf course is way better than a dry office).

My father-in-law, who uderstands soil because of his farming upbringing, chalked it up to the different soils. South of Seattle tends to have a higher content of sand in the soil, while the north has true soil and a lot of clay. That would explain the amount of water at the surface.

I rolled my pant legs up to avoid the muck. I was wondering how the rest of you fair for course conditions during the winter.

[iacas]

I posted in the "what did you shoot today" thread about my course conditions today.

I'll make it simple: tough to play golf when the normal winter conditions = course under a foot or more of snow.

[gas_can]

Generally speaking golf in the Olympia area has been quite good this winter. There have been some wet weeks but the courses I play in seem to drain very effectively for the amount of rain we get. I played up towards Bellingham and was suprised by the amount of water at the surface. Much of the fairways and even tee boxes were squishy and some of it just mud. It didn't make for the most pleasant walk down the fairway (having said that, a wet golf course is way better than a dry office).

That's dedication, sounds like you really trudged through some slush. If it's very muddy on the tee boxes or greens I won't play, it's just not fun for me and it's not too great for the course. If you have spare time you should browse through some of the USGA's

Guide to Turf Maintenance it's pretty neat to see all the considerations that are made and how much work goes into building and maintaining a golf course. Spend a day with a groundskeeper and you'll never disobey the 90* rule again. Golf has been great so far in Texas as usual, we've had some hard rains, but nothing too bad. Christmas day we played our round in snow flurries which was a real first for me!

[muskegman]

Yeah... I won't do that again. I didn't expect to be greeted with such muddy conditions. I talked with the fella who runs my home course and he said the soil contains a lot of clay starting about 40 miles up the road from us. I didn't enjoy trudging around the course in those conditions and wouldn't have gone if I knew it was going to be like that. The courses around here don't have the drainage problem that they do a little further up the road.

Thanks for the heads up... The weather was cold and clear today at home. I got out for 9 and had a great time without the mushy grass.

[gas_can]

I didn't mean for my last post to come off so high handed. Sorry about that I'll get off my soap box. If a course staff lets you play you should have fun regardless. If they thought you would do any damage they'd close the course.

It sounded like you were interested in course design and soil types so that's why I linked to the USGA site, there's a lot of info on soils and drainange and how they are related. I think it's pretty fun information, seeing how courses are made and the work involved in maintaining them.

[muskegman]

No worries...

[Ben]

Unpresedented rain in SoCal the last few weeks here. Three days on of rain, than one day off, and back to four days on, etc... THIS SUCKS!

[iacas]

Unpresedented rain in SoCal the last few weeks here. Three days on of rain, than one day off, and back to four days on, etc... THIS SUCKS!

Sounds like spring in PA or FL.

[muskegman]

I just bought some equipment from a fella in Ontario, Canada and he said they are under three feet of snow right now. I'm glad I live in a temperate climate... it's wet but it doesn't prevent you from hitting the course most weeks. At least most weeks this winter for me. Around here it stays just dry enough to play... a little mucky where the sun doesn't get to shine all day.

You guys in the midwest and northeast must really suffer in the winter. Remember I grew up in an island in Alaska so I know what it's like not to be able to golf.