3 Things to Look Out for If Your Grass Is Covered In the Winter

If your golf course see’s harsh winter weather as an annual problem. One of the biggest maintenance areas is your grass. Decorative grass and plants around the club and front building need to be covered to protect them from the cold. The grass on the course might be partially covered by tarps to minimize mudslides and grass damage. The rest of it might even be covered by ice and snow for the bulk of winter. No matter what’s covering the grass, it can impact your bunkers. Look out for:

1. Weeds growing in and around the edge of your bunkers.

If the grass is covered across the majority of your golf course, tenacious grasses and weeds will still try to find room to grow. Sand traps have an easy give, especially if the surrounding grass is covered by a tarp. Weeds can take root in the loose sand, easily root out moisture, and muck up the bunkers. Add more maintenance shifts whenever possible to keep them clean.

2. The accumulation of mold or mildew.

Without that regular maintenance, new weeds can lead to organic debris as the weeds die and decay in new freezes. Your courses can also become contaminated by pink snow mold and gray snow mold if you have the right types of turf grass. Then you have to spend more cleaning or potentially replacing the sand.

3. Ice melt flowing into your bunkers and flooding them.

Once the grass is covered in a layer of ice and the ground underneath is frozen solid, there are very few drainage options for snowmelt and rain. Most of it will flow to the drains, if they’re accessible, or the nearest sand trap. That can make mold, decay, and mud problems even worse.

Keep the damage contained with better bunker liners. Go to ZLINE Bunker Systems to learn more.