Natural golf courses

[Thomas Dai]

It'll be The Masters soon.

Augusta will be green and lush and beautiful and throughout the world golfers and club committees will watch it on colour TV and think to themselves "I wish our course would look like that in April".

And then, as if by magic, the stop cocks will be opened wide, the sprinklers will come on and fertiliser will be liberally applied. Firm and fast and natural? Forget it, let's just make the bloody course look green..........oh, and let's plant a few azaleas while we're at it!

[jeffwarne]

It'll be The Masters soon.

Augusta will be green and lush and beautiful and throughout the world golfers and club committees will watch it on colour TV and think to themselves "I wish our course would look like that in April".

And then, as if by magic, the stop cocks will be opened wide, the sprinklers will come on and fertiliser will be liberally applied. Firm and fast and natural? Forget it, let's just make the bloody course look green..........oh, and let's plant a few azaleas while we're at it!

and won't it be great!

Augusta's not lush(April showers and winter prime season notwithstanding), just green-that's what color rye grass is.
and those azaleas and dogwoods? they were there LONG before any fairways were there.
It's a former NURSERY and dogwoods are native all over that region.

Greens committees make stupid decisions ALL the time.
Let's stop blaming Augusta every time they do.

[Tim Pitner]

Don,I think you're right about the growing desire for natural settings, but my fear -- as my obscure earlier post suggested -- is that somehow the simplest, most natural settings will became (like expensive restaurants and their 'quiet) something we'll be paying dearly for.

Very true.  I recall it cost about $90 to play Sheep Ranch and it doesn't even have mown greens.  (I loved it, btw). 

Luckily there will always be people lured in by places featuring over the top, Trump-like amenities that will command the very highest prices and allow the more natural, throw-back places to slot in at a lower price point.