We broke one of golf's golden rules...

and this is what happened

Nothing!

What is this golden rule of golf? Turf covered in frost should not be walked on. Maybe the title was sensationalized a bit, but isn’t that the way it’s done these days?

As a superintendent, there are two things I try not to do: unnecessarily irritate golfers, and unnecessarily damage turf. I’m 100% certain frost delays do the former, I’m much less certain playing on frost does the latter. 

Last fall, October 18th to be exact, as an experiment, our crew went out and trampled around on fairway height bentgrass turf–when it was covered with a heavy frost. We also drove carts over it and even our resident border collie, Ozzy joined in. We did this on multiple frosty days. 

The results were some black foot prints (dog and human), and black cart tracks, but nothing else. 

This week, as the golf course emerged from the snow, I ventured to the same area to see what might be visible. The answer–nothing. If I didn’t know we’d been there, I’d have no idea we’d walked all over this frost laden turf. 

In Japan, it is uncommon for golf to be delayed by frost. I know of courses in the UK that do not have frost delays and the 18th green on the Old Course is frozen solid for most of the winter. Reports of frost damage at such venues do not seem to exist.  

Here in the US, frost delays are common. As of last fall, I still implemented frost delays, but I’m thinking about whether or not we continue to put them in place. Every golf course superintendent needs to do what they believe is right and I’m not telling anyone to not have frost delays. But we should think about them and be able to answer the question truthfully for our property.