How is your course shaping up after winter and the dry spring?

[Billysboots]

We have had a number of discussions amongst our group regarding the current condition of our course which, frankly, is pretty poor.

Fluffy, bobbly, bone hard greens, tee boxes with poor grass coverage, uneven and patchy growth around the greens and shocking bunkers, many hard packed with weeds and grass starting to become a problem.

Opinion is divided. There are some who say we can’t complain. Everywhere is the same. We’ve had overnight frosts well into April, little or no rainfall, there is simply no growth and so on.

And there are those who are saying, regardless of growing conditions, there is still work which could be done. The hard packed bunkers could be worked on, weeds and grass removed. Muddy areas around greens and tees could be similarly worked on and prepared for overseeding and dressing. Tee boxes could be irrigated, seeded and dressed. In short, there are some, myself included, who are coming round to the view that any complaint regarding course condition is being met with excuses which are starting to wear a little thin.

Personally, I’m frustrated. Our greens were absolutely mint all winter, especially through February, and the late winter/early spring maintenance, completed several weeks ago now, has left them in a really poor state. The whole course is just looking very scruffy.

I’m told everywhere is the same. So is that true? How is your place measuring up and, if it’s been struggling, are you seeing any signs of improvement in any area or is it your whole course which still seems to be stuck in its mid winter state?

 

[Arthur Wedge]

I think we are all in the same boat because of the weather conditions

It is very frustrating

But thankfully the green staff have sorted out what they can

Greens have just been done again as the warm weather arrives and we are throwing water all over the place

But many courses are the same because of those conditions

 

[HomerJSimpson]

In general I think we are doing well. The bunkers renovated over the winter are in play. The greens have been holow tined and sanded and are just about back to normal and running well around 9 but importantly running true. Some of the tees on the par 3's especially the yellows look tired where they were in use all winter but the whites were closed in that period and have benefitted. On the down side they returfed the 5th tee but it appears a lack of water has meant the turf has died and it is now worse than before. Some of the paths have suffered through aged anseveral years of wet winters and the 15th and 16th are still issues for draining. I'd say for the time of year a solid 7/10

 

[London424]

Funnily enough we just had a long email from our Course Manager, with lots of pictures, saying the same thing. Right now the weather hasn’t been warm enough to recover properly from winter/maintenance week.

I wouldn’t say it’s shabby at all though, but some tee boxes were roped off over winter to recover properly and reseed
Etc, but you can see it just hasn’t grown yet.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

Pack your bags, come up to the NE of England. We have not had the warmth or excessive dry that you guys seem to have had. Courses are dryish but not excessively so. Everywhere is green and lush but without the warmth to have brought about rapid growth of rough. Greens are not slick but they are not bare or struggling either.

Any issues with my course, and we have them, are greenkeeper, lack of, related rather than weather.

 

[AliMc]

As I mentioned in another thread we're pretty lucky at Dunbar, for the time of year the course is in very good condition, I think their main concern is in getting lots of water on the course, hand watering, pop up sprinklers and a 'bowser' being used frequently, we're getting close to height of summer conditions already on the fairways and the rough is still to grow back, as with others a few places where some growth is needed but on the whole it's looking and playing good

 

[patricks148]

unfortunately ive not been anywhere near a golf course for nearly a month, bit the last time i did it was in surprisingly good condition, my mate rand me last night to say i must play this weekend, he'd been up for a few holes last night and the course was looking fantastic after the couple of days of rain we had.

 

[jim8flog]

Still not continuously warm enough for full grass growth on our greens.
We have a mix of grasses on our greens. The finer (older) grasses do not really take off until it is around 18+ degrees continuously.

We had some heavy rain this week which should help.

We have been one greenkeeper down for some weeks which has not helped with some projects being stopped for a while.

 

[PJ87]

Course is in excellent condition but for the price we pay (£150 a month ATM) expect nothing less

The greens are excellent, they do short and sweet green maintenance so they stay true

Currently the only thing letting the course down is a lot of bunkers out of play , but that's because they have taken the sleepers out and done new banks. So they are just settling in before the big pro events coming up

Think we got the Essex open, east Anglia open and then the pga national finals this year

 

[Bunkermagnet]

We have some bare patches on the fairways, but they are much less than they would be due to the mandatory use of fairway mats through the winter. The maintenance that was done this year has recovered, but the main maintenance week we have has been moved forward by a week or so now for the last few years and the recovery has been better and quicker which does negate the whinging about maintenance whilst the course is still fantastic.
Once we get some quality rain, our fairways will come back. I also accept we cannot beat nature, so moaning about it has no point.

 

[Yorkhacker]

Generally the course is great. They've done a tremendous amount of work over the winter taking out many, many invasive trees, which has made the course, in most people's eyes, much better.

The greens though are terrible. Hard, bubbly and full of holes, furrows and sand. Putting has become a complete lottery and it's incredibly frustrating.

The timing of some of the work is also questionable. The greens were sanded the day before yesterday's comp and just before we teed off on the 18th, one of the greenkeepers spread sand and seed over the whole tee box!

 

[garyinderry]

Our course was shut last week for a day as we had 36 hours of non stop rain.

Seems to have done the place a world of good.

We lost the bounce in the ball again. It was back plugging again.

 

[RichA]

Fairways are poor. It's busy all day all year round and they perhaps cut it a bit too short. Everything else is pretty good.
Played my old course last week which is much quieter and the fairways were immaculate.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

I think we are all in the same boat because of the weather conditions

It is very frustrating

But thankfully the green staff have sorted out what they can

Greens have just been done again as the warm weather arrives and we are throwing water all over the place

But many courses are the same because of those conditions

Likewise my track…improving quickly but still not great - good but not great. I have no (ok..few) complaints…but any complaints are more observations that some things perhaps could be a bit better than they currently are - after all it’s April after a totally crud 6months of wet weather.

 

[Maccy]

I actually sent quite a long email to the new-ish GM here at Redbourn about the current state of the course, the biggest issue we find is our tee boxes. They're not flat, look like they've been dug up by moles, and there's just no consistency.

Greens are doing ok, just quite slow.

 

[D-S]

Likewise my track…improving quickly but still not great - good but not great. I have no (ok..few) complaints…but any complaints are more observations that some things perhaps could be a bit better than they currently are - after all it’s April after a totally crud 6months of wet weather.

Dec, Jan and Feb around here was well below average rainfall, March was the driest since 1961 with basically no rain and so far in April we have had very little and looking to be about a third of usual levels.

 

[3 jabber]

Wet winter, cold dry March = poor conditions. Soon as the heat gets into the soil it will change. Be patient brothers.

 

[Backache]

I guess different parts of the UK vary. The course as a whole is fine for the time of year but the greens are awful. A bad attack of fungus over the winter has killed a lot of the grass and the greens are a long way from recovered . Putting is a complete lottery at the moment, hopefully warm weather will see an improvement but there has been no sign so far.
Quite a few trees and bushes down as a result of Eowyn but as well.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Dec, Jan and Feb around here was well below average rainfall, March was the driest since 1961 with basically no rain and so far in April we have had very little and looking to be about a third of usual levels.

OK - September to January... Here in Surrey, February, March and most of April so far have been dry - cold but dry - still pretty crud for growth...

 

[Billysboots]

Sounds like a lot of places are in similar positions to us, with a key difference being most seem to be doing something to make improvements where they can.

That’s my primary issue with our place - there doesn’t seem to be any great effort anywhere.