Hail Damage

Mother Nature is at it again. Hail damage to putting surfaces can be a nuisance. Monday night into Tuesday morning we experienced three rounds of storms that passed through the club. We arrived at a golf course which was covered in hail. After assessing the damage we found that greens were left with many dimples that impeded ball roll.

There are a couple of repair measures for this sort of damage that we have had success with in the past. Verticut mowing and needle tine aerification. Both are aimed at creating a smoother surface. We chose the needle tine route because it is less invasive to the surface and it helps vent the green to dry out from the 1.5" of rainfall.

We began needle tine work shortly after 8am on Tuesday morning on all 27 holes. After three hours and only a fraction of the greens complete another round of hail and plenty of water came through again. Fortunately, this round did not cause any damage, it just saturated any areas that started to dry out.

After a long weather delay and some indoor training with the staff, we found another opportunity to get back on the course to continue the work.

The final step to repairing hail damage is to lightly apply sand. The main purpose for sand topdressing on a putting green is to achieve a smooth surface.

Topdressing is done frequently through the season as wear and tear builds on surfaces each year. Sand fills in ball marks and any other imperfections on the green.






Wednesday morning we finished needle tining and applied topdressing sand. The crew is currently working the material in, cutting new cups and opening the golf course this afternoon.

There is still plenty of clean up and mowing to tackle. The staff is busy getting to all of the finer details.

We will open the golf course to walkers only today. A little sun would be nice as we anticipate carts being available by Thursday. Thank you for your cooperation.

The new putting green took the worst damage because it lacks a sufficient mat layer on the green. This develops in time. Much of the sand from the green kicked up onto the surface.

Today we needle tined the green for the very first time and it passed with flying colors. We will add another light layer of sand this afternoon once the golf course opens and repair the larger dimples.

The new green will remain closed but should open soon.