Texas freeze impact on golf courses

[Bryndom]

My local course has already sent out a notice that the course is closed for at least a week while they review the damage, repair busted pipes, turn back on the water, and generally assess what is needed. Anyone else feeling/seeing the impact? We haven't completely thawed yet, but interesting there's so much demand that they are sending out notices before our last freeze night

I do hope all the darn pampus grass I hit balls into dies a terrible icy cold death, much as they have wrenched good rounds from me over the years

 

[Bernoulli]

My local course has already sent out a notice that the course is closed for at least a week while they review the damage, repair busted pipes, turn back on the water, and generally assess what is needed. Anyone else feeling/seeing the impact? We haven't completely thawed yet, but interesting there's so much demand that they are sending out notices before our last freeze night

I do hope all the darn pampus grass I hit balls into dies a terrible icy cold death, much as they have wrenched good rounds from me over the years

I hope all turns out well for you and your course.

 

[bueshy]

I'm north of Houston and I have a tee time tomorrow at my home course. But I have seen other courses with no times available and that sucks

 

[-CRW-]

My home club, Kingwood, opens business as usual this Sunday. I have no clue what damage, if any, the course might have. I’ll probably go to the range rather than fight crowds that are dying to get out of the house after this ridiculous week.

 

[Snickerdog]

What is the normal turf type in Texas? I would think that would make a huge difference to how it fares

 

[DataDude]

The grass will be fine. They are just being paranoid. Not like it's the first time a golf course has ever been covered in snow or ice. The sprinkler systems on the other hand may have some problems if they aren't buried very deep.

 

[Bryndom]

Yeah, my read, is they want to turn everything on first to make sure nothing burst underground before having people walk/drive all over the place. Very well could be paranoia, maybe something different. Glad there's at least some light at the end of the tunnel. Can't wait for 60s/70s weather!

 

[echico]

I remember I was visiting my folks in Houston right before Hurricane Ike hit back in 2008. I was playing I think it was Quail Valley and all these people were boarding up their windows. Kind of a weird situation.

I would have to imagine that after this the courses would be cart path only for a while. I just hope most people worry about getting a tee time instead of worrying about get a plumber or other contractors for house damage.

 

[DataDude]

Yeah, my read, is they want to turn everything on first to make sure nothing burst underground before having people walk/drive all over the place. Very well could be paranoia, maybe something different. Glad there's at least some light at the end of the tunnel. Can't wait for 60s/70s weather!

Yeah one of my business partners who we provide analytics to is down there in Houston. He has told us about the week he's had. Been tough.

 

[JPR1959]

It depends on how long the grass had ice/snow on it. It will kill the grass and will take most of the summer to regrow due to sprigging and seeding. We had snow/ice for a couple weeks, and it did major damage on every course.

 

[Matthew]

Same thing from our course, "we're going to open Monday but take the weekend to see how much got messed up." Our course in Austin is uncovering greens tomorrow morning with play starting on a 1PM shot gun.

 

[Raiderboost]

Same thing from our course, "we're going to open Monday but take the weekend to see how much got messed up." Our course in Austin is uncovering greens tomorrow morning with play starting on a 1PM shot gun.

This is news to me. Last I heard there wasn't any plans to open the course for at least a few days. They said they will first have to spray greens with chemicals to promote recovery. Our MGA was postponed 2 weeks from this Saturday to the first Saturday in March.

 

[Raiderboost]

I will add that I haven't driven the course but I've heard there are a ton of branches down from breaking due to the ice.

 

[Chef23]

I think the burst pipes are the biggest concern. The grass should survive a brief period of snow cover and snow is better than ice.

 

[scott.french3]

My club is opening up on Tuesday afternoon, if all goes as planned. I'm up in the DFW area.

 

[Raiderboost]

I think the burst pipes are the biggest concern. The grass should survive a brief period of snow cover and snow is better than ice.

We have a almost 40 year old irrigation system that already leaks everywhere. They say they are going to redo it in 2-3 years though we really think it will be a heavy repair vs. replace. Is it wrong to kind of hope this really did some damage to it to get them to go ahead and replace now?

 

[Matthew]

This is news to me. Last I heard there wasn't any plans to open the course for at least a few days. They said they will first have to spray greens with chemicals to promote recovery. Our MGA was postponed 2 weeks from this Saturday to the first Saturday in March.

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[Chef23]

We have a almost 40 year old irrigation system that already leaks everywhere. They say they are going to redo it in 2-3 years though we really think it will be a heavy repair vs. replace. Is it wrong to kind of hope this really did some damage to it to get them to go ahead and replace now?

If it already leaks it might not get wrecked because there are places for the pressure to get out.

 

[Raiderboost]

If it already leaks it might not get wrecked because there are places for the pressure to get out.

The reason it leaks is that it’s a hydraulic system with pneumatic tubes that are pressurized using city water. When they are supposed to go off the system cuts the pressure to the tube which tell the head to raise up and water. We get leaks because the tubes get small holes or breaks and the pressure goes down some or a lot and causes the heads to either bubble or just fully go off. It’s not usually an actual busted pipe though we still get some of those.

 

[MattyD-MPLS]

Man, thinking about you Texas folks a lot this week!

 

[Raiderboost]

Just got the email that the earliest our course will open is on Wednesday.

 

[Badger_Golfer]

My local course has already sent out a notice that the course is closed for at least a week while they review the damage, repair busted pipes, turn back on the water, and generally assess what is needed. Anyone else feeling/seeing the impact? We haven't completely thawed yet, but interesting there's so much demand that they are sending out notices before our last freeze night

I do hope all the darn pampus grass I hit balls into dies a terrible icy cold death, much as they have wrenched good rounds from me over the years

No surprise, considering what a freak winter it has been for the south. The grass will bounce back. Some of it may die due to frost but much of if will just go dormant, like it does in the north.
The burst pipes are a much bigger issue because it will have to be all dug up and repaired, possibly. That could seriously set some courses back.