[PThomas]

I've seen this one 2 different courses:  where willow trees are trimmed so that the bottoms of the branches are of the same height! ugly and unnatural

others?

[cary lichtenstein]

Yes, we have 2 new ones this month. They have planted flowers around the palm trees

and

2. The mulch they use is black

[PThomas]

Yes, we have 2 new ones this month at Admirals Cove

1. They have planted flowers around the palm trees

and

2. The mulch they use is black

how unfortunate it would be Cary if someone's tee shot (s) landed in the flowers and the player, a stickler for the rules and one who takes big divots,  went ahead and played it out of the flowers..

[cary lichtenstein]

Yes, we have 2 new ones this month at Admirals Cove

1. They have planted flowers around the palm trees

and

2. The mulch they use is black

how unfortunate it would be Cary if someone's tee shot (s) landed in the flowers and the player, a stickler for the rules and one who takes big divots,  went ahead and played it out of the flowers..

Good idea

[SL_Solow]

Paul;  I agree that "skirting" willows is unnatural but the real problem stems from the overplanting of this very dirty species.  Superintendents do this because members are frustrated at their inability to play any recovery shot from under a willow.  On courses where there is an overabundance of willows the removal of recovery options can be quite frustrating.  If courses did not plant willows the problem would go away.  the only conceivable use is when they are needed to act as screens; either for safety reasons or to hide ugly views.

[Chris_Clouser]

The course I grew up playing had a hole that doglegged at about 60 degrees from right to left.  When I started playing at the course the challenge was to clear the corner of the dogleg to setup a better shot into the green and not have to deal with a particular bunker.  Pretty sound strategic golf.  

Well, within a year they actually dug a small pond on the outside of the dogleg because one of the members with some pull in the club wanted a penalty for players hitting it through the fairway past the corner of the dogleg.  

Well, you guessed it, a large number of people started putting tee balls into the pond and complained to the club about the pond.  Their answer was to put willow trees on the inside of the dogleg to keep anyone from hitting through and losing balls.  So suddenly all of those willow trees started getting all sorts of action and it was now an impossible shot to cut the dogleg on the hole.  

So now the hole is awful and everyone has to lay back off of the tee and hit it just short of the dogleg and play a longer iron into the green.  It is obviously the hardest hole on the course now which the club is very proud of because they didn't add any distance to the hole to make it more difficult.  The last time I was at the course I saw the person who was responsible for the initial changes to the hole and jokingly asked him if they ever thought they might change the hole back to what it used to be.  His response was, "It sure was a good hole, I have no idea why they ever changed it."  

I just rolled my eyes.  

[Chris Cupit]

1.  annual plantings around tee boxes
2.  Pine straw raked up to "girdle" the trees.  Unhealthy to have mulch that high up on a tree--on second thought, if it kills a pine tree, I guess that's OK
3.   "Severley" edged, raked pine straw beds--balls ending up in the edging line can be unplayable.
4.  pruning to emulate gumballs
5.  Crepe myrtles--anywhere on a golf course!
6.  Raking bunkers in the direction of the hole--attempting to make a hazard even more "perfect"
7.  fountains in lakes and fake waterfalls--looks like a homeowners back yard
8.  mowing the practice green but not the greens on the course or vice versa
9.  overseeding
10.  lowering green height of cut for a one week tournament to the detrament of the rest of the year--Member-Guest in June or July!?

[Kyle Harris]

1.  annual plantings around tee boxes
2.  Pine straw raked up to "girdle" the trees.  Unhealthy to have mulch that high up on a tree--on second thought, if it kills a pine tree, I guess that's OK
3.   "Severley" edged, raked pine straw beds--balls ending up in the edging line can be unplayable.
4.  pruning to emulate gumballs
5.  Crepe myrtles--anywhere on a golf course!
6.  Raking bunkers in the direction of the hole--attempting to make a hazard even more "perfect"
7.  fountains in lakes and fake waterfalls--looks like a homeowners back yard
8.  mowing the practice green but not the greens on the course or vice versa
9.  overseeding
10.  lowering green height of cut for a one week tournament to the detrament of the rest of the year--Member-Guest in June or July!?

Chris,

Any particular reason the last three are on your list? All are sound and at times necessary maintenance practices. I reckon that #7 happens A LOT more often than most people are aware.

[Mike_Young]

sand filled divots

[Joe Hancock]

Fountains in irrigation ponds are sometimes used in an effort to introduce more oxygen to the water and help ward off algae blooms. Of course, there are other methods, like bubblers or hay bales...and my personal favorite...chemicals. Any of you folks ever have to dive in a pond to clean algae off the intake screen for the pump station? I didn't think so.....

Joe

[Jon Spaulding]

Overseeding when a course can't afford it, and it comes out half pregnant.

[Jim Sweeney]

I often platy a course that is at the end of an airport runway. airport. Due to FAA regulations on obstacle hights near runways, many trees around the course have to be topped every few years. It's an expensive proposition. Of course, taking the trees down all together would be blasphemous.

[paul cowley]

...raking bunkers more than on Monday mornings...

[Patrick_Mucci]

sand filled divots

Mike,

Why would you object to that practice on bermuda fairways ?

[Patrick_Mucci]

I've seen this one 2 different courses:  where willow trees are trimmed so that the bottoms of the branches are of the same height! ugly and unnatural

others?

Paul,

There are no dumb maintainance practices,
Only, dumb memberships.

Willows are often unnatural to a golf course.

Willows were often planted in wet areas, like Malaleucas, to absorb moisture in the soil and dry up the land.

However, as they matured and draped their branches out to the drip line, grass didn't grow beneath them and golfers, upon finding their balls underneath the branches couldn't make a swing...... enter the clipppers.

One of the other problems with willows is their root system.
It can be very shallow and often a golfer can injure themselves when trying to play from under a willow.

Sometimes when clubs cut them down, they don't extract the root system which can be dangerous to unsuspecting golfers.

Willows were planted along with many trees in the late 60's and 70's when "course beautification" programs became the rage amongst green committees.

The unfortunate thing is that when one is cut down, some clubs immediately seek to replace them with another tree.

[Lloyd_Cole]

Fountains in irrigation ponds are sometimes used in an effort to introduce more oxygen to the water and help ward off algae blooms. Of course, there are other methods, like bubblers or hay bales...and my personal favorite...chemicals. Any of you folks ever have to dive in a pond to clean algae off the intake screen for the pump station? I didn't think so.....

Joe

As an avid fountain hater, I have, over the last few years, come to accept them as the lesser evil to said algae, not to mention smelly ponds, and mosquitos!!  Moving water - good. Standing water - bad.

[Marc Haring]

Hydraulic leaks. Not much you can do about it when it happens but......





Fairway mowing to take out the ground game.




Leylandii trees.

[Chris Cupit]

1.  annual plantings around tee boxes
2.  Pine straw raked up to "girdle" the trees.  Unhealthy to have mulch that high up on a tree--on second thought, if it kills a pine tree, I guess that's OK
3.   "Severley" edged, raked pine straw beds--balls ending up in the edging line can be unplayable.
4.  pruning to emulate gumballs
5.  Crepe myrtles--anywhere on a golf course!
6.  Raking bunkers in the direction of the hole--attempting to make a hazard even more "perfect"
7.  fountains in lakes and fake waterfalls--looks like a homeowners back yard
8.  mowing the practice green but not the greens on the course or vice versa
9.  overseeding
10.  lowering green height of cut for a one week tournament to the detrament of the rest of the year--Member-Guest in June or July!?

Chris,

Any particular reason the last three are on your list? All are sound and at times necessary maintenance practices. I reckon that #7 happens A LOT more often than most people are aware.

For #8 there could be times to mow 18 of the 19 greens; it just isn't that often.  As a course owner whose father was a super/owner I know why practice greens often get "ignored" and many times it's simply because it is not viewed as equally important to the "real" greens on the course.  Unless there is an unusual circumstance, the practice green should match the rest of the greens on the course.

#9  I think overseeding bermudagrass with winter rye on a regular basis is one of the most destructive, expensive and short sighted projects a course can engage in.  I suppose a course in the transition zone that has a peak season in the fall through spring and that has little summer play could overseed for the winter play and it would make sense.

Many courses that overseed for the "green effect" do so to the long term detriment of their warm season grass.  Also, it only feeds the delusion that courses should be green 24/7 and it's very expensive.

#10  Lowering the height of cut for a special event is OK, but I guess what I was thinking about was lowering the height of cut on bentgrass in the middle of summer for the annual member-guest to the DETRIMENT of the rest of the year.  I've never understood gearing up to look good for one specific annual event.  I like the course being a "7" throughout the year instead of a "9" sometimes and a "5" at other times.

#7  Stagnant water is a bad thing--I just think you can still aerate and move water without making the ponds look like a Vegas hotel.  Nothing looks worse to me than fake rocks, fake waterfalls and fake "Old Faithfuls".

Chris

[Chris Cupit]

sand filled divots

I can assure you my mechanic agrees with that one!

[Mike_Young]

sand filled divots

Mike,

Why would you object to that practice on bermuda fairways ?

I think if you kick in the edges it will grow back just as fast and if a ball comes to rest in that divot it is better than in sand.....
I have heard that some of the big boys such as JN..think you should drop from sand filled divots.....
Pat,
It could go either way...I just don't like it.
Mike

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