Some may think the unusually heavy snowfall covering the state’s golf courses is a concern for golf pros.
But after last winter’s acute ice issues, which ravaged several courses and left them with temporary greens for an extended period, the pros see the snow as a positive because it provides protection from other damaging elements.
“The biggest thing going in our favor is the duration of time the snow has been on the ground,” said Nick Glicos, director of golf, golf pro, and part owner of Martindale Country Club in Auburn. “We didn’t get the snow until the middle of January. That will help us.
“The grass really struggles when it has been suffocated [by snow] for three or four months. It needs air,” added Glicos, who considered last year’s winter “as bad as I have ever seen in my 30 years in the business.”
Many courses were damaged by the ice last winter, according to Gary Soule, the pro at the Samoset Resort Golf Course in Rockport.
“Generally, the snow is good for a golf course. It insulates it,” he said.
Soule said it is likely that a course will stay wetter longer than usual due to the volume of snow and the fact “there’s no place for (the water) to go.
“But, hopefully, we’ll get some nice drying days with high temperatures and high winds,” Soule said. “We came through last winter great and hopefully we’ll come through again with flying colors.”
Soule has a lot of confidence in Samoset golf course superintendent Greg Grenert.
“He does a great job. He uses all these old techniques like birdseed and things like that to help melt the ice,” he said.
Presque Isle Country Club pro Barry Madore is hoping for “a very good spring after having two horrendous springs.
“You could have skated on our greens last year. There was so much ice. But I don’t think there’s a lot of frost in the ground this year,” he added.
Madore acknowledged that the course received some rain in early January before the heavy snowstorms, which does concern him.
“But, hopefully, we had enough snow on the ground (before the rain) so it didn’t hurt us. You never know until the ground starts to appear,” Madore said, adding that he is “cautiously optimistic” they will be able to open the last week of April instead of on May 7 like they did a year ago.
“We’ll see what Mother Nature brings us and then our superintendent, Phil Pelletier Jr., and I will deal with it,” he said.
Madore said having a stretch of warm weather in late March and April will be important.
“When you’re trying to grow grass on the greens, you have to have Mother Nature on your side,” he said.
“I’ve been around a long time and it doesn’t matter how much or how little snow we get, it all seems to leave at the same time every year,” added Madore. “It really does.”
Ben Costain, the pro at the Sable Oaks Golf Club in South Portland, believes the snow cover has been protecting the course from the cold and icy days.
“(The ice) isn’t able to get underneath the snow and hurt the greens,” he said.
Costain pointed out that having cold weather in December without snow can be problematic, because the frost and ice can settle in and damage the irrigation pipes as well as the greens.
“So I was glad to see the snow in January although I didn’t want eight to nine feet of it,” Costain quipped.
Costain got a glimpse of some grass during the warm day last week and that gave him reason for optimism.
“Hopefully, the rest of the course will look like that,” he said.
At Bangor Municipal Golf course, head pro Brian Enman said he will “wait it out like everybody else.
“There’s not an awful lot you can do. We’ve got over 200 acres. Hopefully, we’ll get some rain and some warm nights,” he said. “The snow can go pretty quick. But I’ve never seen a year like this one (for the volume of snow), not since I was growing up.”
Enman noted that a cold spring will be detrimental to the drying cycle and will delay the opening of the course.
“After we seed it, it’s a lot tougher to grow grass in the dead areas it if the weather is cold,” said Glicos.
Enman said snow mold is always a concern.
Snow mold is a lawn fungus that damages and kills grass after the snow melts. It presents itself in gray and white circle.
“Everybody keeps their fingers crossed that the fungicide (to control the snow mold) works,” he said.
“You could tell by the smiles on the faces during that 50-degree day last week that (golfers) can’t wait to get out there,” Costain added.
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