Recovering From The Second Snowiest Winter on Record
The Effort to Open Our Golf Courses
TRUCKEE, Calif. — On a brisk Monday afternoon last month, Joe Valente checked a new experience off his bucket list.
“I’ve driven a lot of equipment over the years but never one of these,” said Valente, Tahoe Mountain Club’s new Director of Agronomy.
He’s no stranger to heavy equipment. In his over a decade career with TMC, Valente has driven it all: tractors, green rollers, bunker rakers, aerators, sprayers, and a list of different types of lawnmowers you didn’t even know existed. You can almost say, doing this type of thing is in his blood.
“My dad is a civil engineer. So, growing up, I would go to work with him a lot and always try to get in every piece of heavy equipment,” said Valente.
But in all that time and through all that experience there’s one piece of tracked equipment that’s always evaded him: The Snowcat.
“It’s not something you typically use for golf course maintenance,” said Valente
Joe Valente operates a snowcat on the 18th green of Old Greenwood.
This year, though, is far from typical. Since the water year started on October 1, Truckee has received more snow than it has during its previous 70 winters. The region’s snowpack is currently sitting at 233% of normal. It’s great news for California which exists in an almost constant state of drought, but not so great news if you want to see your golf course open on time.
“Depending on the hole, we have anywhere from six to nine feet of snow sitting on our greens,” said Travis Alley, Tahoe Mountain Club’s Director of Golf.
The Tucker Snowcat is about half the size of a typical ski resort snowcat.
Snow amounts like that exist course-wide, but in terms of getting the track playable for summer, the greens are of particular concern. The Kentucky Bluegrass that makes up the rough and fairways of Old Greenwood can recover in just a few weeks, but the Bentgrass that makes up the greens needs at least a month of recovering in the sun before it can be manicured into a perfect putting surface.
That brings us back to why a snowcat, normally reserved for ski resorts operations, is being employed on a golf course. It’s the most efficient way to remove snow from the greens.
“We’re clearing down to about 8-12 inches deep with the snowcat,” said Dave Martin, Old Greenwood Golf Course Superintendent.
From hole to hole, the valiant Valente makes tracks back and forth pushing snow away from the greens. It’s a tedious process not only because it takes a long time, but also because it’s nerve-wracking. Greens aren’t cheap. One wrong move with the snowcat’s blade and snow problem turns into a turf problem. Those type of problems are expensive to fix.
Old Greenwood Course Superintendent Dave Martin measures the snow depth.
“As he is working with the snowcat I am going around and probing the green,” said Martin.
With each poke of the snow probe (normally used for finding avalanche vicitims) Martin measures the snow and communicates its depth to Valente. This teamwork ensures they remove as much snow off the greens as possible, without causing any damage to the turf.
With this first step now complete, Valente and Martin call in a different crew with a different piece of equipment to finish the job.
“We’ll bring our crew out here to snow blow the rest of it,” said Martin.
Using the same Honda snowblowers we use at home to clear our driveways, patios, and pathways, an army of greenskeepers makes their way from hole to hole, removing the last few inches of snow. Just like Valente in the snowcat, their work also must be gentle. If angled too deep, the spinning blades of the snowblowers will dig into the greens and damage the turf. With that in mind, yet another process is required to get the greens completely clear: careful shoveling and a little encouragement from the sun.
Rios Gonzalez operates a snowblower on the 9th green of Old Greenwood.
“It’s a lot of hard work, but these efforts will ensure we’ll be open before any other championship course in town,” said Alley. “Because we are on the east side of Truckee, we get a little more sun and a little less snow, so we should have the longest season in Truckee.”
That’s comforting news for Valente who, in his first season as Tahoe Mountain Club’s Director of Agronomy, has the weight of all that snow resting on his shoulders.
“I can’t believe how much it’s snowing. If we can just get a break we’ll have a good shot at opening the course in May,” said Valente.
That’s the goal. If all goes according to plan Old Greenwood will open in late May and Gray’s Crossing will open in early June. Pending a few more days of sun and a better understanding of the weather forecast, course managers anticipate announcing definitive opening dates by mid-April.
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