preferred course set up

[Troy Alderson]

What is everyone's preference with course set up?  

Do we want fairways as wide as possible with minimal rough?
 
Do we want bunkers with a fairway cut around to collect balls?  

Do we want the trim around the green shaved?

How about having the tees, tee surrounds, tee fronts, and fairways all cut with the same mower as one cut?

So what does it mean to be minimalist in regards to golf course set up and maintenance?

Troy

[Bill_McBride]

Wide fairways with pins cut so that there is definitely a preferred side of the fairway to play.  Otherwise it's all down the middle, play to the middle, ho hum.  That's the US Open set up.  The old Masters set up, or the Old Course set up, lots more fun.

The Valley Club in Santa Barbara has restored over an acre probably of closely cut grass around some of the greens; you could putt from 50 yards on #18!  A great look.

All fairway bunkers should have fairway cut leading into them.  The "fairway" bunkers on some courses (think #18 Blackpage Black in the US Open) have become islands in the rough.  Tightly cut grass leading into the bunkers gives them more teeth!

[Craig Sweet]

Troy, I think what makes golf so enjoyable is the variety of conditions from course to course.

[Jim Johnson]

Troy,

I think I'd want to see variety within the course itself.

Mostly wide fairways, to allow angles into pins, but not every hole having a wide fairway.

Greens with some severe undulations, some subtle, the rest in between.

Some shaved areas around greens, but not all greens having this.

Variety is the spice of life.  

JJ

[Troy Alderson]

Wide fairways with pins cut so that there is definitely a preferred side of the fairway to play.  Otherwise it's all down the middle, play to the middle, ho hum.  That's the US Open set up.  The old Masters set up, or the Old Course set up, lots more fun.

The Valley Club in Santa Barbara has restored over an acre probably of closely cut grass around some of the greens; you could putt from 50 yards on #18!  A great look.

All fairway bunkers should have fairway cut leading into them.  The "fairway" bunkers on some courses (think #18 Blackpage Black in the US Open) have become islands in the rough.  Tightly cut grass leading into the bunkers gives them more teeth!

Bill,

I like it.  You and I would get along great in design and maintenance.  I was thinking along the same lines regarding TOC and ANGC.  I had a fairway cut into the bunkers before but went away from that, please forgive me.  Before the season starts next year, I plan on cutting the turf down around the greens and expand the fairways as wide as possible.  My issue at the course is having enough people to cut all the fairways in one day.

PVGC could learn from this and remove trees and bring the set up back to the old days cut.  Maybe they will take the #1 spot back.  ANGC could learn also.  The hardest thing to do is keep a golf course in the same condition and set up over its lifetime.

I believe golf course maintenance is best when simple.  Minimal changes in the cuts, bring strategy back into play, good drainage in bunkers and greens, no rakes and other golf course accessories.

Troy

[Troy Alderson]

Troy, I think what makes golf so enjoyable is the variety of conditions from course to course.

Craig and JJ,

You are right, variety is good.  But I would keep the differences minimal so there is consistency between holes.  Maybe some areas around a green is shaved and another area kept with a tall cut.  At the course I maintain, I receive many complaints about the rough.  I think this is because the fairways are narrow in an open plain course.  If the fairways were as wide as possible, considering irrigation coverage and the tree line, the roughs may seems justified.  I keep the rough at 2 inches and am able to cut it once per week.  I keep the fairways at 5/8" and mow a cut or more around each green.  The course is maintain to account for the low budget and lack of personnel.  Thoughts?

Troy

[Bill_McBride]

Troy, if I make it down to Bend this summer from Portland, I hope to drive by your course and take a look.  Sounds good to me.  Keep that grass cut in front of those bunkers!  A couple of years ago I dragged our young superintendent into the office and logged onto GCA.com and showed him how I felt the grass in front of the bunkers should be mowed closely.  He got the idea and it was great for a while until somebody -- the crew?  him? -- got lazy.  Then we did it all over again!

[Bill_McBride]

Question:  if you widen the fairways, will your irrigation system cover it all in case it's dry for a while?

[Bill_McBride]

And I like rakes in the bunkers, it helps your members / players maintain the bunkers for you!

[Troy Alderson]

Question:  if you widen the fairways, will your irrigation system cover it all in case it's dry for a while?

Bill,

Yes/No.  That is why I have to be selective where I widen the fairways, the irrigation system is unreliable.  The front nine is wall to wall irrigation where the tree line will limit the width of the fairway, the back nine fairways are limited by the extent of the irrigation system (double row).  I would be interested in your opinion on where to widen the fairway and where not.

As for rakes in the bunkers, that is where we keep them and the golfers do a fairly well job of raking.  With my budget we are able to mechanically rake the bunkers about once to twice per week and they do not drain well.

Troy

[Troy Alderson]

Where should the fairway start off the teeing area?  I currently start the fairways 50 yards off the teeing area, on average.  Too close, too far?

Troy

[Tom_Doak]

Troy:

Where to start the fairway depends some on the nature of the rough (if it's inch-and-a-half bluegrass or fescue you can go farther out because there's not much penalty for a topped ball).  Generally, though, I would not go further than 50 yards from the forward tee (65 yards max for any hole).  You could easily go 100-125 yards from the white tees if you have the forward tees to make up the difference.

That is one of the main advantages of new forward tees -- they can actually save money on the maintenance budget by reducing fairway acreage.  They also make the game a lot more fun for beginners.

[Craig Sweet]

Troy...I agree...set up on the course should be fairly consistant....sure, some holes can have narrower fairways, but how you maintain the rough, the approach to the greens, the bunkers and surrounds, should be consistant.

What I like, is playing different courses with different ideas on maintinance...

You were mentioning widening your fairways...something we did yesterday was widen the approach areas in front of the greens....over time inconsistant mowing of the first cut/fairway clean up pass interface had narrowed these areas considerably....many of our golfer are older and unintentionally play more of a ground game...as the rough narrowed this area they had lost the ability to run a shot up onto the green from some angles in the fairway....