Greenstaff made right choice!!!!

[stevelev]

How many of us moan about the condition of our course due to boggy patches or sodden fairways.

At last the Head Green Keeper at our course made a decision to close the course due to the amount of excess water on it. I know there will be loads of us moaning that we only get weekend off and they should keep it open.

I think that maybe we all miss a days golf, but ultimately it is for our increased enjoyment later in the year. The damage we would have caused today would take a long time to recover, whereas the closure protects it for a day and will give it time to drain, and with the wind dry out a little.

This is the first time the course has been closed for nearly 2 years, and I have to applaud the greenkeeper for taking a stance. Well done, and thank you for keeping the course in a better condition for us.

There is a comp tomorrow, not sure if it will be open for that, but if not al least the course is getting looked after.

What do others think when they cant play due to weather and decisions to close being made?

 

[BTatHome]

Re: Grrenstaff made right choice!!!!

The course should have a process to follow to determine if the course is playable. Whether that means if the course has frozen ground then close, if the course has too much mud then close, if x number of greens are flooded then close.

It all depends on the course itself and decisions will vary according to each course (based on clay, based on chalk) and also depends on the greens staff and their own knowledge of what is best for the course ... maybe they have been there for years and know that if they let golfers out over frozen weekend then the course will suffer from lots of dead grass in the future. Similarly they may also know that the course withstands all that is thrown at it, and does not suffer in the water months.


.... of course we all know of occurrences when they are wrong, it's usually when we've been deprived of golf for many weeks and are desperate to play

 

[Blue in Munich]

Re: Grrenstaff made right choice!!!!

The golf course is the asset, without it you have no game, with it in poor condition you have a game you won't enjoy. Sadly in my experience the difficulty in making the decision is usually based on the reaction of the members, or the vociferous minority who are experts on everything, to the closure rather than the needs of the golf course and greenkeeping staff.

For my part, I've seen how good our greenkeeping staff get the course during the season, despite succeeding in keeping us on the main greens throughout the winter. On that basis, they obviously know what they are doing, if they say it needs to shut then so be it.

 

[Hobbit]

Re: Grrenstaff made right choice!!!!

The greens staff are the experts. Why pay for experts then take the decision making away from them?

 

[JustOne]

Re: Grrenstaff made right choice!!!!

It shouldn't be closed because the greenkeepers should sort out the boggy patches so that it doesn't have to close.... it's just a way of saying they don't do their job properly or the club hasn't got/spent enough money to fix the issues. Unless of course there's biblical weather which I guess means the course has to close.... albeit I've known courses be open under a foot of snow.

 

[Foxholer]

Re: Grrenstaff made right choice!!!!

The golf course is the asset, without it you have no game, with it in poor condition you have a game you won't enjoy. Sadly in my experience the difficulty in making the decision is usually based on the reaction of the members, or the vociferous minority who are experts on everything, to the closure rather than the needs of the golf course and greenkeeping staff.

For my part, I've seen how good our greenkeeping staff get the course during the season, despite succeeding in keeping us on the main greens throughout the winter. On that basis, they obviously know what they are doing, if they say it needs to shut then so be it.

This! :thup:

The greens staff are the experts. Why pay for experts then take the decision making away from them?

And this! :thup:

I've also been at a course that's marginal and been informed that it would have been closed if it wasn't the Weekend, so there's some recognition - at least at some places!

I've also been rather disappointed to be informed ( other places and on a weekday) that the course wasn't going to open.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Re: Grrenstaff made right choice!!!!

We were on temps today. Didn't agree with the decision and I imagine we'll be on them tomorrow despite the forecast for only a slight frost at worse. Ultimately they are far better qualified though and as long as it isn't done because they are too lazy to move them at weekends and its an easier option then I'll abide by the decision as long as we have good greens in the next month or so onwards

 

[Captainron]

Re: Grrenstaff made right choice!!!!

They have to keep the course in the best possible nick and if it means keeping people off to ensure it isn't adversely affected then I have no problem. I am especially unconcerned during the winter where I play once a month at most. If I get an automated email about closure on a weekday during winter then I just delete it and have a quiet chuckle to myself about those poor seniors missing out. :lol:

 

[Robobum]

Re: Grrenstaff made right choice!!!!

Left solely to a greenkeeper, the course would close in October and reopen in April.

If the club charge me for 12mths fees then I want 12mths of golf. It is the job of the greenkeeper to manage the course to give maximum amount of play whilst preserving vulnerable areas by moving walk off route and the like.

Greenkeepers need to be questioned and challenged. Too easy to close a course for the day before 8 in the morning when by midday it's perfectly playable.

 

[stevelev]

Re: Grrenstaff made right choice!!!!

Given the bad weather over the last few days whose course was open today, but as you walked from green to tee you thought something ought to be donein relation to ground condition.

Our playing surfaces were great but some of the rough and areas arou d greens and tees awful due to everyone being shepherded along certain paths by roping areas off. I think that is one of the worst things to do as it puts all traffic over one route, maybe limit trolleys or put hard pathways in to reduce the ground damage.

How are others courses?

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Re: Grrenstaff made right choice!!!!

Left solely to a greenkeeper, the course would close in October and reopen in April.

If the club charge me for 12mths fees then I want 12mths of golf. It is the job of the greenkeeper to manage the course to give maximum amount of play whilst preserving vulnerable areas by moving walk off route and the like.

Greenkeepers need to be questioned and challenged. Too easy to close a course for the day before 8 in the morning when by midday it's perfectly playable.

A lot of truth in this

Our old Greenkeeper used to close the course at the first sign of heavy rain or heavy frost - coming onto temps as soon as possible etc

Our new course managers idea is too ensure the course is open as much as possible - even on Saturday in snow it was open - as they say a golf course will close itself

But that doesnt mean they cant close the odd hole ot a whole nine to ensure it doesnt get destroyed

 

[HawkeyeMS]

Re: Grrenstaff made right choice!!!!

The greens staff are the experts. Why pay for experts then take the decision making away from them?

Is the right answer

 

[HawkeyeMS]

Re: Grrenstaff made right choice!!!!

Given the bad weather over the last few days whose course was open today, but as you walked from green to tee you thought something ought to be donein relation to ground condition.

Our playing surfaces were great but some of the rough and areas arou d greens and tees awful due to everyone being shepherded along certain paths by roping areas off. I think that is one of the worst things to do as it puts all traffic over one route, maybe limit trolleys or put hard pathways in to reduce the ground damage.

How are others courses?

Ours was in great condition. We've played on frozen greens since before Christmas. Today the greens and fairways were excellent

 

[Robobum]

Is the right answer

Presuming you have a good greenkeeper in the first place. Or are bad ones experts by virtue of their job title?

 

[HomerJSimpson]

We were back on full greens today although they had been slit and were unpredictable. One ball going in dead centre went sharp right four inches from the hole. Still it's winter golf, and the work has to be done

 

[HawkeyeMS]

Presuming you have a good greenkeeper in the first place. Or are bad ones experts by virtue of their job title?

The head greenkeeper should be left to do his job, if the course suffers then he should be sacked.

Too many people think they are experts in green keeping when they aren't. The former green keeper at RAGC was sacked because of the state of the greens when the reason they were lost because a previous captain over ruled his decision on how they should be kept.

The greenkeeper should have been stronger and should have been able to recover them but then if he had had his way in the first place, they probably wouldn't have been as bad as they were.

If I don't do my job very well, I am sacked but I am at least given the opportunity to prove if I can or can't. Incompetant or not, green keepers are often not given the luxury of proving themselves one way or the other.

 

[Foxholer]

The head greenkeeper should be left to do his job, if the course suffers then he should be sacked.

Too many people think they are experts in green keeping when they aren't. The former green keeper at RAGC was sacked because of the state of the greens when the reason they were lost because a previous captain over ruled his decision on how they should be kept.

The greenkeeper should have been stronger and should have been able to recover them but then if he had had his way in the first place, they probably wouldn't have been as bad as they were.

If I don't do my job very well, I am sacked but I am at least given the opportunity to prove if I can or can't. Incompetant or not, green keepers are often not given the luxury of proving themselves one way or the other.

That HGK shouldn't have been sacked! He should have resigned pointing out his reasons in his resignation letter!

It was the Club Captain who was the real villain! I bet he wasn't sacked though!

 

[HawkeyeMS]

That HGK shouldn't have been sacked! He should have resigned pointing out his reasons in his resignation letter!

It was the Club Captain who was the real villain! I bet he wasn't sacked though!

While Iagree inpart, he should have resigned, when he didn't he was rightly sacked because several years later he had failed to fix the issue. New HGK came in an resolved issue within 18 months.