Courses begin thawing out from ice storm

With a layer of ice covering trees across the majority of Oklahoma,  golf course superintendents are facing some major cleanup of broken  limbs and fallen trees, but fortunately nothing to match the  catastrophic damage of the 2007 ice storm.

The ice was heaviest west of Interstate 44 and extended all the way  north through Springfield, Mo.  Heavily laden trees were bent and  many limbs snapped. Temperatures were expected to exceed freezing  Tuesday and begin to melt the ice.

Cedar Ridge superintendent Mike Wooten said this morning that his  course had a lot of broken limbs and had lost several pine trees.  That was a typical response of courses contacted in Enid, Tulsa,  Oklahoma City and Norman, while courses in southern Oklahoma (Lake  Murray) and the Grand Lake area (Shangri-La) reported no ice  accumulation.

This report will be updated.