Where's the grass?

Tinker · 2017-06-23T13:32:28+00:00

My friends and I ( most retired) like to play 35 to 40 dollar golf. Finding this is not hard, the going rate for public golf in my area, but it's getting fru...

Typhoon

I hear u Tinker. Where I play the fairways and rough are awful. I play there only because they don't have tee times during the week so I can walk on whenever.

We just look for a place where there is grass to put our ball on. If I'm paying them, I'll move the ball....it's not the US Open. The tees resemble a batter's box...trenches and high spots. You stand on one high spot and tee the ball up on the other high spot with the batter's box in the middle.

The greens are bumpy as hell, they don't have a roller.They actually grabbed a steamroller from the town but realized quickly that it wouldn't work.

We laugh that they will reseed and take care of an area 20 yards in front of a random tee while the rest of the place goes to hell.

SVonhof

We played a course yesterday that was very dry (normally is during summer) and has lots of areas on the sides of the fairways that are more dirt and weeds than grass. The great thing is, you get a LOT of runout on the ball!

The fairways all have grass, even if it's hard, it is still grass. The greens are all really smooth and nice, no issues there. The tee boxes are o.k., not as bad as batters boxes like you describe, but they really need to flatten some of them out.

puttnfool

You guys are makin' me appreciate the $18 greens fees I pay here on base. While the courses aren't in tip top shape, I can't say I've ever found a tee box that I had to swing across a ravine. 🙂 The greens are usually in pretty good shape other than a couple of them that seem to have some sort of diseased grass in spots... not the whole green, but a pretty large (5-6 sq ft) spot at the edge of a green.

Add to the mix that I normally play after 3:30 and only pay 1/2 price and it's even better.

Typhoon

puttnfool
I'll have to get a few pictures...it's amazing. That being said, it's inexpensive...$20 for 9 and that's where the guys I play with play. I could play elsewhere....

Rickochet

puttnfool You guys are makin' me appreciate the $18 greens fees I pay here on base.

Our usual course charges $23. I get to play for $18 as retired military. The fairways start to thin out in the late summer due to lack of a fairway watering system. The greens are still nice since they get watered. We just move the ball in the fairway to the closest patch of grass.

DonM

blader

That's good info, thanks. I have suspected as much, just by observing the deteriorating conditions on the sub-$40 courses in my area of Illinois.

rsvman

blader This is an interesting post, blader. I suspected as much, but didn't have monetary figures to back it up. Running a golf course is a freaking HUGE deal.

accufitgolf

Brown Golf Management is managing several golf courses in the Hilton Head area. Brown has said that he will and can offer a good round of golf for $40 and the problem with most golf courses is they are operating at a $70 per round cost and selling the round for $40. He says do not expect a $70 round for $40. At $40 the conditions will not be pristine but they will be very playable.

Typhoon

Here's a couple of pictures from different fairways...
image /assets/images/0-98-JsXgdK6zfgbv26MH.jpg

image /assets/images/0-98-0Do7EKNVX5PETUuM.jpg

ode

Typhoon Jesus, thats awful, looks like winter kill.

My course is a 40$ per course during peak season and having grass is not the issue, the poa-annua invasion on the greens is....that's a whole other course maintenance issue. Depending on the time of day and/or time of year it's not so bad, but There are two greens that are borderline, depending where the pin is. It's very easy to tell where the poa is vs. the bent.

Par4QC

Typhoon Not too bad at all, imo.

If you can drive every green.

ode

Par4QC lol

DC300

I'm so spoiled, the heat here doesn't really kill much, we golf for $9 to $50 pretty much anything public here and the number of places on the higher side of $40 are muuuch lower.

SVonhof

That grass doesn't look so good. They are going to have to reseed the whole thing to get it to come back. To do that, they are going to have to get the money from somewhere.

accufitgolf

That course in the pics in unplayable.

puttnfool

accufitgolf That course in the pics in unplayable.

How so?

golfer_LD

I played with my dad at one of our local coursed on 4th of July for $37 each (that's for 18 holes plus cart on a holiday). The course was in great condition and the only issues were a few spots that were roped off due to some flood damage from all the rain we've had in Northern Indiana. I wouldn't say the local course was in pristine condition but it did have grass covering the entire fairway. I could be lucky with the area I'm located at but I couldn't imagine a course charging $40 with bare spots like that in my surrounding area. Even most of the city park course are fairly well maintained and quite affordable.

Typhoon

We just move it to one of the grass spots. The rough is better than those fairways. Last year really killed the place, plus the new owners had/have no idea how to fix the irrigation system. Luckily we've had rain to get it as good as in the pics. No reseeding in the future. Just makes it tougher.

Here's a picture from last year. Funny thing is the sprinkler is on but then 2 holes over the water is barely dribbling out of those ones.

image /assets/images/0-98-06sPInVgJEEYrjlz.jpg

Par4QC

Typhoon If that pic is from last year, and the other pic is from this year, then there is one helluva management problem.

As long as you and others continue to play the course in that condition, that condition will always remain. Why should they spend profit on something no one complains about? And make no mistake, if you are playing it regularly, you are not complaining; you can't do both and seem sincere. And they laugh while counting your money!

Tinker

Can seeding cost that much?

Rickochet

Tinker Can seeding cost that much?

I would think so for a course just hanging on. I don't think that you just sling seed out on the turf with no prep. Even that how many hundreds of pounds of see would that take?