Wild Horse, West Winds and a ...

[Scott Szabo]

whole lot of fun in between.

Just returned from our annual pilgrimmage through western Nebraska and what a treat, as usual. 

Corey Crandall started us off beautifully with breakfast at West Winds and, to a man, our group thoroughly enjoyed the place.  The greens were spectacular, which should come as no surprise with Corey's pedigree.  Those of you stopping in Ogallala to visit Bayside on the way to Wild Horse or Sand Hills should surely stop in and see Corey.  The hospitality was second to none.

After our starter round, we played Bayside in Ogallala, Wild Horse in Gothenburg, Heritage Hills in McCook and Cross Creek in Cambridge.  Five rounds of golf, three nights hotel, for a paltry sum of $335.  Is there a better bargain to be had in all of golf?

A quick comment/question - while playing Wild Horse, I noticed what appeared to be "cracks" in the greens, or the recent healings of such.  This isn't the first time that I've seen those there, and wondered what was causing such effects on the greens.  The course played fabulous, as usual, but this was a topic of discussion for our group.  I figured there would be more than enough knowledge from this group to shed some light on this.

[Jason Hines]

Hi Scott,

Played WH over Memorial Day weekend, saw no evidence of cracks, they had 5.5 inches of rain the prior two days and were as fast as ever.  Curious as to what you saw as well.

I will be making the trek down I-80 Thursday thru Sunday, trying to play WH on Thursday even though they are having a tournament earlier in the day.  If not,  I think I have most of the guys talked into playing west wind Thursday evening and ending up closer to you on Friday morning.  Can you give a quick breakdown of the other benefits of playing West Wind (if any) that I can pass on for my group? 

J.

[Chip Gaskins]

Scott-

I played about 9 days ago and it was in perfect shape.  No cracks.  Actually never heard of cracks in greens?

What a fantastic golf course though...

Chip

[Patrick_Mucci]

Scott,

I love Wild Horse.
I wish I could play it more often.

As to the cracks, could they be minitrenches for drainage ?
I know a number of courses that are digging narrow slots to try to improve drainage on push-up/natural greens.

[Scott Szabo]

Wild Horse was in terrific playing shape, don't get me wrong - I don't want to imply anything otherwise.  It was a bit soft in front of the greens, making the bounce a bit unpredictable.  But there has been quite a bit of rain lately, so I'm sure that had a bit to do with it. 

Maybe "cracks" isn't the term I'm looking for, but it certainly reminded me of that.  I wish I had taken a picture - that would have made it easier to describe what I was seeing.

[Scott Szabo]

Hi Scott,

Played WH over Memorial Day weekend, saw no evidence of cracks, they had 5.5 inches of rain the prior two days and were as fast as ever.  Curious as to what you saw as well.

I will be making the trek down I-80 Thursday thru Sunday, trying to play WH on Thursday even though they are having a tournament earlier in the day.  If not,  I think I have most of the guys talked into playing west wind Thursday evening and ending up closer to you on Friday morning.  Can you give a quick breakdown of the other benefits of playing West Wind (if any) that I can pass on for my group? 

J.

Jason,

I believe Adam Clayman plays quite a bit of his golf there, so he probably can add much more than I can from my one play.  The front nine likely was the original nine, being a somewhat short, treelined nine with very small greens.  Three par fours, fives and threes made for an interesting variety.
While the back nine likely was newly constructed, much longer with no trees coming in play. 

From an architecture standpoint it may not come close to its rivals in western Nebraska, but from a pure playability standpoint, it certainly exceeded my expectations.  We had a great day and Corey was a terrific host, and we certainly have plans to come back in the near future.  He has quite a few tournaments lined up over the summer and I am trying to get a few groups to come for a return trip.

Scott

[Adam Clayman]

Scott, It was great to see you and your group at West Winds for a bonus round and on what was easily the best weather day of the week. I've seen those old cracks too at Wild Horse. It's a slight discoloration in the grass that has the shape of a crack (or a drunk insects path). I asked Corey about those cracks (BTW you get an A for awareness level) and he said they are probably cracks caused by the silt in the native sand/soil and probably happened during one of the recent dry winters. 

As for Ol' Westy Winds, the front nine was built in '36 with sand greens. Converted to grass in '61. It has some really cool pushed up features that pinch in some of the green openings.


Same hole, short one shotter 116 from tips.

[Josh_Mahar]

The cracks you see are from freeze /thaw activity in the winter.  If the winter is dry (as most are here) that grass along the crack will dry out and die.  Every year the cracks appear in the same places (like mini fault lines)- some years they heal without incident as soon as the grass starts growing.  Other years it can take longer to recover depending on the severity of the dessication.

[Jim Nugent]

Josh, do the cracks affect putting?  Do they pose any long-term dangers to the greens? 

[Scott Szabo]

Josh,

Thanks for the answer.  They certainly didn't affect the playability of the course, which was top notch as usual.

The wooga caused quite a bit of mayhem with our group who have issues with getting the ball in the air and not going sideways.  It was quite thick in places, I'm sure caused by the recent rains. 

What all do you and your staff do to keep the wooga under control?  I'm sure I've heard that you burn it a couple times a year, but is there anything else that you do or can do to keep it playable?

Scott

[Patrick_Mucci]

The cracks you see are from freeze /thaw activity in the winter.  If the winter is dry (as most are here) that grass along the crack will dry out and die. 

Every year the cracks appear in the same places (like mini fault lines)- some years they heal without incident as soon as the grass starts growing.  Other years it can take longer to recover depending on the severity of the dessication.


Josh,

Why do the cracks appear in the SAME place every year ?

Is it due to drainage patterns on the green ?

Water will freeze and thaw consistently, not randomly. 
Why are the cracks confined to the same location ?

There has to be a reason.
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[RJ_Daley]

I'd say if you take a pie tin, fill it with nice native washed moist sand, turn the tin upside down, not distrubing the moist sand pie form, then put it in a hot sun let it dry out, and move it slightly, you will see the sand pie get firm and slightly crack.  Take some more sand and very lightly spinkle and brush it over the crack, and oualla, you have a nice smooth sand pie again.   

[Josh_Mahar]

The cracks really never harm the greens and are really only an eyesore more than anything. 
Nearly all soils will aggregate over time-except coarser sand soils- which means they form clods in the most elementary sense. What I mean is soil is an aggregation of clods- in laymans terms.  Aggregation actually creates pore space and improves drainage in most instances.  I suppose that has occurred to a degree and now those mini-fault lines are going to reform in the same places each year.  Also our green sites are mostly natural  but some fill was brought in to accent natural features.  So in some cases you may have undisturbed native soil next to a "fill" soil which can create a layer that would allow for freeze  thaw upheavals.  As the soil swells and shrinks it will pull apart at the least "held together" spot.  So once it has done so that spot (crack) will reappear because the soil isn't held together as tightly there.  Soils 101

The wooga is definitely going to be tough. We are nearly to our yearly rainfall total already with our normally wet months to come so in that regard the amount of rainfall has been unheard of around here.  We do burn the rough about every three years to get rid of some of the dead material and also to inhibit the bluegrass that is  out there.  This process has definitely made it more playable through the years.  Late May/June is the toughest because the bluegrass puts out its seedhead that really grabs the hosel of the club.  I guess the only other thing that makes it more playable is the 60 yd wide fairways.

[RJ_Daley]

Hey Joshy, do you know if my permit came through yet for the G-burg gentleman's club I want to build there next to your turf science laboratory? 

[Patrick_Mucci]

I'd say if you take a pie tin, fill it with nice native washed moist sand, turn the tin upside down, not distrubing the moist sand pie form, then put it in a hot sun let it dry out, and move it slightly, you will see the sand pie get firm and slightly crack.  Take some more sand and very lightly spinkle and brush it over the crack, and oualla, you have a nice smooth sand pie again.   

RJ,

If you did that the cracks would be random, but, we're being told that they reoccur in the same location, thus, there has to be a logical explanation as to why.  Cause and effect.

I understand how cracks can form.

I can't understand how they form in the same place all the time, unless it's a drainage issue.

It's a mystery to me, kinda like The Sarge's shirt selection process.
Tell him that I was asking for him.

Josh,

If I understand you correctly, you're indicating that the different soils, despite blending during the construction process, are seperating into their distinct components.

Why hasn't this happened universally ?

And, wouldn't deep tine aerification ameliorate that process over time ?

[Scott Szabo]

Josh,

60 yard fairways?  600 yard fairways wouldn't be sufficient for some of the guys I brought with me last week

You and your staff do a terrific job with the course.

Scott

[Adam Clayman]

Pat, it's my impression that these cracks do not re-occur they reappear. Capice?