So much ignorance about Pinehurst conditions

[Jud_T]

  Put Bandon in Nebraska and I'd be shocked if rounds didn't plummet solely because there was no ocean to look at.

Care to wager a grand on Wisconsin?

[Mark Fedeli]

  Put Bandon in Nebraska and I'd be shocked if rounds didn't plummet solely because there was no ocean to look at.

Care to wager a grand on Wisconsin?

Not a chance. But I will be extremely curious to see how it does compared to Bandon.

[Tony Ristola]

Like Paul Gray, I grew up playing a course that would brown out in the summer, and after the first rainfalls, would begin to green up again.

Though the leaf is brown, the root structure is still alive.

Must say that I have heard of courses adding fairway irrigation after the hot summer in Europe some years back, claiming they lost the turf. I wonder whether it is true or not, whether it was an excuse to put in fairway irrigation so the place would remain green.

[Paul Gray]

Like Paul Gray, I grew up playing a course that would brown out in the summer, and after the first rainfalls, would begin to green up again.

Though the leaf is brown, the root structure is still alive.

Must say that I have heard of courses adding fairway irrigation after the hot summer in Europe some years back, claiming they lost the turf. I wonder whether it is true or not, whether it was an excuse to put in fairway irrigation so the place would remain green.

It was an excuse, in Britain at least. I remember one particular summer when it was so dry there were real concerns about the turf and we all had to tee up on the fairway for a month. Come the first rain and the whole place immediately turned green. NOTHING had died.

Fast forward ten years and the club forked out for fairway sprinklers, admitting at least that it was to 'keep it green.' If there's an argument for irrigation at all in Britain, it's probably far to say it's at a links course on the south coast. Fortunately however, good sense has for once prevailed (although I have concerns about the current custodians) and the costly sprinklers are now used very sparingly.