[Chris_Clouser]

I played at a course yesterday that was in abysmal condition.  It had a nine-hole addition that was completed last year.  As we started towards the tee, the pro shop guy said that the nine wasn't fully grown in, but we should enjoy our round.

Things we found on the nine holes were as follows

Fairways where large areas were bare dirt.
Fairways where there were large areas of weeds that should not be there.
Several areas of a creek that runs through the course backed up with mud and dirt that had been piled there.
Several sink holes.
Pathways that had not been paved and were covered in gravel that were being wash out and in some location were hazardous because of the slope of the hill they were on
A transition from one hole to another that was not marked and caused some confusion even with a pencil routing on the card.
And several smaller things that would probably not been as noticable if the other glaring problems didn't exist.  

To the architects credit he did route a difficult stretch of property with some very nice holes, but they were hidden by the awful conditioning practices.  So the problems may not stem from the design, but strictly from maintenance at the club.  Also the greens and bunkers were in fairly good condition.

So my question is, should a course open holes in this condition and is this normal for a grow-in period?

[Mike Nuzzo]

That doesn't sound like grow in issues, but how long should it take for construction - because they didn't finish.

[Jeff_Brauer]

Chris,

Maturation takes eight to twelve actual grass growing weeks.  A course seeded/sprigged by Sept. 15 or so will grow until November 1 or so, or about six weeks, and usually needs another four to six next year, starting in April or May, unless all goes perfectly.  And, things can go wroing. Thus, the 8-12 weeks becomes 8-12 months!

It's better to plant warm season grasses in May or June than later in the year.  With good irrigation, I have seen shcedules to plant cool season grasses earlier than September and its possible to plant the new heat tolerant bents even in summer.  

If the course was in that bad a shape after opening in 2006, I suspect they just don't have the funds or expertise to mature it properly.  Gravel paths are an indication to me that there was a low budget.  And, as you suggest, if the course was on land that probably needed sod or at least erosion control netting, and the budget didn't allow, but they are paying now.  The weeds are taken out first by mowing and then chemically to get the rest - again, sounds like a budget issue.

As to whether it "should" open, probably not, but again, the club probably needs the revenue.

[Don_Mahaffey]

Chris,
It sounds like they had to get the cash register ringing before they could finish the golf course.

Jeff,
May be a bit of a nit pick but IMO turf  does not reach “maturation” in 8-12 weeks. Pretty, good looking turf cover, sure. Turf ready to withstand heavy cart traffic and intensive management with some sort of recuperative capacity, no way. It takes one to two seasons for a turf to really mature. People are always asking “when will the course be finished”, as a super I want to tell them “well, never” but they don’t understand that and really do think that once you open then your good to go full bore. I’m a big fan of soft openings and I think there are plenty of examples to prove starting slow works. Think about all the golf courses you’ve seen that opened up in what looked to be beautiful condition only to go down hill in the first season or two. I’ve seen that a lot. Golf courses should get better in time, not worse, but that takes patience, and an understanding that just because there is grass everywhere doesn’t mean your done with the grow-in.  

[Jeff_Brauer]

Don,

Good points.  Most courses do have soft openings, with perhaps limited play and at least cart path only.  I typed "maturation" as an alternate term for grow in, not to intend that the turf was fully mature.

[Ron Farris]

120 days (growing days)
If you do it "on the cheap" it will take 120 years!

[W.H. Cosgrove]

How much difference do grass varieties and various climates make?

I have seen courses in Florida grown in very quickly while a local course has been very slow to 'mature'.

[Tom_Doak]

One of the most common problems on newly developed courses is that they have budgeted for a grow-in of four or five months, but if construction is behind schedule and the grass is planted late in the season, it could take ten months to get five months of growing weather.

[Steve Okula]

Don and Tom are both right. Don't believe anyone who tells you it can be done in six weeks. That's a myth. Six months of gorwing weather might get you there if you have the budget, the water, and somebody who knows what he's doing.

[Andrew Balakshin]

The course that I worked on last summer finished the construction of the last couple of holes in October. This is in an area of Canada which gets quite cold in the winter. They plan on having the course open for play in late June.

I saw the course today and the holes that were finished in October are practically brown because there isn’t any grass growing (no surprise!). I hope they get some warm weather very soon so they can open in June!

[Jon Wiggett]

Chris,

after doing quite a few grow-ins I have reached the conclusion that in a cool grass climate zone you should have atleast 3 vegetation periods i.e Spring, Autumn, Spring or Autumn, Spring, Autumn in order to achieve a good mature sward. Yes it is possible to open within 14 weeks of seeding but the results have never been satisfactory.

[Tags:]

Tags:

[Tags:]

Tags:

Call to undefined function theme_linktree()