Frost Delays - Explained

"Frost is essentially frozen dew.  Ice crystals visible on the outside of the plant can also form on the inside of grass blades.  The grass plant, normally resilient to footsteps or cart traffic, becomes brittle and fragile when ice crystals form.   Under the pressure of traffic, ice crystals puncture living plant tissues and rupture plant cells.  Damage will not appear right away, but it will show up in footsteps and tire tracks the following days as the plant is unable to repair itself and begins to die.  Frost damage can occur on any turfgrass, mowed at any height, but is amplified when the plant is mowed low, as on a putting green.

Keep in mind, a foursome typically takes several hundred footsteps on each green, so even allowing just a few groups to play when frost is present can be very damaging to the greens, and the rest of the golf course for that matter.  For this reason, golf facilities are wise to delay starting times in the morning until frost has completely melted."

Ty McClellan, USGA Green Section

 #18 tee surround

Some pictures of frost damage to turf on #18.  These pictures were taken in 2011 after a golf cart was driven through frost covered turf.  This turf was able to recover in the spring.  This is turf-type tall fescue mowed at a height of 2 1/2 ".

This picture of #17 approach was taken in 2011 as well.   This is creeping bentgrass mowed at 0.5"   This turf was slower to recover and this damage was evident into the spring.