By Chengyan Yue and Eric Watkins, University of Minnesota
In cold climates, winter injury is a major threat to golf courses. Ice, snow, freezing temperatures, and other extreme conditions can cause harm to turfgrass surfaces. We conducted a survey with superintendents from 96 golf courses in North America to find out the most prevalent types of winter injury and their impact on the opening time of the courses.
What are the most prevalent types of winter injury?
The predominant cause of winter injury in our survey was ice encasement, reported by 70% of respondents (Figure 1). For about 60% of the sample, crown hydration was thought to be a significant contributor to winter injury, followed by snow mold at 54% and desiccation at 46%. The least reported causes were low temperature (26%) and de-hardening (15%). While some injuries, such as snow mold, are relatively easy to confirm, the reason for some cases of winter injury reported by the superintendent might not be as definitive. For instance, it may be difficult to distinguish between damage caused by ice encasement or crown hydration, especially when the damage incurred is under ice. In cases like these, the reported causes reflect the superintendents’ best judgment based on their field experiences. The total of all the individual percentages exceeding 100% (Figure 1) also indicates that many superintendents are likely facing multiple winter injury mechanisms simultaneously.
How does winter injury affect golf courses opening on time?
Over the average career length of the superintendents in our study (18 years, with 12 of those years being at their current facility) a typical golf course experienced winter-related injury in four of those years. In years marked by low to moderate winter injury, golf courses encountered delays in opening averaging up to 2.3 weeks, which increased to 3 weeks in years with considerable winter injury. In severe years, 22-25% of courses reported delays of 4-5 weeks and about 4% reported delays of 6-7 weeks.
To deal with delayed openings, about 31% of respondents have used temporary greens while recovery efforts took place on the regular greens. In years with considerable winter injury, temporary greens had to be used for an average of 3-4 weeks. In some cases of extreme winter injury, superintendents reported using temporary greens for 8 weeks or more. Temporary greens can allow golf courses to open earlier than otherwise possible when the primary greens are affected by winter injury, though this solution provides substandard playing quality and, in most cases, will result in reduced revenue from discounted green fees and/or golfers choosing to play elsewhere.
Clearly, winter injury is a major challenge for golf course superintendents in cold climates. This analysis should help decisionmakers better understand the economic risks associated with these stressors and inform budgetary decisions related to maintaining golf courses in the northern U.S. and Canada.
To learn more about this research, see our recent publication:
Yue, C., Parasuram, U., Watkins, E., Soldat, D., Koch, P., Frank, K., & DaCosta, M. (2025). The economic cost of winter injuries on golf courses in North America. HortScience, 60(8), 1389-1397.