How Much Faith Would You Have in Your Greenkeepers

[GB72]

I went back to play my old course on Saturday morning and this is a place that has always prided itself on having decent greens. It certainly did in the 4 years that I was there albeit that the quality dipped a bit in my final year.

Pretty horrified at what I saw at the weekend as the greenkeeper has decided to kill off a certain type of grass in and around the greens (cannot remember the exact name). Now the greens have bare patches all over and look terrible whilst there are bare patches all around the fringes as well. The members are non too happy and and were not consulted about this.

Having talked to my old playing partners they have questioned the timing on this as we are now approaching the time when membership fees are being asked for.

So, if faced with a similar situation, would you have faith in what the greenkeepers are doing and hope all is right by the summer or would you look at the current state where the greens are nearly unplayable and think twice before handing over your money.

 

[StrangelyBrown]

Well, I guess he'd have to wait for the spring because there's simply no growth over the winter.

 

[thecraw]

To be fair, the growing season is just about to hit so fingers crossed he gets it right. It's easier to kill something off when its dormant.

 

[HawkeyeMS]

As others have said, it's difficult to judge right now. Grass doesn't grow much this time of year and while it might seem like bad timing for memberships, it might actually be perfect timing for the grass. You have to look at the bigger picture with stuff like this and judge the decision in a few months once the new grass has established itself.

I would think the key to decisions like this is communication. If the greens have been suffering and the course manager said something like "I know the greens have been suffering, this is because of xyz grass so we're going to kill it off and establish abc grass in it's place. It's gonna take a few months but bear with us, it will be worth it in the end" then I'd have no issue and would have to trust his judgement. If by the end of summer there were still bare patches I'd be questioning his decision as I would expect would be the committee

 

[Deleted member 15717]

full trust in the green staff. They are qualified for it and know what they are doing. I wouldn't, however, have full trust in the budget holders to provide the budget requirements that the green staff need to do everything perfectly. Sometimes, green staff have to "make do" with small budgets and do what they can

 

[HotDogAssassin]

Always have faith in a professional's work, until they prove otherwise.

 

[duncan mackie]

Always have faith in a professional's work, until they prove otherwise.

yep - they will loose their livelyhood if they 'get it wrong'.

the general problem they face is that until things get really really really bad, members simply don't want anything done that in any way goes 'backwards', regardless of the future benefits.

I frequently remind people that Old Tom simply closed the course to play every Sunday of the year (bar 1 I believe) so that members could have the best greens in the country - nowadays you get moans for scheduled hollow tining that's done 'overnight', or light top dressing etc etc etc


members really should be pleased when things are being done - not when nothing is done (...to disturb their rounds)

 

[MetalMickie]

Agree wholeheartedly with duncan.

Why be a green-keeper?

Every member knows better than you.
You are only supposed to work in the hours of darkness to not inconvenience the members.
And having got your qualifications you are expected to accept a salary that 99% of your club's members wouldn't get out of bed for.

And before anyone asks; I am not & never have been a green-keeper but I do strongly believe in trusting the experts until they give me good cause to not do so.

 

[Hacker Khan]

Really interesting survey results in the latest Today's Golfer looking at what greenkeepers think of the average golfer.

I think greenkeepers rock, I know one at Hollinwell (Notts) and he has got me on a few times for peanuts. So they can do no wrong in my book, well that one can't anyway.

 

[upsidedown]

I'd have the confidence as suspect it has been done in consultation with an agronomist .

As an aside it's generally easier to kill stuff when it's actively growing, i.e Spring. Roundup has done it job in 2-3 days in warm weather but can take up to 4 weeks to work in colder temps

It's easier to kill something off when its dormant.

 

[full_throttle]

I am not qualified to argue with the course maintenance, it's other jobs that don't get done that I genaraaly have an issue with.

My course is half way through a 10 year plan, the greens are very consistent if a little on the slow side.

 

[SaintHacker]

Its a tough one isn't it? Now our greens have started to dry a bit they were rolled and spiked (not sure thats the correct term) last week. This made them twice as quick as Augusta and completely unreadable, I missed 3 4ft birdie/par putts as the ball hit a hole and changed direction. But there you go, in my opinion it makes them better in the summer then I can put up with it now.

 

[PNWokingham]

Now our greens have started to dry a bit they were rolled and spiked (not sure thats the correct term) last week. This made them twice as quick as Augusta and completely unreadable, I missed 3 4ft birdie/par putts as the ball hit a hole and changed direction.

26 on the stimpmeter - that would take some head scratching and buttock-clenching!!

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Our greens werer atrocious and had a load of moss. New green keeper came in last year and announced a three year plan which included tining and treating threee times over the season meaning temp greens for a few days and sandy bobbly surfaces for a couple of weeks. The result is the majority of greens are now far reduced in moss and they are improving in speed and surface.

I trust the guy. He has been open with the membership unlike the guy in the OP and produced results. Members have been told well in advance when the work is being done so can adjust their playing plans. On top of this he has done a lot of work on little things that make the place look better, including the removal of some unsightly bushes etc and has made the course a lot prettier on the eye