Golf Club Atlas
GolfClubAtlas.com => Golf Course Architecture Discussion Group => Topic started by: Dan Herrmann on July 27, 2011, 09:22:43 PM
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Wow - what a horrible summer for golf here in the USA. Our friends in Texas are in a blast furnace. Here in Philly we have courses with no meaningful rain since late May and others with wet wilt. A member asked our greenkeeper today if he ever wanted to just "give up" (he said, "no"!)...
We've gone to cart path only to save the rough (which is 95% dormant now). Our fairways have a nice brown hue (good), but we really need rain (even the corn crop next door has started to wilt). Temp on Friday will be back to 97F. Not good...
How are the course you play handling the summer weather? Any impacts, or are you suffering too?
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Unlike last summer, where all courses suffered, there seems to be a real separation between the playing conditions of some of the courses in the tri-state area. I have played some that have been downright poor i.e. burned out fairways, rough and tee boxes reduced to just dirt! On the other hand others (GCGC and the Creek specifically) are in near perfect condition. I am not an agronomist but is this 100% attributable to the work of the supers?
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While it's been warm & dry hear in Western NY - it does not appear to be a problem.
Courses are F&F and greens are in great condition.
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Brad,
Not at all... The rain in our area has been very spotty.
While we have agricultural drought conditions, I know there's a course within 25 miles with wet wilt issues. Completely different weather.
Our fairways and greens are fine, but the rough is all dormant/burned out. Most will come back fine, but some has died.
Even stranger, this follows an extremely wet spring.
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Dan,
Ya shouldnta moved. Here's Portland's 15 day forecast http://www.myforecast.com/bin/expanded_forecast_15day.m?city=27604&zip_code=97221&metric=false. The Cascades had record tieing max snow levels this winter and spring. Any course with maintenance problems should look at themselves. It's been perfect for more than a month except for one day.
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Pete - Yeah, I knew Portland was looking good. Best summer weather in the country (so why did I leave :) )
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I agree that this summer in southern Illiana is the hottest driest I have ever seen. Every course, rich, poor or in-between is in perfect condition. It is both completely and not at the fault of the supers or their available budgets. Somehow golf maintenance has entered a state of microclimatic utopia.
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Dan
Just down the road we have probably had a touch more rain (the turnpike effect is weird) but the fairways are in terrific condition. Firm fast and a nice mix of colors. Greens have suffered because the heat is doing a number on the poa but the bent is fine. Its has been so hot and dry that in the final round of the state am today the greens started at 12.5 and got more and more crispy. By the end they were at least a foot faster. Was at Stonewall last week and the greens were terrific with flier lies galore in the rough.
It has been tough but if we had the rain we typically get things would be a lot worse.
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In golf course management, hot and dry beats the heck out of cold and wet.
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Dan
Just down the road we have probably had a touch more rain (the turnpike effect is weird) but the fairways are in terrific condition.
The turnpike effect is real. I think it is a combination of focused radio waves, pollution and geographic formations conducive to highway construction.
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We have seen a summer very similar to 2010. The heat actually came earlier in Charlotte (Memorial Day Weekend) but there was a respite that helped. After last year we installed several large fans on 8 greens close to tree lines or in depressions. We also moved our Member Guest from mid June to mid May and have kept the schedule free of events in June, July and August. The decrease in traffic, an earlier June aeration, and the fans have our greens absolutely perfect now.
We hope to benefit from the lessons learned in June of 2010 for many, many years to come.
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We have seen a summer very similar to 2010. The heat actually came earlier in Charlotte (Memorial Day Weekend) but there was a respite that helped. After last year we installed several large fans on 8 greens close to tree lines or in depressions. We also moved our Member Guest from mid June to mid May and have kept the schedule free of events in June, July and August. The decrease in traffic, an earlier June aeration, and the fans have our greens absolutely perfect now.
We hope to benefit from the lessons learned in June of 2010 for many, many years to come.
You have learned well. The best way to have a perfect course is to reduce the desire of the members to play.
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Pete - Yeah, I knew Portland was looking good. Best summer weather in the country (so why did I leave :) )
But terrible winter weather, right? ;D
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Spokane has been an absolute delight the last two months.
Every day has been in the 70s and 80s for the daily highs and it cools off well at night as it always drops into the 50s. Absolute perfection!! ;D
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FWIW - our summer 'down under' was quite the opposite- one of the wettest on record and it sure kept us busy.
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Unlike last summer, where all courses suffered, there seems to be a real separation between the playing conditions of some of the courses in the tri-state area. I have played some that have been downright poor i.e. burned out fairways, rough and tee boxes reduced to just dirt! On the other hand others (GCGC and the Creek specifically) are in near perfect condition. I am not an agronomist but is this 100% attributable to the work of the supers?
Last week was the hottest I can remember in Connecticut although most courses are in very good shape. Yale has a finite amount of water available and the greens are running a little slower than normal to combat the heat stress. I think budgets certainly have something to do with conditions although I can`t imagine this is an issue at the Creek and GCGC.
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We have seen a summer very similar to 2010. The heat actually came earlier in Charlotte (Memorial Day Weekend) but there was a respite that helped. After last year we installed several large fans on 8 greens close to tree lines or in depressions. We also moved our Member Guest from mid June to mid May and have kept the schedule free of events in June, July and August. The decrease in traffic, an earlier June aeration, and the fans have our greens absolutely perfect now.
We hope to benefit from the lessons learned in June of 2010 for many, many years to come.
You have learned well. The best way to have a perfect course is to reduce the desire of the members to play.
In fact, by cutting down on non-member play, the members have a better course for themselves.
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I'm curious at what number of rounds does reduced play show affects? Are private courses doing that many rounds where the need to eliminate guest play has an affect on the quality of the presentation?
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Chicago officially recorded its "wettest" July in history -- thanks in large part to a flash flood early Saturday morning that dumped 7 inches in the city. Golf courses in the area have certainly felt the brunt of the recent heavy storms, with the loss of large trees and other damage.
In the suburbs, the village course where I regularly play has been closed since the weekend storm. It recorded 8 inches of rain and the grounds crew pumped more than 50 million gallons of water off the course during the last four days.
The super describes in his blog that: "The primary function of the course is flood relief for the community followed by recreation. The water-shed is twice the size of this 110 acre course. Thus after a five week drought and 3.5-inches of rain in the first hour and over 5-inches in the first three hours, most all "ran-off" straight to the course. Staff acknowledges that this was the worst flood in any ones memory. This includes Don Voss who has faithfully served the golf course and park district since 1977."
Here's a photo of a short-lived Lake Winnetka that no longer exists...
(http://i1089.photobucket.com/albums/i352/hriefs/7-27-2011_blog_post_069.jpg)
Other images are on the super's blog at http://wgcsuperintendent.blogspot.com/
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From the National Weather Service (Thanks to Ben Franklin, Philly's weather history is recorded back to the 1700's):
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PHILLY IS NOW IN ITS 4TH CONSECUTIVE MONTH OF MONTHLY AVG TEMPS 3 DEGS OR WARMER AND OUR FCST AREA HAS NOT HAD A BELOW NORMAL MONTHLY AVG SINCE JANUARY!
PHL HAS A CHANCE FOR ESTABLISHING AN ALL TIME MONTHLY RECORD FOR NUMBER OF DAYS AOA 90F. AS OF THE 26TH WE HAD 18... THE RECORD IS 21 SET IN THE YEARS 1952 1988 AND 1995.
SO FAR THIS SEASON WE`VE HAD 26 DAYS AOA 90. THE ENTIRE SEASONAL NORM IS 21. WE`RE BEHIND LAST YEARS SEASONAL TOTAL OF 55.
PHL AREA HAS HAD 5 HEAT WAVES SO FAR THIS YEAR AND WE`RE ABOUT TO START ANOTHER.
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What's strange is that the only grass in the rough that's still green is Bermuda grass!
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Pebble Beach has had the foggiest June and July for many years. I can leave my house in mid Carmel Valley in brilliant sunshine and find that I need to put on an extra sweater when I tee off.
Bob
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Pebble Beach has had the foggiest June and July for many years. I can leave my house in mid Carmel Valley in brilliant sunshine and find that I need to put on an extra sweater when I tee off.
Bob
Per my dashboard,it's 101* outside here in Memphis.Want to trade?
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You have learned well. The best way to have a perfect course is to reduce the desire of the members to play.
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Desire? Could you expand on your answer?
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Pebble Beach has had the foggiest June and July for many years. I can leave my house in mid Carmel Valley in brilliant sunshine and find that I need to put on an extra sweater when I tee off.
Bob
We feel for you Bob. We hope the extra sweater helps keep the joints mobile. Let us know when you are able to quit playing the dog tracks of the area and play something sunny.
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You have learned well. The best way to have a perfect course is to reduce the desire of the members to play.
Desire? Could you expand on your answer?
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One of the reasons fans work so well is that they create an environment where members would rather do something else. Same with cart path only. What I found most curious about your post was that you had more rounds with dead greens then with perfect ones. How can that be attributed to anything but the desire of your members to play?
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I just played two rounds in Colorado: one at Snowmass and one at Roaring Fork Club. Both courses were in great shape. After two weeks in Wyoming and South Dakota, I drove across Nebraska on I80 and most of the courses I saw (including Wild Horse) looked really good although I didn't play.
Toward Omaha, however, the flooding of the Missouri was severe. I couldn't get on 29 from I80 because all of the bridges from Omaha south were washed out. I had to drive all the way down to St. Joseph, MO, before I could cross the Missouri. I imagine any courses in that area have got to be swamped.
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Here in southern New England we've been relatively hot and somewhat dry. But not as hot as last year or as dry. It does seem that courses are greener and wetter than ever with very little roll. Last year numerous courses lost significant areas from the dry weather. I wonder if this year supers are over compensating by over watering.
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You have learned well. The best way to have a perfect course is to reduce the desire of the members to play.
Desire? Could you expand on your answer?
One of the reasons fans work so well is that they create an environment where members would rather do something else. Same with cart path only. What I found most curious about your post was that you had more rounds with dead greens then with perfect ones. How can that be attributed to anything but the desire of your members to play?
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We have actually have more rounds this summer than last year. I did not say the course was closed. We have simply moved agronomy up to #1 on our priority list when it comes to setting our schedule. Our membership actually enjoys having the course available all the time and free of organized events.
You are correct in that a roaring fan does not enhance anyone’s enjoyment of the game (although they are nice to stand in front of on a humid, 100 degree day). They have become the norm, at least for clubs in Charlotte who care about their course conditions and are serious about helping their superintendent. Charlotte CC, Carmel CC and Myers Park CC have all installed fans on their greens. We only have 8 while some of the others have all 18 holes plus every practice green “insured” by a fan. The alternative, of course, is to cut the greens at ¼ inch from June to August… something our board decided was not the right direction.
We used to have a mid-June member guest, a few outside events (amateur) and several other large functions scheduled in the summer. By moving these to the cooler months we might have found the right solution. April, May and October are crazy, but the stress on the course has been seriously reduced.
I have the utmost respect and understanding for any architect’s negative opinion of fans. A ten foot metal monstrosity takes away from the natural beauty of any greens complex. However I give top priority to the following when offering my opinion to the Board on any subject regarding the course:
“GOLF COURSES ARE MEANT TO BE PLAYED… NOT PHOTOGRAPHED.”
When we weigh the alternatives regarding fan installation… “playing the game” trumped “ taking a picture.” It’s that simple. Anyone who considers themselves a “golf club” should do the same.
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I have been told by our greens super that so long as we have an ample supply of water there should be no problem with the tees, fairways and greens. The rough will thin out but the rest will be in really good condition as he can monitor exactly how much water to apply to the rest of the course. Cooling down at night would really help and we do have a few fans but overall air circulation has improved with tree removal.
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Our head greenkeeper sent me a great article: "Searching for the Right Stuff: Tolerating Hot and Dry" http://turf.lib.msu.edu/gsr/article/nus-searching-7-29-11.pdf
To quote,
“Heat and drought are the two most detrimental and most widespread abiotic stresses limiting the growth of turfgrasses, particularly for coolseason species,” Dr. Huang explains.
It is costly to manage stressed turf, as more water, fertilizer, and fungicide may be required to control the decline in turf quality due to heat or drought.
Improving heat and drought tolerance can result in significant savings in management costs and reduced environmental impacts.”
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We have some courses in the Atlanta area that are in tip top shape, others very bad.
My course has Champion Bermuda, I can say it has fulfilled its promise. The conditions are absolutely perfect. We had to deal with a prolonged course closure to get them, it was well worth the time and money spent.
Have played a few bent grass courses in absolutely horrible shape, others almost perfect. This bent grass must be a greenskeeper's nightmare, kudos to all who work so hard to keep many of our courses in the great shape they are, given the extreme heat and lack of rain.
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I passed the bank sign at 6:30 this evening and it said 102 degrees. Mind you, that doesn't include the heat index.
A friend told me the heat index was 116 degrees last Friday.
Suffice to say that I can't recommend visiting Pinehurst in the Summer. Early to mid October is what I would recommend. Spring is fabulous here but playing the main courses takes way too long with all the tourists.
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GCSAA recently distributed this press release regarding the weather:
http://www.gcsaa.org/Newsroom/News-Releases/2011/July/Persistent-heat,-drought-and-flooding-strain-golf-courses-nationally.aspx
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We have had the fourth hottest July in St Louis on record and our daily low temps are hitting record highs. Our first year greens and collars are definitely stressed
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I have the utmost respect and understanding for any architect’s negative opinion of fans. A ten foot metal monstrosity takes away from the natural beauty of any greens complex. However I give top priority to the following when offering my opinion to the Board on any subject regarding the course:
“GOLF COURSES ARE MEANT TO BE PLAYED… NOT PHOTOGRAPHED.”
When we weigh the alternatives regarding fan installation… “playing the game” trumped “ taking a picture.” It’s that simple. Anyone who considers themselves a “golf club” should do the same.
I have been bothered by this statement all weekend. The problem with fans is not how they look it is how they intrude on the game.
The sound is deafening. I was very disappointed to read on the Turf Breeze web site that fans are no louder than a house air conditioner. Not true. I miss the sounds of nature while golfing.
I can live with the blowing of air which causes golfers to pause and back off putts. That just leads to slow play which doesn't bother me and is equalized by the comfort of cooling oneself off.
The largest problem is how they lead to more people taking drops that change the strategy of the game. The very nature of fans being installed on high points gives any golfer looking for a break an advantage by dropping on a lower point and hitting up to the hole.
No one cares about taking pictures.
Our greens are amazingly perfect. The trade off is acceptable for 99.5% of the membership, based on 200 members. Golf has changed, I get it.
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We have had the fourth hottest July in St Louis on record and our daily low temps are hitting record highs. Our first year greens and collars are definitely stressed
Our course was in the best shape I've ever seen....then it rained 10 inches in 4 days.
Coupled with 150 rounds a day and three weeks worth of 95+ degree days....I'm not sure there's any fan that can help.
Being a course superintendant would suck.
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We have had the fourth hottest July in St Louis on record and our daily low temps are hitting record highs. Our first year greens and collars are definitely stressed
Our course was in the best shape I've ever seen....then it rained 10 inches in 4 days.
Coupled with 150 rounds a day and three weeks worth of 95+ degree days....I'm not sure there's any fan that can help.
Being a course superintendant would suck.
Wasn't that time you had when the course was perfect worth a bit of sacrifice now. Being a course superintendent doesn't suck near as bad as playing an average golf course every damn day you tee it up. I am sick of compromise in the name of consistency so management can relax managing relaxation.
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Wasn't that time you had when the course was perfect worth a bit of sacrifice now. Being a course superintendent doesn't suck near as bad as playing an average golf course every damn day you tee it up. I am sick of compromise in the name of consistency so management can relax managing relaxation.
If your contention is that the goal is to find a happy maintenance medium,I agree.Unfortunately,my guess is that the number of members who would prefer wild swings day to day is very small-borderline insignificant.
Golf clubs,for the most part,are in the business of satisfying the lowest common denominator.Consistent mediocrity would be favored over any maintenance program which might have the golf course in "bad shape" a few days--even if that means giving up a few "perfect" days.
Of course, this isn't something you didn't already know.
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Reminds me of all the crap I use to put up with for those few days a month she would ovulate.