Course Conditioning and Maintenance

Mwinte86

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Normally conditioning is not a major consideration as long as the course is playable. I recently played a course yesterday that normal rates are on the higher side for my area. My round wasn’t nearly as high but still not cheap. Going around the course I was surprised at the areas that just weren’t being maintained any more. There were multiple bunkers on the course that had no sand in them in fact one had mounds of dirt in it that had been there for some time. Greens had a large amount of ball marks and the cups looked to have been beat up. I understand budgets and money has to be spent appropriately but this seemed a little ridiculous to charge what they normally charge for peak rates and have a course in this condition. My point is if your not going to maintain parts of the course fine fill in the bunkers but don’t leave th course in disrepair. Any thoughts?
 
Generally speaking I expect the course conditions to be reflective of the greens fees paid. Of course there will be some exceptions based on locale, where a course is 1 million per hole to construct instead of 2-3 hundred thousand based on the topography.

Myself I would be very disappointed if I paid 50 plus dollars for a round only to find out the course is not being properly maintained. Canadian greens fees average around 75 bucks in my area but when I travel I tend to judge courses based on the greens fee.

Bunkers are a contentious issue - if you're not going to groom them daily then the rest of the course better be top notch. Shaggy tee boxes or cups that haven't been moved for a couple of days are definite no-nos. In the grand scheme it doesn't take a lot (in my opinion) to keep a course both playable and enjoyable. Anything less is a sign of neglect.
 
The courses in my area range any where from $18-65 for green fees and generally are in really good shape. There are a few that have a high tournament schedule and those tend to get beat up a bit but not to the extreme.
I do agree that the greens fee should reflect the course conditions a bit, but just wont always be the case.
 
Did you play late in the day? The public is generally terrible at doing their part in maintaining a course, i.e. fixing pitch marks, raking bunkers, picking a ball out of the cup with a hand instead of a putter head, etc. That doesn't excuse sand missing from bunkers, of course. How was the course other wise? Fairways and greens pretty good? Outside service?
 
It was midday but there were quite a few very old ball marks that hadn’t been fixed. The bunkers were all ranked but I’m used to that and don’t hold the course responsible for people who are too lazy to rake. Fairways weren’t bad but they normally aren’t. Keeping the fairways good isn’t that hard. Like I said there were bunkers that had been let go but not even finished just piles of dirt in them. Just disappointed to see the green fees what they are considering the condition.
 
It can take a greens superintendent 2 years to either kill a course or maintain it. If he/she kills the course in a two-year stint, depending on the contract can take another few months to fire them and hire a replacement. Then it starts over. We had a greens super who had been employed by the course for 18 years. Did a good job, but got lazy the last couple of years. His replacement was a workaholic but left for a job back in his home area after 6 months. The next one was a total dud. By the time we got rid of him we had lost our surrounds, had lost large parts of our fairways, and lost root depth on our greens. Hired a real professional about 10 months ago. He has worked miracles. Getting rave reviews already as to course condition. #1 issue with course condition is personnel.

We've had a corporate entity buy up numerous courses in our area. They cut budgets, collect all they can from green fee revenue, and let the courses become goat pastures. But, as the number of golf rounds has dwindled globally it has been difficult for individual courses to make a go of it. Those who do continue have a difficult challenge doing so. Raise dues and/or green fees and you lose play. Lose play and revenues drop and you cannot afford to maintain the course. Keep dues and/or green fees competitive and you cannot afford to purchase chemicals, seed, and equipment needed. You cannot afford to fix and repair cart paths. You cannot afford to hire the professionals required to maintain the course. #2 issue for course maintenance is dollars.

Each course has its own "personality". Too much shade. Too much sun. Green construction. Grass species and how they adapt to the local climate. Mother Nature and her angry temper. Ownership... Corporate, municipal, private, etc. Each has differing funding methods and madness.

There is no justifiable "excuse" for allowing a course to fall into disrepair. How long would a theater remain in business if they only would show 3/4 of a film? How long would an amusement park remain open if the roller coaster stalled at the top and everyone was left to crawl down on their own? How long would a men's wear shop remain open if they decided to stop selling jackets? Each and every business has a responsibility to its clients of giving them a fair product for the dollars charged. A golf course has that same responsibility. It requires a number of committed individuals, working together. Some days you are the windshield Some days you are the bug.
 
Golf rounds are back on the rise. Until they overbuild again over the next 7-8 years of this good economy there should be good maintenance, but the price for that will be busy courses. Some people build ambitious courses in the middle of nowhere. Then they charge a lot because no one comes to play. There is a course in East TN like that called River Islands. Great layout, but just doesn’t get enough traffic to keep up maintenance.
 
The public is generally terrible at doing their part in maintaining a course, i.e. fixing pitch marks, raking bunkers, picking a ball out of the cup with a hand instead of a putter head, etc. That doesn't excuse sand missing from bunkers, of course. How was the course other wise? Fairways and greens pretty good? Outside service?

Amen! Add to that using the sand bottle to fill in a divot on a tee box or fairway.

On the issue of bunkers, the issue of a player doing his/her proper part aside, at the course where I play most of the time, you can step in one side of a bunker and have no sand. On the other side, you can step in and sink ankle deep sometimes. There is little in the way of regular maintenance.

The fairways and greens get good maintenance and are in good shape but, on the whole, too few players fail to do their part with filling in divots, repairing ball marks and not dragging their feet and tamping the marks down when they do.
 
I would rather see a course raise prices if care of the course is busget limited. To me, i would rather pay a little bit more to have a good course experience. I have limited time to play golf, so when i so i want a well manicured course and overall good experience.
 
Around here it doesn't seem like any of the sand traps on any of the courses actually have any sand in them. It is more like pea gravel and every one has alot of rocks in it of various sizes and it doesn't matter whether it is a $25 course or a $70 course. That is the worst part!

Fairway wise they all seem to be about the same, they are in good shape with some courses better than others.
 
I do two things in these situations. I give the GM and/or Superintendent specific feedback on how the course failed to meet expectations. Then I vote with my feet.

As a result, I have sometimes found out things I didn't know. Plans the course had in place, challenges or limitations put upon them, or something that made what I experienced very temporary and not indicative of what I'd see if I returned. I've also learned which courses don't have their act together and won't until there is personnel change or a change in management.

I've also learned that talking to the folks in the pro shop is usually a waste of time. There are exceptions, but most folks today filling those type of retail positions wouldn't know how to pass on your concerns, nor do they care.
 
Did you play late in the day? The public is generally terrible at doing their part in maintaining a course, i.e. fixing pitch marks, raking bunkers, picking a ball out of the cup with a hand instead of a putter head, etc.


I am curious what picking a ball out of the cup with a hand instead of a putter head has to do with anything?

My biggest pet peeve on golf courses is the Bunkers. If they aren't going to maintain them then why not just get rid of them or make them grass bunkers.
When your charging 60-85 dollars I expect the Bunkers to have been raked in the last week.
 
I am curious what picking a ball out of the cup with a hand instead of a putter head has to do with anything?

The putter head has a chance to knock the cup lining out of even, or damage the inside of the lip.
 
I am curious what picking a ball out of the cup with a hand instead of a putter head has to do with anything?

My biggest pet peeve on golf courses is the Bunkers. If they aren't going to maintain them then why not just get rid of them or make them grass bunkers.
When your charging 60-85 dollars I expect the Bunkers to have been raked in the last week.
It beats up the cup edges. Picking the ball up with a hand does not.
 
And my biggest course maintenance issue; when the rough is more clover than grass. Impossible to find your ball in that crap.
 
Just give me firm and fast over bright green and soft. Greens should be fast enough so you can use the slopes to feed the ball ect but slow enough so not to make 80% of the green not pinnable. Keep the trees near the tee boxes free of over hanging limbs making the back tees not play to the design of the hole. So annoying when the branches overhang and only effect the back boxes. Please have sand in the bunkers but don't put so much in that the ball plugs or leaves a fried egg 95% of the time.

That is all I want from a course.
 
Completely agree about firm and fast.
 
And my biggest course maintenance issue; when the rough is more clover than grass. Impossible to find your ball in that crap.

haha try finding a yellow ball amongst dandelions
 
haha try finding a yellow ball amongst dandelions

It’s a killer! I played a dog track course last weekend where everything past the first cut was clover. It was absolutely brutal finding anything off the fairway. My lawn is better cared for than the rough at this track.


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