FROM THE GREEN It is no secret that the club is busier than ever. Membership and rounds are up which is great for the club, but does present challenges for the golf course maintenance department. It means that we’ve got to get as much as possible completed ahead of play if we want to be productive and successful. Unfortunately it is not possible to get everything accomplished in front of play, every day. Productive Monday’s are vital to our success for the week, really gives our department the head start we need on certain tasks such as mowing rough. It takes 3 full days to mow rough and when it’s hot we mow rough all day every day, Monday through Friday.
I thought it was important to write this article at this point because I do realize that our department is encountering more play while working on the course than ever before. We are having to work around and between groups and I’m sure it can seem at times as if we don’t care about your round, but that is absolutely not the case. In fact we care enough to continue to find whatever gaps present themselves to work in. We try to work in a manner that hopefully only affects your round once if possible but that is certainly not always possible. It takes approximately 5 ½ hours to mow fairways, if we begin first thing, but we like to keep them free and clear of clippings if at all possible. It takes considerably longer to blow fairways and it’s far louder and more invasive. The tractor blower is a necessary evil if we want clean conditions. We attempt to blow where play is not, but it isn’t always that easy or possible, especially during steady play, we are forced to be opportunistic in and around play. Early play or Diamond Lane play has also had its challenges for our department, as well as for early golfers. Diamond Lane play is typically utilized primarily by singles and twosomes, obviously playing the course much faster. Extremely fast pace of play can cause our staff to rush in order to stay in front of play, which can at times lead to mistakes. I realize that on the surface it does not seem like one or two extremely quick players would have a significant impact on our morning setup but believe me it can, it typically has a domino effect on our entire operation. On a normal morning we mow greens, then roll greens and ultimately change hole locations, this process normally takes approximately 4 hours to complete. We are also required to make applications to the greens for health and fertility at least once a week and occasionally the conditions require multiple applications a week. Having said all of that our goal is to work around play, however it is not always possible to allow play through our morning setup as it has a negative impact on the setup for the entire day. So we would ask that you please keep that in mind as you’re playing at an unbelievably fast pace, one that we would never be able to keep in front of. Even if we started in complete darkness every morning. Please remember that we’re setting the course up for everyone and some days take longer than others. I truly hope that everyone is enjoying the course, our staff has been working extremely hard to keep it in as good of shape as possible, but it’s always a work in progress. As always please contact me with any questions or concerns or feel free to stop me on the course. I’ve been spending an awful lot of time on the tractor blower as of late so that’ll be a good place to find me. Sincerely, Ryan Gamble Golf Course Superintendent, Grande Dunes Members Club ryan.gamble@grandedunes.com 843-903-3484
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