Streamsong and the cost of width

[Tim Taylor]

I played Streamsong over the weekend - Blue on Saturday, Red on Sunday. Blown away by both and ready to return when Hanse's course opens in 2017. Can anyone comment on the maintenance costs of the enormous fairways? Does the lack of rough and not having to cut multiple heights of turf offset the massive acreage of fairway?

Tim

[Tim Passalacqua]

From what I have read, Streamsong's wide fairways are possible because they are bermuda.  If fairways were that wide with cool weather grasses, it would be much more expensive to maintain.  I believe bermuda is slower growing and doesn't need as many chemicals, but I will let a real professional chime in.

[Tom_Doak]

I played Streamsong over the weekend - Blue on Saturday, Red on Sunday. Blown away by both and ready to return when Hanse's course opens in 2017. Can anyone comment on the maintenance costs of the enormous fairways? Does the lack of rough and not having to cut multiple heights of turf offset the massive acreage of fairway?

Tim

Tim:

The lack of rough and not having to cut multiple heights of turf offsets SOME of the cost of the additional acreage, not all of it.  But we did try to take other maintenance-friendly initiatives to make sure the overall cost of maintenance wasn't too high.  The superintendent Rusty Mercer and his crew have also taken measures, including the use of growth retardants, to reduce labor and costs.  It also helps that the fairways barely grow for 2-3 months in the winter, although there would be a savings if the fairways were narrower, too.

Wider fairways are prohibitively expensive with bentgrass, in most climates, because spraying the bentgrass for certain diseases is very expensive per acre.  Fescue [in the north] and bermuda or zoysia [in the south] are less costly, per acre, but more acres does equal more expense.

[Josh Tarble]

In regards to specifically Streamsong, whatever the extra cost is, is worth it.  I don't think a traditional course would work nearly as well in that setting and if the fairways were any narrower it would be a pretty miserable experience.  To me Streamsong is a perfect combination of design, maintenance and land.

[Jerry Kluger]

Does anyone believe there is too much width - would the courses work just as well if there wasn't as much width?

[Mark_Fine]

Jerry,
No I don't think there is too much width, especially on those two extremely well designed golf courses.  There is width for the sake of width, but not at Streamsong.  I suspect you will see similar width with Gil's course.  However, as one has to admit, there is a cost and it is in part reflected in the high green fees.  Your local muni would struggle to survive with Streamsong's maintenance budget which is why design is almost always impacted by maintenance budgets (see the other thread on this topic).
Mark

[Sean_A]

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