"Tom,
I can think of 2 greens at Crystal Downs that were virtually unplayable when I was there: #14 and #17. If you were above the hole on either green you there was no way to stay on the green."
Craig:
I find that a little hard to believe and I'll tell you exactly why.
Last summer I went out to Crystal Downs for the express purpose of talking to Mike Morris about his green speed analysis program and green speed generally.
The reason I did that was I got involved with Tom Nicholai (U or Michigan agronomist) and his GCISinc.com service, a large part of which is a green speed analysis that emanated from Mike Morris's green speed analysis program at Crystal Downs.
Apparently the green speeds at Crystal Downs had gotten too fast in the past and Mike Morris developed a questionaire for the membership (or a selection of them) that was a form of a blind taste test on green speeds.
The way that worked is Morris would ask the membership to simply answer a questionaire on the playability of the greens on particular days although the membership selection was never told what the actual stimpmeter readings or speeds were.
Over a period of about two years the consensus on playability came back that turned out to be a differential of between 10 and 11 (I think it was---maybe it was 9.5-10.5).
I guess it might be obvious to say that if that differential produced speeds on various greens that were virtually unplayable the membership selection would've said so in their questionaire responses.
Ironically, when I was about 100 miles away I called the guy I was staying with at Crystal Downs and he told me we were playing in the member/guest that weekend. And so we did.
Since I was staying next to the course and I get up early anyway
I went out on the course both days and talked to Mike Morris and the crew. An assistant was stimping one of the greens and it was reading right around 11. I can't remember when we played, maybe in mid-morning and so I played the course with a green speed probably right around 11.
Obviously because of Morris's green speed analysis that morphed into the GCISinc.com green speed analysis procedure he doesn't run his greens faster than 11. (Determining the top speed not to exceed was the primary reason for the entire two year green speed questionaire procedure).
I had no problem with any of the greens at that speed and neither did anyone we played with. Sure they were fast and sure they were intense from some places to some hole locations but they were certainly not unplayable. If someone wasn't careful of course they could knock a ball off some of the greens but the reason for that was they just weren't very careful.
I'm sure some people three putted or worse from some parts of greens to various hole locations but that was because they weren't concentrating or careful.
So, in my opinion, Crystal Downs can run up to 11 on their greens and obviously Mike Morris understands that and goes no higher than that as a result of his years long green speed analysis through the blind taste test with a selection of the membership.
There was an interesting factor about those Crystal greens in the end of June last year. They were around 11 in the morning when they cut them because I watched them stimp them, but, again, since I was staying right next to the course I went out and putted some of them in the very late afternoon and early evening and by that time they had really slowed down---maybe to 9.5 or lower.
I asked Mike Morris and Mike DeVries about that and they both said that was because the poa at that time of year really explodes through the day slowing speeds down remarkably.
I really enjoyed the speed of Crystal's greens that weekend and there's no doubt in my mind what they were stimping at because I watched them stimp them.
But one other thing really did disappoint me about Crystal that weekend and that was the approaches just did not work at all. Balls landing even a foot from the front of some greens stopped dead. The reason for that was not wetness (because they weren't wet) it was really excessive thatch or matting. Crystal really should just bite the bullet and take a year or so and just solve that thatch problem in their approaches and fairways, and if they did that golf course would play just beautiful---eg right about at its IMM (Ideal Maintance Meld).