Playing it Safe ...

[Matt_Ward]

I have to say after visiting a number of golf courses in the greater Northeast it frankly disturbs me -- check that -- pisses me off that so many courses are unbelievably OVERWATERED.

In many of the cases you have classic designed courses that are as slow as possible. Tee shots routinely hit the ground and bounce a scant few yards. Approaches create moon shaped craters when landing.

Candidly, the situation boils down to just two reasons why ...

1). The superintendent is determined to keep the course "green" because he / she knows the limited understanding of the membership and how the "appearance" of green turf will keep the masses (cows) happy. Watering the course to death is far easier than taking the course and having a few brown spots which can be seen through ignorant eyes as blemishes that need correction ASAP.

2). The superintendent is told to keep the course watered by the people in charge at the facility and simply obliges because of a desire to not "rock the boat." The superintendent knows full well that "education" is a long and tiring process and when one is getting paid every two weeks why take the risk in trying to educate people when the "safe play" is simply dump more water on the ground.

Despite all the articles and talk of "firm and fast" turf -- I don't see major headway among the more noted clubs in the Northeast. I'm not saying this is an issue at say 99.99% of the clubs but for people to believe that clubs are moving faster and faster to less water is not happening anywhere near the frequency one might believe.

I would only hope that clubs would understand the twin benefits in having courses play far more strategic / challenging and the PR gain they get from demonstrating that they are not pumping tons of water on their manicured acreas that few will ever have the hope in playing and in behaving like good neighbors to the masses who don't see golf as being really environmentally sensitive.

[Tom_Doak]

Matt:

I spoke to Michael Pascucci today and he says (and Jim Urbina confirms) that Sebonack is hard as a rock right now, with balls rolling forty yards in the fairways -- and they're still growing it in.

Hats off to the superintendent, Garret Bodington, for that.  If he keeps it up, he won't have to water the crap out of it when he gets a heat wave three summers from now.  But that's the key, you have to wean the grass off water early.  If you haven't done so, turning off the water in a heat wave like this is career suicide.

[Matt_Ward]

Tom:

Agreed:

But the continued information on the benefits of less water is not penetrating the very clubs in the Northeast that should be the leaders in the field.

I mean I have played quite a few of them (I'll hold back the specific names because I don't want to embarrass them) where the air game is simply de rigeur. There is NO -- ZERO --NADA ground game.

I am aware of the job security issues all superintendents operate under but frankly I will be marking down a number of these courses when ratings are forthcoming.

It's clear a number of clubs understand the tree explosion from years past and are doing something about it. The water issue seems to be more persistent and entrenched.

[James Bennett]

Matt

on Mike Clayton's web-site, there is an excellent article on the pitfalls of overwatering written by John Sloan, one of the founders of Clayton Golf design and a Course Supt of experience.  

We have attempted to adopt this approach since October 2004, and have recently posted this article at our club to further explain our actions, as the membership had trouble accepting a lighter shade of green this summer/autumn during an extended drought, in particular on the edges of fairways where irrigation was more limited.  However, the improvement going into winter (when it is wet) has been significant.  (Note, I am in Australia, so we are in our wet, mild winter period now.  We also use couch/bermuda fairways, not bent/poa).  The degree of summer/autumn run was also challenging (read difficult) for some of our members to deal with.  We have more work to go.

Go to www.claytongolf.com.au and check the articles page.  The article is about 'Overwatering - The No. 1 Pitfall in Golf', or similar.

[Brent Hutto]

I can't speak to elite private clubs but among golfers in general there is an impression that good courses are very green (every day of the year if possible) and poor courses are light green, gold or brown. Similarly, good courses are expected to have lush grass and seeing the ball running or bouncing is associated with a municipal course or a private course with a small maintenance budget.

I have the disadvantage of speaking as a bogey golfer who doesn't hit the ball very high or very far but when I opine that a particular course might be more fun with firmer fairways it is taken as complaint from a poor player hoping for extra distance from the run of the ball. In the mind of most players I meet, good players hit the ball high and stop it right where it lands. Firm greens are considered a sign of a strong course because they test the players ability to hit it high and spin it but firm fairways are seen as a crutch for the weaker player. "Real men" hit it far enough not to need it to roll and good golf is target golf.

I don't which is the chicken and which is the egg but at this point in time it would seem an uphill battle to break that cycle of beliefs among the bulk of US golfers.

[cary lichtenstein]

Matt:

How about the guys in carts who play early and dig up the coursewith their tires or after a heavy rain, they destroy the fairways

[JBergan]

It's not limited to the Northeast.  I played Talking Stick North at the end of June and it was a little on the wet/soft side.  I guess they don't have much of a choice in the desert when the temps are 100+ week after week.

[peter_p]

Cary,
At our course it is the maintenance equipment which does the damage.

[Don Herdrich]

Matt,

check out New Haven, it is 180 degrees different in one scant year under Mr Burrows......he is getting rid of the undesirable grasses and has stopped over-watering the fairways......30 to 40 yards roll is the norm....

[Patrick_Mucci]

Matt:

How about the guys in carts who play early and dig up the coursewith their tires or after a heavy rain, they destroy the fairways

Cary,

If those are the conditions, carts shouldn't be allowed on the golf course.

This is one of the reasons that clubs give for building start to finish cart paths, making the course available when it's very wet.

Tom Doak,

What member or faction of members are going to argue with Mike Pascucci ?

It's much harder to accomplish in a member owned club.[/color]

[Joe Hancock]

Tom,

Two important factors that contribute to the conditions being discussed that aren't at Sebonack...yet:

1) Poa

2) Thatch

Those two things contribute, but can be kept at bay with good water management.

Joe

[Matt_Ward]

Let me also highlight the fact that the situation I originally mentioned is not home to just the Northeast. I am frankly amazed at so many courses in "dry" areas of the USA that overwater on a frequent basis.

One of my favorite layouts but one I feel is set-up always incorrectly because of water overusage is the South Course at UNM in Albuquerque. The Red Lawrence design is well done and the terrain a joy to behold.

Unfortunately --

The turf is wet to the point that you pump water from your shoes on a number of occasions. You even make footprints on a few of the tees and moon size craters are the norm for ball marks.

The course gets little rain from the sky and while watering is necessary to keep grass alive it's beyond me how this NM course and a few others go the route of drenching turf.

Like I said before -- either the superintendent doesn't have a clue on the subject and opts for the easier water "at all costs" philosophy or the club orders the superintendent to keep the layout green at all times.

I'll say this again -- the tree issue was a much easier one to overcome -- the water one is not going away as fast and as a result I will be placing more emphasis on this when reviewing facilities.

[PThomas]

Matt- thanks for raising what is perhaps my biggest  pet peeve about the game of golf  and one which I have posted since I joined GCA in January

it's really ridiculous that this is often done "just to make the course a pretty green"...this is the so-called  "Augusta National "Syndrome ..hopefully in the future the next generations of golfers won't "demand"  this...I just don't understand how different shades of colors on courses isn't more appealing than wall to wall green

and everybody wants to hit the ball farther; if we stop making fairways sopping wet that will help...I believe it was Alice Dye who has stated that women golfers used to get far more roll back in the 60's because this practice didn't occur back then

Pat referred to one great possible solution:  having private clubs that are run by one  man insure that this practce isn't practiced

finally, if a course is using drinkable water for this practice, they might be forced to cut back their usage in the future as our population continues to grow along with the demand for drinking water

rant over

[Jerry Kluger]

I think another factor as to why this occurs is that many of the new courses today are designed so that the only way to get your ball on the green is to fly it there.  If the course does not allow for the ground game then players will be very upset if the greens are very firm and they have no choice but to fly the ball onto the green.  

[SL_Solow]

Don't underestimate the factors cited by Joe.  Some greenkeepers are using the drought as a means of eradicating some of their poa while trying to expand the bent coverage.  This process takes some time and may result in some spotty conditions in the short run.  Thatch can be a major problem in older courses.  If there is a large thatch layer, it acts like a subsurface sponge.  This limits root penetration and requires that the thatch layer be kept wet during extreme temperatures.  Since it is so close to the surface, the course plays wet.  Aggressive dethatching can take quite awhile on older courses.

[Kenny Lee Puckett]

We are as wet as can be in lower Fairfield County because of:

Weather - Hazy, Hot and Humid
Safety - Green is good, right?!?!?
Excellent Drainage - Huh?

Our course is built upon an old dairy farm with 4+' of top-soil in most places.  When we water, it just goes right down the drainage, so we excessively water to keep things green.

Two questions to the board:

1)  To a very novice in agronomy, what role does water play vs. Anthracnose?

2)  Does begging for firm and fast conditions beget the argument, "The balls flying too far".  I mean four of the par 4's were reachable at TOC during the Open Champ.  Should we be only keeping the greens F&F and slow the fairways down?

I await your replies>

JWK

[Patrick_Mucci]

Matt Ward,

You can't overlook the fact that we had a WET spring, followed by 90 to 100 degree temperatures.  

Everybody was green in the spring.

A few years ago I was playing Newport and it was greener than any golf course I ever played, and they don't have a wall to wall irrigation system.

So, let's not look at this by ignoring Mother Nature.

[Matt_Ward]

Pat Mucci:

Understood -- but Pat please let's try to move this along beyond the same "let's find any excuse we can" that keeps the courses from being more than just soaking weat most of the time.

I've played a very reasonable sampling of courses throughout the Northeast this year and last and the MO is fairly similar. The courses with the best architecture routinely see fit to wet them down so that green grass is the first consideration.

I'm not advocating that no water be applied but when I see sprinklers firing away with a liberal use of water and then you have fairways that are as thick as carpets something is clearly amiss.

Conditioning needs to be weighed by which it will be assessed on how the design elements are "enhanced" through the daily upkeep practices used by that club.

I'll say this again so that there's no misinterpretation -- I'm not suggesting no water but considerably less than what is being used now at too many private clubs and even a number of the CCFAD's. Unfortunately, the water constituency has more followers than the tree-huggers.

[Kenny Lee Puckett]

From Brett Hutto:  "When you say you want firm greens, you're perceived as a good player who can spin the ball who just wants an advantage over your opponents who can't."  

A blinding glimpse of the obvious!  

It is almost as good as the bartenders at O'Hare:

"Sir, would like a double for a $1 extra?"
 
I have yet to hear a patron come back and say:

"No thanks.  I'd rather pay full price for my second drink!"

In this case, Brett and Shivas are right!!!

JWK

[James Bennett]

Two questions to the board:

1)  To a very novice in agronomy, what role does water play vs. Anthracnose?

I await your replies>

JWK

To a fellow James

Bruce Clark at Rutgers University has an excellent article on Anthracnose.  He visited Australia and spoke at the Course Supt Conference a year ago.

We had a bad outbreak on the poa element of 6 older greens 18 months ago (we had consecutive days of 43 degrees, or about 110 farenheit), and on 2 greens last year.  I hope we avoid it next year.  We will see.

the web address for the article is

http://www.metgcsa.org/research/rutgers_anthracnose.asp

James W. Bennett   (William is the middle name)

[Brad Klein]

By the way, as with New Haven CC, drying out a course can lead to significant turf loss when there is a predominance of Poa annua and the bentgrasess and fescues have not been fully or more extensively established. The transition phase is very dicey, in part because members get upset, and also because you don't have enough deep-rooting, cool season grasses that can readily withstand summer conditions. That helps explain the superintendent's reticence, namely that he might properly understand that on older courses with much Poa annua, transitioning is very complicated.

I agree, too many courses are overwatered, and too many clubs take the wrong approach. But grass types have a lot to do with this, as do inadequate irrigatio systems w/o adequate coverage. Ironically, you need a lot of heads on a multi-row basis in order to be able to use less water, and to do so more efficiently. Many overwatered courses are the product of having an inadequate irrigation systems where you have to thriow a lot of water down in order to get some to stick, esp. on marginal areas.

The only way to dry out a course is to tolerate some turf loss while promoting stronger grasses than can thrive under lean conditions. That requries turf renovation and improved irrigation.

By the way, Sebonack is real firm and the ball did roll out there.

[Jerry Kluger]

Brad: Would you then say that it is unrealistic in the Middle Atlantic area to expect firm greens where they are primarily Poa annua?  You also said there could be significant turf loss, would that mean starting from scratch and resodding or reseeding, or does it mean that the grasses would be dormant and would recover when the temperatures moderate in the Fall?

[Brad Klein]

Jerry, if I start getting too agronomic I'll drown. All I mean is that fairways are really tough to firm up when they don't have a lot of bent, as are greens. You need a lot of air movement (i.e. tree removal), deep & infrequent rather than frequent watering. You're also, with predominantly Poa greens, better off focusing on rolling and topdressing for firmness and smoothness rather than reduced cutting heights for speed. Once you get below 1/8 inch with Poa in a parkland setting you are running serious risks of injury and anthracnose.

[Brian Phillips]

By the way, as with New Haven CC, drying out a course can lead to significnt turf loss when there is a predominance of Poa annua and the bentgrasess and fescues have not been fully or more extensivewly established. The transition phase is very dicey, in part because members get upset, and also because you don't have enough deep-rooting, cool season grasses that can readily withstand summer conditions. That helps explain the superintendent's reticence, namely that he might properly understand that on older courses with much Poa annua, transitioning is very complicated.

I agree, too many courses are ovetwatered, and too many clubs take the wrong approach. But grass types have a lot to do with this, as do inadequate irrigatio systems w/o adequate coverage. Ironically, you need a lot of heads on a multi-row basis in order to be able to use less water, and to do so more efficiently. Many overwatered courses are the product of having an inadequate irrigation systems where you have to thriow a lot of water down in order to get some to stick, esp. on marginal areas.

The only way to dry out a course is to tolerate some turf loss while promoting stronger grasses than can thrive under lean conditions. That requries turf renovation and improved irrigation.

By the way, Sebonack is real firm and the ball did roll out there.

That is a superb analysis of turf problems all over the globe.  The only thing you might have forgotten Brad is 'improved irrigation and drainage'

Brian

[A_Clay_Man]

Like I said before -- either the superintendent doesn't have a clue on the subject and opts for the easier water "at all costs" philosophy or the club orders the superintendent to keep the layout green at all times.

Don't forget about the courses whose clientel predominately hit fairway woods from as close as 160 yards. Getting a ball to stop on a green from this type of customer is essential to keeping that customer.