January had some surprises for us. We had a couple of days that the cedar pollen count reached record levels and we had a snow event that accumulated almost 4 inches on the course. As I write this article, we are in the final stages of completion of the Practice Area. We are down to the electrical for lighting and parking area along with some clean up. We look forward to having this much need addition to our course in operation.

February is our coldest month and that also means Frost Delay. The course is usually cooler by 3 to 4 degrees than reported by the local news because we are situated in a valley. Cold air sinks along the river making the greens near the river frost over. The shade from the hill on the east side of the course slows down the warmup which lengthens the delay. The coldest temperatures of the day occur at sun rise. We have seen mornings when there was no frost 30 minutes before sunup and the course frost over as the sun is rising. Check with the Golf Shop for course conditions when the weather forecast has nighttime temperatures in the mid-30’s.
We will start applying our spring pre-emergent herbicides at the end of February and the first of March weather permitting. You may have noticed that we are trimming the trees on the course. We will be continuing with the pruning and opening areas that limbs are obstructing shots and shading the turf.

Brian McMinn, GCSAA
Superintendent
Georgetown Country Club