Battling Fountains and Flowers

[Jason Topp]

I dislike fountains and flowers on courses. 

I view golf as a trip through nature rather than a trip through a garden. 

I think it is almost impossible to place a flowerbed in a spot that will never be in play and I do not like the fact that you either need to hack through the flowers or have them designated as ground under repair.

I would rather have our course maintenence funds spent on maintaning a high quality course.  If we have too much money, reduce dues.

What do you think?



Flowers and fountains are multiplying on my golf course.  Should I fight them or be happy people are not screwing up the actual course?  If I fight, what ammo is effective? 

[Kalen Braley]

Jason,

I'd agree completely with your statement.

As for ammo, I would go with some type of plant killing solution from Home Depot.  As for the fountains, you'll need dynamite to do it right, but a jack hammer could also work!! 

[Greg Chambers]

fight the fountains!!!  they're terrible...nothing could look less natural

on the flowers issue, we've changed most of our formal annual beds into perennial shrub/wildflower beds...still have color (keeps the ladies happy) yet looks more natural, and none are in play areas (adjacent to tee areas, driving range area, surrounding comfort stations, etc)

[John Kavanaugh]

I wish someone had told me years ago to accept the stupidity of out of control supers and just be happy.  They can smell fear and will install more flowers than at a Mafia funeral as you have nightmares of being Evil Knievel taking a hard landing at Ceasar's.  Pull a Bobby Knight and just lay back and enjoy the golf, go home and hug your children and pray for another healthy year where the worst thing in your life is that best dressed hoeer in town.

[Bill Brightly]

I say flowers in front of the clubhouse, golf course behind...

You are not gonna get much of an argument one this website, but try that comment on Ladies day

[John Moore II]

I don't terribly mind either, as long as they are out of the way. Do you not like the azeleas at ANGC? I myself, do.

Kalen--The huge flower gardens at TP were nice, and well out of play.

[Adrian_Stiff]

I dislike fountains but amongst a normal golf membership its probably a minority opinion.

[Jason Topp]

I say flowers in front of the clubhouse, golf course behind...

You are not gonna get much of an argument one this website, but try that comment on Ladies day

Actually, I hear male members pushing for more flowers and fountains.  They seem to be trying to emulate their winter desert courses.

The women want the men to speed up their play.  

[Jason Topp]

I wish someone had told me years ago to accept the stupidity of out of control supers and just be happy.  They can smell fear and will install more flowers than at a Mafia funeral as you have nightmares of being Evil Knievel taking a hard landing at Ceasar's.  Pull a Bobby Knight and just lay back and enjoy the golf, go home and hug your children and pray for another healthy year where the worst thing in your life is that best dressed hoeer in town.

Sage advice I am sure

[Bradley Anderson]

I like fountains because they help to control weeds in ponds.

Flowers are nice around the clubhouse and the halfway house, and in places around the golf course, but the key is to have the budget to take care of them properly.

[John Kavanaugh]

Nothing would make me happier than if everything didn't piss me off.  Does anyone have any suggestions on how to enjoy all that is good and ignore what is bad?

[Jim_Kennedy]

 Does anyone have any suggestions on how to enjoy all that is good and ignore what is bad?-JK

JK,
You just answered your own question, seriously.
                                                         

[Bill Brightly]

I don't mind azaleas here and there, maybe on the outside of a pond before the woods, etc. But once you start planting lots of flowers,  you are committing manhours to weeding and tending to flowers, not the golf course. The budget would have to be pretty high before I would run out of things I'd rather see a done on the course.

As a Grounds Chair, I hear occasional requests for flowers and fountains, most recently from the guy I was playing a club championship qualifying round with...after yanking my drive into a tree, which dropped the ball in the pond...while walking over the causeway he asked me why we can't have the old fountains back...biting my lip I politely explained that we just finished spending several hundred thou re-building our dam and dredging the pond, so our water quality is excellent...but I really should have told him where to put the fountain...

[Andy Troeger]

They can be overdone but I don't see "battling" flowers or fountains as a worthwhile endeavor. Fountains can serve a purpose on a flat course to let golfers know there's a pond over there; flowers if used sparingly and properly out of play can add some aesthetics to a round. Castle Pines had them out of the way on a couple holes, it didn't affect the play of the holes and they looked nice I thought.

[John Kavanaugh]

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to enjoy all that is good and ignore what is bad?-JK

JK,
You just answered your own question, seriously.
                                                         

I can generally ignore things that only touch one of the five senses.  Once you can see, feel and hear something it becomes far more difficult.  I know I'm a lost cause and am just trying to help Jason before it is too late.

[Chris Cupit]

I'm one of those anti-fountain and anti-flowers guys.  You can aerate a pond and keep algae out without putting in a fountain and I have never understood people's fascination with azaelas.  I live in GA, love the Masters, played there, watched lots of golf there and the azalas do look nice when blooming.  But they bloom for about a week a year and the other 51 weeks they are just a green shrub.

Yes, I know about encore azaelas but they are spotty at best.  Nothing looks better than a blaze orange NATIVE azaela in the mountains along with other rhododendron plants, mountain laurel and camelias.

I can certainly tolerate the occasional flower bed but I'd rather have the money go into the grass I'm playing on than the stuff I just look at. 

[Richard Hetzel]

I recently played the Serradella golf course (Lakewood Shores Resort) in Michigan, and on each and every tee box and other areas as well were some very labor intensive looking and beautiful, long flower bed gardens. I believe they did this to "spice up" an older, somewhat boring golf course. At a time when I see many courses "skimping" all over the place, seeding in sand traps and the like because they don't want to purchase sand or maintain the traps properly, I don't see many courses utilizing flower beds, especially like these below, they just require a ton of maintenance, even perennials...

To be quite honest, after a few tee boxes, I hardly noticed them at all!  Less would have been more.





PS: Although OT, this was the ONLY hole I thoroughly enjoyed here and it was without flowers that you could see while teeing off anyway:


I also played TPC Riversbend last summer and they had a small waterfall on the back nine, it just came across as contrived...looked too man made...

[RJ_Daley]

I've noticed that there are more fountains, flowerbeds and on-course gardens at clubs that are very metro or urban oriented.  I think folks that work and live on the drab streets of the big city are starved for a place to retreat to something peaceful and lovely.  They don't join the country clubs just for the golf.  They join for the retreat from the urban jungle. 

Can anyone say that the more rural the club or golf course, the less likely they have big flowerbed, fountain and on-course gardens?  I don't know the answer, these are just my impressions.

As for Jason, yes they seem to have multiple on-course flower gardens with water features.  It is lovely.   I had the pleasure to play his course last week with him and GCAers.  The landscaping didn't come into play anywhere that I observed, and I can hit them pretty far astray.  In that course's case, I think it comes down to features that aren't really adversely affecting play or conflicting in playing strategy on a very fine golf course in deed.  With no ill effects on play, it would become a purely economic question for me.  I would evaluate the merit to have such landscaping based on what extra it costs in dues.  A lovely rolling parkland course with nice turf conditions is all the beauty I need, personally.  But, going back to the original thought, I'm guessing most of the members there are as interested in their club as a lovely retreat than simply a challenging and enjoyable round of golf. 

Jason, at the end of the day, if no golf strategy is lost; what other ammo is there but cost?

[Kalen Braley]

I have never played with anyone male or female who said to me, "look at those wonderful flowers on the course".

We've discussed bunkers, grass conditions, green conditions, tee box conditions, etc, etc.

Is there anyone who actually looks forward to seeing flowers on the course or notice them adding to the experience in any way, shape, or form?

[Andy Troeger]

Kalen,
I've certainly heard people comment on flowers, usually just to say they did a nice job landscaping a certain area. It would look odd on certain courses, but on parkland courses it makes them look like some parks that have flowers in them.

I could arguably drag as many people out to a course that care about flowers as would care about 90% of the topics we weirdos talk about on here 

[Kalen Braley]

Andy,

Not sure what to tell you other than you need to stop playing with the retired ladies group on Tuesday afternoons...   

[Andy Troeger]

Kalen,
I retired from coaching girls golf a couple of years ago actually 

It was more the mothers than the girls themselves admittedly who cared about flowers. I've also heard proud members of private clubs comment though. There's an audience for this, its just not going to members of GCA.com

[W.H. Cosgrove]

What do the damned flowers cost and what am I giving up on the golf course?

If I am giving up up ANYTHING that improves the playability of the course then those beautification beds must go!!

[Wyatt Halliday]

Nothing would make me happier than if everything didn't piss me off.  Does anyone have any suggestions on how to enjoy all that is good and ignore what is bad?

It's all about how you set your drinking itinerary.

[MargaretC]

I say flowers in front of the clubhouse, golf course behind...

You are not gonna get much of an argument one this website, but try that comment on Ladies day

Bill:

You get no argument from me.  I cannot stand flower gardens on a golf course.  Take the history away from The Masters and ANGC, and I'd think the course was ugly.  I would love to go to The Masters and see ANGC, but I don't care for all of the flowers and the overly-landscaped-look  

I really don't like the manicured lawn/garden look of some golf courses.  I much prefer links courses and courses like Oakmont.

Meg

PS:  I hate fountains.  Save that junk for miniature golf.