Black Mesa conditioning - What is the issue?

[Bill Satterfield]

Last month I played at Black Mesa along with a few other courses in New Mexico.  The other courses were all in great shape but Black Mesa was in the worst shape I've seen at a course in a long time.  The amount of weeds throughout was embarrassing by virtually anyone's standard.  The turf was so thin that there were a few tee shots I hit straight down the middle that would hit and roll until it stopped in a bunker or ran all the way out to the rough/desert.  When a course has that much undulation in the fairways and greens it becomes virtually unplayable in spots when the ground is that hard and turf that thin.  You could tell the course has great bones with intriguing and scenic holes, but I was pretty disappointed with what I found there.  Obviously this hasn't always been the case given the number of accolades Black Mesa has received over the years, so I was just curious if there was any insight on what is going on there.

[HarryBrinkerhoffDoyleIV_aka_Barry]

Good friend of mine just got back from playing there last weekend, same commentary.  Sad. 

As a side note, if I recall, wasn't Mr. Doak going to build a second course down there?  What is the status of that?

[Tyler Kearns]

If they are having difficulty maintaining the first course, the chances of a second one being built seems remote.

TK

[Stephen Davis]

This is interesting to know. I was seriously considering making a trip down there this coming month. If the conditions are truly this poor, maybe I will postpone my trip until next year. Does this appear to be a new issue, or is this something that has been happening for a while?

[Mark McKeever]

I was out there earlier in the year and played Black Mesa along with several others.  I was told that the conditioning of the golf course has suffered over the past couple years by a local resident who plays there regularly.

It's very unfortunate as the architecture out there is awesome.  The conditioning needs to improve or the downward spiral will continue...

Mark

[Jim Franklin]

Paging Andy Troeger......

[Doug Wright]

This is unfortunate if so--Apache Stronghold redux?

[Andy Troeger]

I have not been up there this year. I played last year and the weeds were admittedly noticeable although I didn't think the conditions at that time affected the playability of the course. The course has always been very firm, but in a reasonable fashion.

We had been in a pretty awful drought up until about a month ago. We've had a lot of rain lately, although not like Colorado. I'm not sure if that would help or not.

[Bill Vogeney]

Well, I have not played it in some time, but it was super hard conditions back in the day. I don't know if the quality of the construction really was up to the design quality. Plus it IS New Mexico. Even though it is a short drive from Sante Fe, New Mexico is a very impoverished state, sort of the Southwest version of West Virginia. My son currently is n the PGM program at New Mexico State in Las Cruces, so I have spent my fair share of time in NM. The poverty is unbelievable. There just is not enough local money, along with tourism, to keep a course like Black Mesa in top condition. The courses in an around Albuquerque seem to do a better job of thriving.

[Mike_Trenham]

The condition of the fairways and speed of the greens  reminded me of Donegal courses like Nairn and Port Noo and Port Salaon which have very small budgets, in the end conditions looked a lot worse than they played.  Issues on the greens were more troublesome to me.

Overall I thought of it as Carne in New Mexico.

[Stewart Abramson]

Two interesting videos from Pat Brockwell, the super at Black Mesa, regarding the conditioning issues, particularly grubs. He is optimistic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYOEb3cBEO0&list=UUS-NJYb4Ln2BjMRYsMy33cw&index=2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiicLCwzsOE&list=UUS-NJYb4Ln2BjMRYsMy33cw&index=1

[Andy Troeger]

Thanks for posting those Stewart. It is great to hear from Pat that this was just one of those things that can happen and that it should not affect operations in future seasons. I have a dusting of snow in the yard currently here in Albuquerque, so hopefully that does not have too much impact on growing in those spots!

[Stephen Davis]

I was down there playing a few weeks ago and got some pictures. I will upload them and get them up ASAP. The area had some really good late summer rain that I am sure helped as it wasn't as bad as I feared it would be.

[Steve Lang]

 

"The turf was so thin that there were a few tee shots I hit straight down the middle that would hit and roll until it stopped in a bunker or ran all the way out to the rough/desert."

hmmmm, it was like that when it opened, you're not supposed to hit it down the middle on many holes!

a couple years ago april we noticed they had a lot of dandelions on the hils, didn't affect play but are we talking carpet of weeds?

Pat Brockwell will get it back in tune, I'm sure,

[Stewart Abramson]

I played Black Mesa a few days ago. They are still experiencing some turf issues. I spoke to the pro who told me that they let Pat Brockwell go and have recently hired a new superintendent. In addition to the grub problem they have suffered from a long and difficult winter and irrigation issues. The pro said now that the overnight temps are in the 50's and they are being generous with watering he expects conditions to improve in the near term. I'm not sure if I see the current conditions as cup half full or half empty. I hope they get the course healthy. The place was pretty empty and some guys I met there decided to play Taos CC rather than re-play BM. The course was playable, but there are problems with a couple greens, many fairways and even some teeing areas being overrun with weeds and dandelions. Here are a few examples.

Black Mesa #6 tee - Dandelions and other weeds on teeing grounds and parts of fairways r

Black Mesa #5 view back r

Black Mesa #7 from front tee r

[Jason Hines]

This is disappointing to hear, I was going to try and play Black Mesa on August 1st, I am down with brown as the cool people around here say, but I am not down with dead.

Any other suggestions for Santa Fe besides Paa Koo and Twin Warriors?

[Mark McKeever]

I hope they can pull it together.  It's a really neat place.

Mark

[Andy Troeger]

That last photo of #7 is one of the best vistas on the course--I really hope they can get past all of this. I haven't been up since all of this started, it was always supposed to be brown, firm, and a bit rustic, but nothing like those photos.

Stewart, are those photos indicative of the entire course, or the worst of it? Just curious.

Jason--honestly I'd go to Black Mesa is the current condition and see it once. There's nothing else in NM that you're really missing out on as long as you see Paa-Ko. Paa-Ko is really good too, but those two are the most interesting to see by a long-shot. Other than Twin Warriors, for other rounds I'd go to Pueblo de Cochiti or UNM Championship (near ABQ airport). Marty Sanchez is a pretty good muni in Santa Fe. Make sure to schedule Paa-Ko on a day where you can play the original 18, if possible.

[Chris Wagner]

I was there last July and they blamed the conditioning on an irrigation problem that they had supposedly fixed. That is the only time I have played there and was very disappointed.

[Mark Fedeli]

I was there last July and they blamed the conditioning on an irrigation problem that they had supposedly fixed. That is the only time I have played there and was very disappointed.

I was there in early May of last year and the condition was very poor. The locals blamed it on an unusually harsh winter.

[Stewart Abramson]

Any other suggestions for Santa Fe besides Paa Koo and Twin Warriors?

The two closest to Santa Fe are Marty Sanchez Muni, which is about 15 minutes South of SF and Towa which is about 20 minutes North at a Tribal Resort/Casino. Towa has 27 holes and exceeded my expectations.

[Stewart Abramson]

That last photo of #7 is one of the best vistas on the course--I really hope they can get past all of this. I haven't been up since all of this started, it was always supposed to be brown, firm, and a bit rustic, but nothing like those photos.

 #7 is a nice vista among several nice vistas. I almost eagled #7. Tee shot into the left fairway bunker. 140 yard approach that hung on the lip. The pro and super drove by just as the ball came to rest and commented. Little did they know I had more double bogeys than anything else that day. 

Stewart, are those photos indicative of the entire course, or the worst of it? Just curious.

The holes posted are among the worst, but almost every hole has some dead areas and/or dandelions. Some just in small areas and others more wide-spread. The course was still playable, although I rolled the ball a few times in fairways where I landed in dead or damaged areas. I enjoyed my round despite my bad play and the conditions, but  other players I spoke to were not happy.

Jason--honestly I'd go to Black Mesa is the current condition and see it once.
+1

[AKikuchi]

I was there this week as well, and the experience for me was an enlightening one. As a visual matter, I can't remember the last time I saw a course in such a state (clumpy teeing grounds; patchy fairways with 6" dandelions in places; some good greens, but many affected by dead spots). And yet, I still really enjoyed my time on the course, and would still recommend anyone on the DG that was in the area to at least check it out.

I'll admit it was a bit of a distracting walk, as I was constantly wondering what lead to the current state, and what would be needed to right the ship. But the turf played reasonably predictably, and did not prevent the interesting strategies of the course from rising to the top.

Unfortunately, as a commercial matter it seems like their target market is much less tolerant of these imperfections (again, some of which are quite significant). They have reduced their fees for the time being in light of the current course condition, but for me $50 for 36 holes was more than fair.

As an aside, for any agronomists among us (armchair or otherwise)- I took this picture of a divot taken out of one of the FW dry patches. I know it's not the best picture, but curious to see if anyone has any thoughts. The director of golf's basic message was that more watering was the prescription to get things back to health, but that seemed a bit simplistic to my untrained mind.

-Alan

[Bill_McBride]

Tough to see the photos.   Apache Stronghold redux. 

[Jason Hines]

Is that a grub?