Golf Frost Delay Explained

Every year in late fall golfers inevitably rush to the courses to get in their last few rounds of the year, only to end up sitting in the club house waiting out a lengthy frost delay.  Discouraging as it is to see your day slip away as you wait for the thaw, few golfers realize how important frost delays are for protecting their beloved golf courses from damage.  With that said, let us take a moment to delve into what a frost delay is really all about and why greens keepers are so adamant about preventing play in these frost-bitten conditions.

Frost is nothing more than frozen dew that crystallizes on the grass.  Being composed of 90% water, a grass blade freezes very easily, thereby making the normally pliable grass rigid and inflexible.  Once frozen just the simple act of walking on a frosted course will cause the grass plant to break and rupture cell walls.  The problem lies in that once the membrane is ruptured; future re-growth of the grass blade is significantly hindered.  Golf course grass, mowed shortest on fairways and greens and therefore less robust than longer patches, is naturally most susceptible to breakage.

If a frost delay is ignored, immediate damage is not seen.  About 48-72 hours after membrane breakage has occurred the grass will turn brown and die.  The destruction of the grass, especially on the putting surface, opens the door for the growth of weeds and disease, thus compounding the issue and further devolving the overall condition of the course.

For obvious reasons, golf courses dislike delaying play as much as the golfers that are waiting, but simply put, it will cost a golf club significantly more to replace damaged grass than to administer a short delay while allowing nature to take its course.  Take a look at some of the local county courses in your area that are in awful shape.  This is most likely caused by ignoring frost, riding carts on wet fairways, and not replacing divots from wet chunk shots.

Next time the temperatures drop into the freezing range, do yourself a favor and call the pro shop to ask if there is a delay before heading out for your early tee time.  This extra step will save you time and keep you from sitting inside the clubhouse waiting a couple of hours.  Even use of the practice facilities (putting green and driving range) is disallowed during a frost delay, so stay home, have an extra cup of coffee, and head over to the course for a later round when the sun has had a chance to warm the grass up a bit.

(Cover Photo Credit)