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course condition after the break for covid ?

  • 26-05-2020 5:11pm
    #1
    Registered Users Posts: 619 ✭✭✭


    has anyone gone back for a game and been dissapointed with the condition of their course ?
    i was in the 3rd group out on my course on the 18th ,mentioned to my playing partners just before we teed off that we probably will never get a chance to play a course in such good condition ever again.
    those hopes were dashed as soon as we walked onto the fairway , the teebox was good but fairways and greens were average for a normal day , we were all bitterly dissapointed .


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Comments

  • Registered Users Posts: 1,792 ✭✭✭Golfgraffix


    sweetswing wrote: »
    has anyone gone back for a game and been dissapointed with the condition of their course ?
    i was in the 3rd group out on my course on the 18th ,mentioned to my playing partners just before we teed off that we probably will never get a chance to play a course in such good condition ever again.
    those hopes were dashed as soon as we walked onto the fairway , the teebox was good but fairways and greens were average for a normal day , we were all bitterly dissapointed .

    It’s not easy to keep a golf course in perfect condition when the staff may have been on reduced hours


  • Registered Users Posts: 20,611 ✭✭✭✭FixdePitchmark


    Ours was brilliant - greens were not cut as much as normal , so , a bit slow.

    But people shouldn't under estimate how desperate the grass is for water - another very dry May this year - and April was not April showers.


  • Registered Users Posts: 6,827 ✭✭✭fred funk }{


    Ours was in great condition. Greens a tad slow as they're not cut very short due to the hot weather.


  • Registered Users Posts: 6,827 ✭✭✭fred funk }{


    Ours was brilliant - greens were not cut as much as normal , so , a bit slow.

    But people shouldn't under estimate how desperate the grass is for water - another very dry May this year - and April was not April showers.

    Agree. Our course is baked.


  • Registered Users Posts: 619 ✭✭✭sweetswing


    i dont mind a baked fairway ,but after 7 weeks rest the greens were in worse condition than they were before the break , this is no way to keep the members happy , they were quick enough to ask the members to keep paying their money .


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  • Registered Users Posts: 619 ✭✭✭sweetswing


    It’s not easy to keep a golf course in perfect condition when the staff may have been on reduced hours

    im still paying full price , if i buy a suit i want trousers and a jacket not one or the other .


  • Moderators, Computer Games Moderators Posts: 22,994 Mod ✭✭✭✭Kiith


    Our greens were very slow the first week back, but are a bit better this week. Still slower then i'd like them, but apparently some fungus got into them a year or two ago, and they've had a very hard time getting them back to good condition.


  • Registered Users Posts: 12,553 ✭✭✭✭prawnsambo


    I was not a bit surprised by the state of our greens. We've had roughly two inches of rain since the beginning of March. Yes, March. Irrigation will help, but you just can't cut as regularly as when there;s normal rainfall and dull conditions. My own lawn is turning brown right now, even though we've had a bit of rain lately.


  • Registered Users Posts: 619 ✭✭✭sweetswing


    prawnsambo wrote: »
    I was not a bit surprised by the state of our greens. We've had roughly two inches of rain since the beginning of March. Yes, March. Irrigation will help, but you just can't cut as regularly as when there;s normal rainfall and dull conditions. My own lawn is turning brown right now, even though we've had a bit of rain lately.

    if they cant afford to keep the course in prestine condition then they should voluntarily close before the members walk and the club crumbles .
    ive played all over the world in some of the hottest weather, golf courses allways in perfect shape .


  • Registered Users Posts: 20,611 ✭✭✭✭FixdePitchmark


    sweetswing wrote: »
    if they cant afford to keep the course in prestine condition then they should voluntarily close before the members walk and the club crumbles .
    ive played all over the world in some of the hottest weather, golf courses allways in perfect shape .

    Not during a global pandemic.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 619 ✭✭✭sweetswing


    Not during a global pandemic.

    ive lots of friends in clubs all over the country ,almost every one to a man said their course was in fantastic condition.
    my club has definitly dropped the ball ,im not talking about dry greens im talking about lumpy greens and fairways with machine cuts (dont know name of process).


  • Registered Users Posts: 20,611 ✭✭✭✭FixdePitchmark


    sweetswing wrote: »
    ive lots of friends in clubs all over the country ,almost every one to a man said their course was in fantastic condition.
    my club has definitly dropped the ball ,im not talking about dry greens im talking about lumpy greens and fairways with machine cuts (dont know name of process).

    Well there are a couple of factors at play here. I'm not even involved in golf professionally- but to guess..................

    1) A global pandemic
    2) National restriction of movement ( That needed clarification for golf)
    3) Lack of policies and procedures in the workplaces
    4) People sick and dying in households and completely disrupted households due to school closures and creche closures.
    5) Sharing of maintenance equipment and facilities
    6) Every single golf course has different resource challenges / financial challenges - I'd imagine a good few were let go ?
    7) Every course has different irrigation systems.
    8) Every course needs different maintenance and grasses

    Just think lads going on about the condition of their grass after all this , is a bit , I don't know , a bit glib.

    Even for golfers.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,968 ✭✭✭blindside88


    Our course is in fantastic condition (Carlow Golf Club). Greens are very fast and smooth. Additional definition has been put on the fairways and tee boxes in good condition. I played on the 18th and twice since including today. Place is still in brilliant condition which is a testament to the work done considering we’re getting 300 golfers out per day.


  • Registered Users Posts: 133 ✭✭doublej


    Our course is in fantastic condition (Carlow Golf Club). Greens are very fast and smooth. Additional definition has been put on the fairways and tee boxes in good condition. I played on the 18th and twice since including today. Place is still in brilliant condition which is a testament to the work done considering we’re getting 300 golfers out per day.

    Are you playing nine holes in threes with 14 minute intervals?


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,862 ✭✭✭un5byh7sqpd2x0


    I’m struck by the self entitlement bolločks being posted in this thread. We’re in the middle of a global pandemic where very no one should have been at work for the past few months. Maintenance of golf courses was not essential work.


  • Registered Users Posts: 12,553 ✭✭✭✭prawnsambo


    sweetswing wrote: »
    if they cant afford to keep the course in prestine condition then they should voluntarily close before the members walk and the club crumbles .
    ive played all over the world in some of the hottest weather, golf courses allways in perfect shape .
    Nothing in my post mentioned cost. And it's not 'hot weather', it's lack of rainfall.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,968 ✭✭✭blindside88


    doublej wrote: »
    Are you playing nine holes in threes with 14 minute intervals?

    That’s it exactly. We have 27 holes so it allows us to get more out also. There are still some times available each day


  • Registered Users Posts: 144 ✭✭Finlay Harp


    I was delighted by the conditions on my home course considering only two green staff were kept on.


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,884 ✭✭✭DuckSlice


    sweetswing wrote: »
    if they cant afford to keep the course in prestine condition then they should voluntarily close before the members walk and the club crumbles .
    ive played all over the world in some of the hottest weather, golf courses allways in perfect shape .

    Exactly, just shut up shop, close the course and turn it into farm land. Only logical thing to do now really. No point having patience and see will the course recover, get the dozers in!


  • Registered Users Posts: 850 ✭✭✭thewobbler


    I think we should stop getting annoyed at sweetswing.

    He either has to be on a wind up, or else he’s the beyond-hope type of person who went to the beach with a picnic a few weeks ago, and complained about all the people around him putting his life at risk. Before fly tipping his rubbish on the way home.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 4,471 ✭✭✭blue note


    I think it's fair to admit that at the beginning of this we were thinking this will at least be great for the courses - it's literally the only time they'll have such a rest during a growing season. A green keepers dream. But then we had about 10 weeks with no rain. So I feared the course wouldn't be amazing when we got back and it wasn't. But i wouldn't blame the green keepers for it!

    And the dry weather has been a Godsend during the lockdown. Even in terms of spread it meant that people were meeting up outside instead of inside. They should have been doing neither, but outside is by far the lesser of the two evils.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,782 ✭✭✭gypsy79


    I have heard somebody say that the greens need traffic to keep them in best condition

    Ours were a little bouncy first week but starting to get back to their best now


  • Registered Users Posts: 3,070 ✭✭✭Ollieboy


    When the Danes reopen they had similar comments from members. So I’ll try to explain why this might happen at some clubs.

    Certain clubs took the decision to put a growth controller on the whole course including greens I believe. What this meant is, they could nearly reduce the team to 1 person and very little cutting and maintenance and put the staff on Covid payment. This growth controller is expensive but the savings were high.

    Other courses like us, kept staff on but got them to try and get other jobs completed. So as a example rough might only be cut once a week instead of 2/3 times a week and same for greens, 3 times a week instead of daily.

    So if a green is only getting cut once or 3 times a week, very quickly this will have a affect and it will need a week of daily cutting to get back to normal and some care.

    The weather didn’t help but it also created less growth but courses then required hand watering which is a huge drain on resources. This can reduce resource by 15%.

    If a course is left unattended even for a week, it and take up to a month to repair the damage.

    On the other comment about clubs running on a shoe string and living from one month to the next, I agree 100% this is madness. If a club is not able to fund itself it should cease trading and protect members and creditors. This idea of running a club until the market changes or demand grows or worse waiting for other clubs to close is madness. If it’s not viable, it’s not and move on and create strong clubs with the resources to run a club correctly for members.


  • Registered Users Posts: 17,574 ✭✭✭✭Mantis Toboggan


    prawnsambo wrote: »
    I was not a bit surprised by the state of our greens. We've had roughly two inches of rain since the beginning of March. Yes, March. Irrigation will help, but you just can't cut as regularly as when there;s normal rainfall and dull conditions. My own lawn is turning brown right now, even though we've had a bit of rain lately.

    God only knows how they get the perfect greens in the middle East!

    Free Palestine 🇵🇸



  • Registered Users Posts: 12,553 ✭✭✭✭prawnsambo


    God only knows how they get the perfect greens in the middle East!
    By spending millions on it. https://www.golfcoursearchitecture.net/content/multimillion-irrigation-for-majlis


  • Registered Users Posts: 619 ✭✭✭sweetswing


    I’m struck by the self entitlement bolločks being posted in this thread. We’re in the middle of a global pandemic where very no one should have been at work for the past few months. Maintenance of golf courses was not essential work.

    how have other courses managed to keep their courses in great condition ?


  • Registered Users Posts: 619 ✭✭✭sweetswing


    prawnsambo wrote: »
    Nothing in my post mentioned cost. And it's not 'hot weather', it's lack of rainfall.

    they can get water from somewhere else . they manage in spain very easily .


  • Registered Users Posts: 619 ✭✭✭sweetswing


    gypsy79 wrote: »
    I have heard somebody say that the greens need traffic to keep them in best condition

    Ours were a little bouncy first week but starting to get back to their best now

    dont they close Agusta for months before the Masters every year ?


  • Registered Users Posts: 7,977 ✭✭✭youcancallmeal


    My course is in fantastic condition and something nice which I didn't notice in my first round back was the amount of detailing done around the place like tree/bush trimming etc. To be honest if it was in poor condition I would feel disappointed simply because they had sent out emails over the last couple of months explaining how our membership fees were allowing all the greens keepers to be kept on for the maintenance/improvements.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 619 ✭✭✭sweetswing


    thewobbler wrote: »
    I think we should stop getting annoyed at sweetswing.

    He either has to be on a wind up, or else he’s the beyond-hope type of person who went to the beach with a picnic a few weeks ago, and complained about all the people around him putting his life at risk. Before fly tipping his rubbish on the way home.

    Wow you deduce all that because im disgusted with the condition of my golf course ?


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