News

                                                                                                  last updated 12/10/2019

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                             Course Closing 2019

It is my sad duty to inform the membership that due to the increasing advance of winter, the Lockport Golf & Recreation Club will be officially closed as of Tuesday morning December 10, 2019. If anyone feels that they need access to the course for any reason (cart owners as well) please contact me before trying to gain access to the course. (scott.pieper@lockportgolf.com)          

Thanks for another wonderful, all be it, short golf season and we are looking forward to seeing all of you in the year to come!! Let’s hope for better weather in 2020!!

Thank you all,

Merry Christmas and a happy, healthy New Year,

Scott Pieper

Supt/GM

Lockport Golf & Rec. Club

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Lockport Golf and Recreation Club Policy

COURSE CLOSED FOR THE SEASON

The Lockport Golf and Recreation Club is owned and operated by the Membership of the club for the exclusive use of the members and their guests.   Each year, at the end of the golf season, on a date determined by the club General Manager, the facility of the Lockport Golf and Recreation Club is closed for the season.  It remains closed until, on a date determined by the club General Manager, it is deemed playable and the “COURSE CLOSED FOR THE SEASON” signs are taken down.

During the time that the course is closed for the season, any unauthorized person who willfully comes onto the property south of the main parking lot will be considered a trespasser and will be turned over to proper authorities for prosecution.

Approved 2/21/17

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When the weather turns cold, be it spring or fall, Lockport Golf Club will be closed during periods of frost or freezing conditions. If there is frost on the turf, the course will remain closed until the frost lifts. The time it takes for frost to lift varies greatly depending on a number of factors. Temperature is the most obvious of these, but even this is affected by other things. If the temperature drop into the 30’s, frost can form especially in low lying areas and under calm conditions, but may not form if the wind blows enough to keep the dew from settling to allow the frost to develop. The reason for keeping any type of traffic, either cart or foot traffic, is that frost causes water in the cells of turf to freeze and the weight of traffic can cause the cells to rupture. The result of this can be seen as a blackening of the turf. As time goes by, the blackened areas will turn to more of a straw color. Death of the turf can result especially if the damage extends to the crown of the plant.

          Freezing of the soil and turf posses another set of problems. If the turf and soil freeze and then the air and sunlight start to thaw the turf itself, the soil might still be in a frozen state and foot and/or cart traffic can cause the turf and root system to separate under the weight and side to side pressure, compromising the health of the turf and possibly causing damage and/or death of the turf.

          In the fall, the first frosts might only appear in the taller rough and not on the greens, tees or fairways. This is because the shorter turf blades are closer to the warmth of the soil. Conversely, as the fall season continues and the soil temperatures continue to fall, the shorter turf will begin to take longer to have the frost burn off because the colder soil will make it harder for the air temperature counteract the soil temperature. Sunlight will also help to burn off frost, while shaded areas will lag behind for obvious reasons. At Lockport Golf Club, the fact that #1 and #2 greens are both shaded, can result in a longer wait for a frost or freeze to burn off.

          When the weather really turns cold and the ground starts to freeze it can take even longer for frost to burn out of the soil. The frost might burn off of the surface of the turf, but still remain around the crown of the plant and deeper. The colder it gets for a longer period of time, the more time it can take for frost to move out of the soil. The later in the year it gets, the lower angle of the sun also reduces its ability to aid in the removal of frost from the soil. This can make for days, following nighttime temperatures in the low 20s or teens, that don’t see the frost leaving the soil until very late in the day if at all. In the spring this process may start to work in reverse with longer days, higher sun angles, etc. making the frost or freezing burn off quicker. With all of these variables, you can begin to see how each day brings its own set of circumstances that make predicting ahead of time when the course might open on a particular day difficult. The fact that weather forecasters are often off with their predictions doesn’t help either.

          When we do close due to frost or freeze, we generally put out a sign stating so. An alternative is that I may put a lock on the gate. When conditions improve, we remove the sign, or remove the lock. Cart traffic may also be limited sometimes just to error on the side of safety. The object of these restrictions is to help protect the condition of the course for future play as well as to help reduce the cost of repairs.

          The permanent closing of the course for the winter usually happens around mid to late December, but as always depends on weather. There may be a number of days when it just doesn’t warm up enough for the course to open prior to the permanent closing for winter. These guidelines and a little common sense will go a long way towards your deciding to make the trip out to see if the course is open or not. Just like with the opening of the course, an e-mail will go out to the members who have e-mail available when the course does close for the winter.

Just another note concerning the conditions this fall of 2019. We have gone through a period of severe below freezing temperatures. Low temps have been in the single digits on multiple occasions and the soil freeze has moved deeper in the soil, especially on the greens. With shorter intervals of daylight/sunshine, plus the fact that there is still more shade in many locations because many trees are still holding on to their leaves, makes it take a long time for the frost/freeze to move out of the shorter turf. We will always try to error on the side of safety to prevent damage to our golf course. Please be patient. If conditions improve, we will reopen on a temporary basis. Otherwise, we will look forward to 2020 and hope for better weather in the year to come. I hope all this information helps make your decision to consider coming out to golf in cold weather an easier one.

Thanks for your attention to this subject of cold weather golf and the protection of our golf course.

Scott Pieper

Superintendent/GM

Lockport Golf Club

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Ball Mark Repair

Click below to view a video of the proper way to repair a ball mark on the green.

Click Here

 

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CDGA Handicaps and Equitable Stroke Control

Many of you know what Equitable Stroke Control or ESC is, but it is questions asked very often. ESC is the downward adjustment of individual hole scores for handicap purposes in order to make handicaps more representative of a player's potential scoring ability. ESC sets a maximum number that a player can post on any hole depending on the player's Course Handicap. It is used only when a player's actual or most likely score exceeds his maximum number based on the table below. There is no limit to the number of holes on which a player may adjust his or her score. Basically, we all occasionally have those holes where we seem to forget how to play this game, and ESC brings that score back to reality without allowing it to affect our handicap more than it should. The tables below show exactly how it works:

Course Handicap ESC Maximum

9 or less                 Double Bogey

10-19                      7

20-29                     8

30-39                     9

40 and above        10

MEMBERSHIPS FOR SALE

There are currently 11 memberships for sale. Login to the "Member Only" Area and see details or contact us at lockportgolf@lockportgolf.com for more information.