How's your course shaping up?

[Mastercracker]

Not looking too bad now. First green is a bit ropey after being relaid but the rest are coming on nicely. Got a couple of new tees that while not yet in play look an improvement. Could just do with a bit more definition now around the course.

Bunkers are still on the poor side though. Wish we'd sort them.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

I understand what SSS and how it is calculated but I totally disagree thats how you should set a golf course up, just totally illogical imho. Setting the course up is about your customers and their enjoyment, not what a handicap system arbitrarily uses as its base

What about the customers with the low HC who want it set up for scratch to allow the system to take care of everything else and level the playing field out ?

Course should be abd believe they are taking no HC into consideration - HC are there to help people and create the level playing feild

Let's not sanitise the game too much

 

[Khamelion]

Email from the course last week, saying they are starting a week of green care. First up is removing the dead grass and thatch in what they called verticut (?) then they are going to do what they call vertidraining in which solid tines are spiked into the ground to 300mm then the greens will be top dressed and brushed into the tine holes. They are also looking to roll the greens, ironing them twice a week in necessary and all this is being done under the watchful eye of the STRI.

This bout of fair weather has done the course the world of good, could do with a little rain to help promote some growth, but over all the course is looking pretty good.

 

[matt71]

my place looking superb the green keeper has done an awesome job over winter. He even sends out monthly updates and has a daily blog on what he has been up to (despite the fact I have no idea what he is talking about half the time)!

It was especially good this weekend when I notice the bunkers having some light gold type powder in them. I was informed by a fellow member its called sand ! Superb stuff as over the past few months we have had stuff that looks like volcanic ash in them

 

[drew83]

One of my local course played very nicely last Sunday (19th). Looking forward to a lot more course time this year (hopefully)

 

[Spuddy]

I'm sure the snow that's falling on it just now will do it the world of good....

 

[JPEGG42]

Braintree Golf club is begining to come good.. the work over the winter and the rain at the weekend is starting to make things grow. Greens gonna be excellent in a week or two.
Rated in top 10 in Essex - get over and check it out, well worth it. Tree lined and need to find right place to land your ball.
Gallery page on this link will show you... I took some!

http://www.braintreegolfclub.co.uk/

 

[virtuocity]

Covered in snow.

 

[Deleted member 3432]

Silloth was in excellent condition yesterday unlike my swing!
Rather cool however and a hail shower to content with.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

What about the customers with the low HC who want it set up for scratch to allow the system to take care of everything else and level the playing field out ?

Course should be abd believe they are taking no HC into consideration - HC are there to help people and create the level playing feild

Let's not sanitise the game too much

Sadly though for most clubs the lower players aren't their bread and butter especially midweek (we have midweek comps regularly). I think a course can be set up perfectly well that gives mid-high handicappers a competitive test and still won't be taken over by the low handicappers

 

[pigmeister]

Let me clarify my comment about setting the course up for scratch players, which I think was taken a bit out of context. If you go and play a top golf course, Woodhall for example, you want to be tested, you want top quality quick greens, if you hit it off line you expect to be punished to a degree but still have a chance of finding your ball, and most of all, you want to walk off the 18th green hopefully with 36pts, smile and say"Jesus, I had to work really hard for that today."
Now, if you set the course up for 16-18 handicappers, the greens will be average, the fairway 40yds wide, the rough a inch high and as I said before, everything within 40yds of the green will be 1st cut high so 90% of the golfers can putt the ball where ever they are to save chipping it. The main reason they set courses up this way is to get people around in under 5hrs. I`m sorry, but this is one of those times that the minority should rule.
I am not saying that every course you play has to be set up to US open standards, that would be too hard and no fun at all. But at least if you have your course set up to be a really good but fair test of golf and it makes you think about what you are doing and test your game, I would have thought that is what every golfer would want.

 

[drew83]

Pigmeister, i am a 28 handicap, average 16-20 points a round. Only really started playing last year, but didn't get out much. This year i am planning to get out as much as possible to get my strokes down (and points up),

I agree that courses should in the main be set for a higher standard as i play with friends/family that are far better than me. It wouldn't be much fun or a test for them to play "easy" courses and I probably wouldn't progress that quickly.

Again, not all courses should be pro standard but I would choose a more testing course over a simpler one anyday.

 

[Imurg]

I am not saying that every course you play has to be set up to US open standards, that would be too hard and no fun at all. But at least if you have your course set up to be a really good but fair test of golf and it makes you think about what you are doing and test your game, I would have thought that is what every golfer would want.

The problem is that you have to cater for ability.
A scratch player, capable of a 240 yard carryz plays a different game to a 28'er who can't carry 200. Especially from competition tees, some shots, on some courses, are virtually impossible for average players. The Oxfordshire has a tee shot that needs a big carry over water to a diagonal fairway....many members there don't play competitions there because of this tee shot - they just can't carry the water and you can't lay up....possibly not a good example but it gives an idea.
There's a balance - you don't want the low guys shooting the lights out week after week but you don't want the 16-28'ers never breaking 110...we have a couple of low guys and they don't break par every week....

 

[Imurg]

Greens maintenance this week..
Front 9 was closed yesterday, back 9 today.
Nice to see them actually doing something with the course.
Even with the rain at the weekend there was a lot of roll yesterday!
Although its been warm, there's still a chill at night - not sure the grass on the greens knows what's going on. The grass in the rough does though!

 

[pokerjoke]

I believe every course manager will want the course looking the best it can all
year round.
Getting the course well manicured and the greens fast and true are probably priorities.
If you make the course set up for scratch players and the weather changes and the wind
blows the course can become unplayable,so some outside factors need to be added to the
equation.

 

[North Mimms]

Course was in good nick over the winter so has settled nicely now Spring has come (and gone again)

The bunker remodelling that was done over winter is looking superb- all the new turf has taken very well.
Greens are pretty good- you can see green spots from tining earlier in the year, recent top dressing has disappeared off the surface.
Looking forward to my first summer season here to see how fast the greens get...