Winter Update

The start of our winter has not been ideal.
We do not have much snow cover; if any in some areas.
We had several warm-ups that have cause some ice accumulations on the putting greens. Most of the ice is very porous but some is solid and black; the kind that does present problems. Ice becomes a duration issue meaning the longer it is on your putting surface, the worse the winter kill becomes. This ice formed in mid-December, we have a long winter to go, not a favorable situation.
Our best springs come after we get a thick blanket of snow early that stays all winter.
Some may say: why not just go out and remove the ice?
We have done this in the past; when ice was thick, solid and black on the entire green surface. If you just have pockets of ice on the surface, removal will cause more mechanical damage to the surface than good. Not to mention I am the only one on staff over the winter months, hard to do with one person.