Derek Sheffield, golf course superintendent at Seymour Golf & Country Club in North Vancouver, British Columbia, faced a difficult prospect. How could he get two new greens to wake up early in the spring to finish maturing before a busy golf season? The greens in question were established from aeration cores and bentgrass seed late last fall. A typical Vancouver spring would likely keep these greens from being ready for play when the rest of the course was, so he needed a way to get soil and air temperatures up to encourage early growth. His answer was heat domes.
For about $5,000 (U.S.), the club purchased two tarps and rented two portable heaters to blow warm air under them. The tarps were held down by sandbags and fastened to a piece of plywood that was used to create the air hose entry point. More plywood and some plastic was used as a heat shield to protect the turf closest to the air hose entry point. Due to local noise restrictions, he was only able to run the heaters for 8 to 10 hours a day. When they were on, air temperatures were 25 to 30 degrees F warmer under the tarps. After a few days of regular heating, the soil temperatures increased up to 8 degrees F during the daily heating cycles and retained most of that heat overnight.
Despite well-timed fungicide applications, the warm and humid conditions were perfect for disease development and Microdochium nivale was loving life under the tarps. However, the turf was growing so vigorously that it quickly grew out of any damage. The vigorous growth also resulted in excellent turf density and rooting, which will translate into a healthier playing surface during the greens’ first full season of use.
Now that the weather has turned the corner in this part of the world, the tarps are off and the greens are performing very well. Had they not used the heat domes, it would have likely been midsummer before these greens were ready for play. Not only was this a creative solution to a common challenge, it also provided an opportunity for all of us to hop inside the heat dome and warm up during an otherwise chilly morning visit.
West Region Agronomists:
Brian Whitlark, regional director – bwhitlark@usga.org
Cory Isom, agronomist – cisom@usga.org
