Mink Meadows Turf Maintenance Department: Spring? will it ever arrive?

Rest assured I know that as sure as the sun will rise we will have a Spring. Such that we ever really have one on Martha's Vineyard. What the weather will be remains to be seen. If you have not been here for months you cannot appreciate the roller coaster we have had to live through. It has been a couple of weeks since I posted and in the last post I spoke of an impending storm to bury the south coast in snow. It was pushed out to sea by a cold front that brought frigid temperatures instead of a lot of snow. We received just enough here on MV to plow or so I was told. When I left for Providence Monday morning at 5:45 am my driveway on the Cape had an inch. It snowed for a couple of hours and the snow line stopped approximately in Fall River. The city (Providence) was bare which made walking around for the rest of the week very pleasant. Cold but better than slipping and sliding all over the place. I enjoyed the 17th New England Regional Turfgrass Conference and Show very much. It has been fun sitting on the board and being involved with running the Foundation and this show which is our main fund raiser. The Foundation NERTF.org funds turfgrass research projects in New England. This research is vital to continue giving us the knowledge and tools to maintain the turfgrass that we all enjoy, whether in golf, sports fields, cemeteries, parks, or even home lawns. Will, Chris and Murph came over Wednesday and enjoyed walking the trade show floor and sitting in on a few talks.

Me as Moderator of the afternoon golf session at NERTCS

Providence, RI sunrise from hotel

Monday morning of this week it snowed yet again. It was only a dusting but just enough to keep us from getting started on the course. The sun came out and it turned out to be a nice evening so I washed the pickup and vacuumed the inside just to enjoy the nice weather. Tuesday with temps in the 50's we went at the course full tilt. We blew off greens, tees, bunkers and surrounds of half the holes opening them for play as we went. We saw maybe a dozen golfers enjoying the first nice day in weeks. Will dragged the goose droppings off several fairways and then blew them off as well. Wednesday was another day in the 50's so we were able to finish blowing off all tees and greens. I changed cups and rolled them so they were actually looking and playing like the real thing again. The wind picked up in the afternoon as I continued the power washing of the clubhouse deck and the temps plummeted throughout the evening. We received .5" of rain overnight and then a flash freeze with temps in the 20's all day Thursday and yet another coating of the white stuff. We started today in the teens and peaked at 29 degrees. Forecast is for 50 degrees tomorrow and then more snow Monday and with the official beginning of Spring just around the corner, what is the weather going to be? My guess is the same as always: an odd day of warmth mixed with some bitter raw days. The water around us is cold and that will keep us cool for several more months I am afraid.