Playerkill on Frosty Greens
To Play or Not to Play… Whose Decision???

Like a slap in the face, the sign on No.1 tee coldly states, " Golf course closed because of frost."

The overworked, harassed Greens Chairman sighs resignedly and says, "Boy! How will I explain this to the Saturday morning boys?"

He turns and enters the Golf Shop. Before getting half way through the door, the Head Professional halts him with a half-hearted, "Good morning Mr. Lundell."

After a pause, he asks, "say, do you think that we could get the Course Superintendent to reconsider and open the course? We've already had to close four Saturdays this season because of rain and this sure bites into my sales."

Shaking his head, the Greens Chairman heads for the Locker Room again, only to be stopped once more. The first foursome of the "Saturday morning Dew-busters" group has recently arrived and they look pretty steamed up!

"Why on earth should the Course Superintendent close the course because of a little frost? I pay dues all year long and I resent coming here and being told that I can't play…besides, Saturday morning is the only time I can get out for golf.

"Look, there are only four of us and we certainly can't cause any damage. How about letting us tee up?"

Unaware of Turf Threat!

Does all of this sound to familiar? It certainly should--particularily for those courses located in areas where fall and spring frosts are common occurrences. And it is only natural for people to react in this manner. Why shouldn't they? Their reactions stem from the fact that they, unlike the Course Superintendent, don't know why traffic on frosted turf(especially greens) presents a threat to the continued heath, vigor and playability of that turf.


Expose Them to Facts

This is not to say that we should try to make every Greens Chairman, Head Professional, General Manager or golfer an expert agronomist. Far from it. On the other hand, it actually behooves us to make sure that they are exposed to certain facts about "playerkill"…which is the net result of permitting play on frosted or frozen turf.

An example of how frost can affect major tournaments took place recently during the Del E. Webb Pro-Am in Nevada. An early morning frost delayed the starting of the field, resulting in the selection of the winning team on the basis of 27 holes instead of two full rounds.

The total number of footprints is not the basic reason for closing a course(although it is certainly a consideration); rather, the Course Superintendent is concerned about the damage done to the individual leaf blades within each imprint. If conditions are such that individual cells within the leaves contain ice crystals, it is almost certain that these cells will be ruptured when trod upon. When enough cells are ruptured, the leaf blade will die or, at least, be severely injured.

Playerkill is reflected in a slight depression of the turf, which produces the much-hated "bouncing ball" type of putt. Worse yet, it becomes practically impossible to maintain a turf-line putt- regardless of how well the ball is stroked. These are just two of the short-termed effects of playerkill on frosted or frozen turf.


Notify Club Representatives

In addition, it should also be the Course Superintendent's responsibility to ensure that other club representatives are notified immediately as to her decisions so that the golfing membership can be informed. Finally, the Course Superintendent must watch the course conditions very carefully so that she can reopen the course as soon as the weather conditions permit.

How about it? Is the price you paid for one round of golf on frosted or frozen greens worth all the potential trouble mentioned above?