Sometimes golfers wonder what the maintenance team does all winter. If little or no golf is being played and the grass isn’t growing, what could there be to do? The answer is a lot! There is always plenty of work in the world of golf course maintenance and never enough time to do it all. Here are a few of the important things that keep superintendents and their teams busy all winter.
Keeping an eye on the course
Just because golf season is over doesn’t mean courses don’t still need regular attention. The maintenance team makes routine course checks throughout the winter looking for damage, debris or any safety issues that may arise. They also need to be ready for weather that can injure turf. During freeze-thaw cycles, the maintenance staff may be clearing ice or creating drainage channels in melting snow to reduce the risk of winter injury. Putting green covers may also require maintenance to keep them in place during high winds. Keeping a close eye on the golf course throughout winter sets the table for great spring golf.
Tree management
Winter is an ideal time for tree management because work can proceed without the safety concerns and delays that come with having golfers on the course. Firm, frozen ground is also ideal for transporting the heavy equipment required for tree work around the golf course. Whether it’s routine pruning or large-scale removals, winter allows the maintenance team and tree contractors to work efficiently and get all the wood and debris cleaned up before golf gets going again.
Equipment maintenance
Golf course maintenance teams depend on a large fleet of mowers, tractors, work vehicles and more. During the season, equipment maintenance is usually focused on keeping these machines running and ready for action, and dealing with endless breakdowns. Winter is an ideal time to perform preventative maintenance and find permanent fixes for some of the Band-Aid solutions that may be necessary to get certain machines through the season. It can take months of work to get the fleet tuned up after a long year.
Planning
A tremendous amount of planning and preparation goes into a successful golf course maintenance operation. It can be hard to find time for looking ahead when the season is in full swing, but as normal maintenance slows down the team can spend some time evaluating how the past year went and thinking about how to get even better.
Getting some rest!
Maybe the most important thing that superintendents and their teams can do during the winter is to get some rest. During the golf season, they work long hours and deal with a steady stream of problems and challenges. The arrival of colder weather hopefully gives the maintenance team a chance to spend more time with family and friends and catch up on all the things they put off during the season. Golf course maintenance is a profession that struggles with employee retention and burnout, so making sure the team gets time to recharge their batteries after a long year is essential.