How has your course played so far this year.

In SW Scotland we had another very cold early winter followed by a great spring.
Nearly all of the courses in the region are in wonderful condition.
How did the southern courses cope with the drought?
Are they OK now?

We are one of the few courses in the area with full fairways sprinkler systems so the fairways are beautiful. Greens just been tined and top dressed so will be a bit bumpy for a few days but they should be back to A1 condition very soon

In NW Vermont we had a very snowy winter, most courses not clear of the dreaded white stuff until well into April, most opening late April.
A cool spring, with flooding rains followed, with courses often unplayable.
But spring was followed by a beautiful spell of weather starting in late June and courses now in pristine condition, plenty of run on the fairways, greens in great shape.
May August continue July's perfect weather, all local courses looking a picture.

Kwinni
Do you get snow mould or are the grasses in Vermount a bit tougher than your average grass.

Hi Doon,
Not really; worst thing is ice under the snow which can kill the grass, "winter kill" as it's known here.
In normal conditions the snow is great, providing insulation from the ravages of rain, hail anything that freezes.
We had 130 inches this past winter, much more than normal here, and the greens came out of it really well, probably due to the constant blanket of snow.

I am in the West Midlands, and my course is playing fast, with plenty of run on light brown fairways, green were also fast up to this week, as the greens have just been tined and dressed, must admit we could do with a days rain to soften the fairways up a bit

I'm in Cambridgeshire and am a member at a privately owned pay and play. The course is played very heavily indeed, which means the greens mostly need to be hard wearing, making them always on the slow side and even if it looks like a banana, they take very little borrow.

It is built on quite heavy clay soil, so the fairway divots tend to hold together and has had to be copiously french drained. There are also many trees on the course which suck up the moisture. But even with all these potential problems, I think the greenkeeping staff do a fantastic job as it is seldom in poor condition.

My home course has been ok this year, apart from a couple of frustrating rain induced closures (in spite of a lot of drainage work it just doesn't drain well. Normally I'd say the greens were great considering the traffic they get but they haven't been as great this year (being a cooncil course, I'd put that down to cutbacks).
My 2nd course went through a phase mid May through June where their greens were as good as I'd ever seen them. They were falling off a wee bit before they were hollow tined and top dressed last week.

From what I can gather it's been a difficult year (weatherwise) for greenskeepers trying to keep greens tip top.

I did notice at Saunton at the weekend that the course was greener yesterday that it was at Easter. Given my travails in the lush green rough yesterday I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion that I like my links golf golden brown!!!

Jas
Holes 14 to 18th will always be known as 'the soggy five' in our house.

The greenkeepers depot at Broome used to be the envy of the local courses.
I remember hosting a SW BIGGA day and the greenkeepers could not believe that a Cooncil course could be so far ahead of there courses in terms of equipment and facilities.

I'm in the Cotswolds and our course (high on a hill) has recovered pretty well after the horrendous December and January. Can get a wee bit dry in places, but greens are in pretty good fettle.

Kwini - how long is your playing season, when in the autumn/fall do you need to wrap things up?

Hi Redrage,
Most private and semi-private courses open mid/late April and close about the first week of November.

Some public courses open earlier and stay open longer weather permitting, but with caveat emptor-type expectations for course condition.

A friend of mine has a course in the snowbelt of Central New York and tries to keep flags in throughout the winter - "I can grow grass but I can't grow cash" is his motto.

I suppose that's not too big a compromise. I don't play much Dec-Feb anyway, but I am usually itching to go by March... then again if I lived in Florida I am sure I could get used to 12 months of golf!