[wmirkru]

I feel almost guilty to say the greens at my course, Gordon Lakes at Fort Gordon near Augusta, GA, have bordered on superb all summer, and actually for several years now. It is a military course and for years had slow, grainy greens on a great Robert Trent Jones layout. Then they decided to add 9 holes with TifEagle greens, and after that opened the next two years they revamped the other two nines one nine per year. It was pretty much a five year project, but the results were sensational - and the course has gotten better and better, because the management is customer - oriented and is constantly seeking improvement. It is a great place to play and with the 3 9's one always has different combinations, so it is almost like having 3 courses to play.

[eocavrWM]

Yea, they're horrible here in Ohio. And not just the greens either. Courses in general are pretty lacking. But what ticks me off the most is that the courses are in this kind of shape and yet they continue to charge you full price to play? That's just not right in my book.

[Sarah Armstrong]

I agree Scott. There is a course here where the greens are at least 50% dirt. They are also all cut up (I assume for seeding). They never mentioned a thing when I paid full price.

[DoctorQuquriramba]

In PA, they were fine. There was a period where they couldnt cut them as short as they liked [after the AT&T of course], but all in all it was okay. We only came close to losing 1 green because theres no airflow in that one corner of the golf course, but our super did a great job staying on top of it.

[quorceopporce]

there's a public course up here in Toronto that never has the best greens, but one of them now has a dry cracked dirt patch on it that's at least 8 feet across. i had to put over it and dubbed it the northern sahara. needless to say that putt did not stay on line.

[dolaBeetCeage]

Hawk and I went to a course on Sunday where I hit a full 56 wedge approach and the ball barely made a mark on the green. they rolled true but they were so dry that it was like playing onto wood.

[yPuqQ248]

It's been a tough, tough year for the superintendents and we golfers have had varying conditions, to be sure. The extended extreme heat in many parts of the country wreaked havoc. In the Washington, D.C. area the record for most 90-degree-plus days in the summer was shattered. Lots of courses, including very exclusive clubs, lost greens and lots of other turf. None of it is cheap to maintain, much less replace, all the while getting an earful from us golfers. If they watered more to try to counteract the heat and make up for the lack of rainfall, they introduced all sort of problems that overwatering can cause, like various turf diseases. But if they didn't water a little more, the greens would literally burn up. And once the soil temp on a green gets a little above 100*, the turf is going to die, and you can't do a thing about it. The superintendents have been treading a microscopically fine line all summer just to keep their courses alive. And sometimes it was out of their hands, like where another poster mentioned turf that was hemmed in by trees so that there was no air circulation. You can see it on some holes at your own courses that are socked in by the woods that block the prevailing wind. The turf will be thin or spotty, when maybe on an adjacent hole that goes in a different direction it's healthy and lush. It's survivable when the conditions are normal, but the extreme heat knocks it down pretty quick. And they can't fertilize, because that will stress the turf and burn it up, too. Tough business to be in this year. I think the two courses I play most must have raised their mower heights on the greens a little bit, until the weather broke a little over a week ago. I'd gotten used to the slower speeds all summer, I guess, and I and the other guys were just blowing putts past the hole last week, so they seem to be back to normal mowing. The greens stayed pretty good for the most part. Like the superintendent's mantra goes, "better to have slow greens than no greens!" Yeah, it doesn't seem like paying full freight under these conditions is fair, but the courses need the money more than ever now so they can set things right.

[sleepergun]

We actually have sprinkler systems on our courses here in the Great Northwest.

Our greens in the greater Spokane area have been fantastic all summer long.
Yes, we too have had the heat right after the wettest spring remembered.
The Supers and crews have had their hands full since they opened, but I really can't complain one bit.
To all the Supers and their crews around here.....Well done gang....well done !

[BuyNetHosting]

im on the golf team, i dont think it can get worse than the course we had to play the other day. greens were literally burnt

[ChicasCams]

Here in Vegas we're coming off of 30 days in a row with 105+ weather. A lot of the courses look like they got a tiger print going. Weathers finally cooled here, greens should start getting better.