Naperville Country Club Green Department: etiquette

Showing posts with label etiquette. Show all posts

Along with the post from yesterday, the USGA has been releasing a series of videos "fore the golfer" regarding course etiquette. Here is a video regarding course etiquette with the golf cart.

I am reposting this video that demonstrates the proper method for repairing ball marks. Play has been picking up on the course and ball marks are becoming very noticeable. It is not hard to repair a ball mark and it only takes a few seconds.

Two things are critical to repairing a ball mark correctly:

1. Pull the grass from the edges to the center of the mark. - When a ball mark is made, it is very likely that grass will die in the middle of the mark. Pulling the grass from the edges to the center leave less area for the grass to cover while healing.

2. Tap the repaired mark level after fixing. - After fixing the mark, always tap any raised grass level. This leaves a level surface for the next group.

This weekend is "Tee It Forward" weekend. Below are 2 videos talking about why to tee it forward. This initiative would accomplish two things that inexplicably seem to be lacking amongst the membership - play faster and have more fun. Leave your ego and give it a try this weekend!

You may have noticed the Club's slow play policy during events for this year. Slow play has been an increasing issue not only here but at all courses. Here is a great article by Tim Moraghan from Golf Course Industry Magazine in April regarding slow play (link to full article). I have copied the recommendations for golfers:

At the USGA’s annual meeting a few months ago, it was announced that it will begin addressing pace of play, not only in their own events (good luck with that!), but down at our level, too. Along with many new programs to educate golfers (watch for another scintillating series of advertisements), the USGA said the Green Section will work with clubs to find ways to prepare courses to encourage faster play.

Hold on a second. I take a back seat to no one in my distaste for slow play. I’ll support any good ideas that tackle the problem and will offer some down below. But you and I and everyone else with a pulse know where slow play is worst: On the pro tours, which we watch every week on television.

PGA and LPGA Tour players are so methodical and deliberate, it’s painful to watch. Yet, we copy them.

Most of us have neither the ability nor the reason to spend 60 seconds lining up a two-foot putt. I don’t think the pros really do either, but they do and likely will continue to. So I’d like to propose that the pros stand up and say, “Don’t play like us. When you are ready to play, play. You’re not playing for thousands of dollars, this isn’t your livelihood, it’s supposed to be fun. So please, don’t copy us, but play faster.”

It won’t happen, but it’d be a start.

As for the USGA attempting to tackle this disease, I’d hope our national governing body has more important issues than how fast the 20-handicapper is playing. But if we agree slow play sucks, I suggest we help in this endeavor.

Here are some suggestions to superintendents, architects and golfers on how they can speed up the game.

For Golfers

Play “ready golf.” Hit it, find it, and hit it again
If someone in your group is slow, tell him. And don’t perpetuate his slowness by waiting: When you’re ready to hit, hit!
Get off your cell phone
Practice on the range, not the course. And those five practice swings before each shot don’t help
Mulligans? Extra shots through the green? Certainly not if anyone is waiting. And even if they’re not waiting. Don’t
When it comes to choosing which tees to play, leave your ego in the car and play to your skill level. And even then, “playing it forward” is always a smart idea
If you must use a rangefinder or GPS, do it quickly and appropriately: It doesn’t help on a shot less than 60 yards
Plumb-bobbing and walking around the hole checking the breaks isn’t necessary to make your two-footer for a 7
Rake footprints when leaving a bunker
Fix ball marks on the green
Park your cart or place your bag or trolley on the side of the green closest to the next tee
Be honest with yourself. Know and accept your limitations. You’ll play better and have more fun
Understand the biggest reason for slow play among us 20 handicappers is the $5.00 golf ball

If we all do our part, the USGA can concentrate on its core competencies: the Rules of Golf, conducting national championships, and causing/settling equipment controversies.

Even with the greens closed for the winter season, this topic is relevant year-round. I think this will become a monthly post on the blog through the season. Ball mark repair is a regular topic during Green Committee discussions, not just here at Naperville, but all clubs. It only takes a few seconds to repair your ball mark on a green, and that few seconds will leave a better playing surface as well as a better looking surface. The topic of discussion for us most often revolves around how the surface looks. Repairing a ball mark is not just about creating a level surface, but also covering the mark. This video from The Golf Channel videos "The Golf Fix" does an excellent job of demonstrating how to fix a ball mark properly. This method leaves a flat surface and also leaves the smallest possible brown spot.

This is one small effort that will go a long way to making a better playing surface on the greens through the season. This small effort is not being done for the green department either. It is the responsibility of the golfer to leave the course in as good of shape as they found it for the golfers that play after them.

The driving range tee and its divots continues to be a major topic of conversation. The club enjoys one of the finest practice facilities around, and it shows - it gets used a lot! Rarely is there a time during the day when there is not at least one person on the practice tee warming up or working on their game. This leads to lots of divots. We are continuing to try to spread the word about divot patterns that will disrupt a smaller area (Practice Tee Divot Patterns) and allow the divots to heal faster.

Here are a set of pictures taken recently of the practice tee the morning after a day of regular play. It shows how much the tee gets used.

Divots taken in this pattern (above and below) will take much longer to heal than divots taken in the preferred pattern of a line.

The practice areas get used very frequently. The more use they receive, the longer it will take for the surface to return to normal. By disrupting less area with a divot pattern in a line, it will take less time for the tee to return to normal.

This is not how divots should be taken.

"This should be required viewing for all members." That is the comment that was left on this post "Practice Tee and Divot Patterns" Our efforts to change the divot patterns on the practice tee this year have thus far been futile. The scattered divot pattern still prevails, and the the resulting wear. Something as simple as changing how a golfer takes divots on the practice tee will save wear. We addressed this in a few posts earlier this year, and one last year. Rather than retype all of the content, I will provide links to posts that have already been made:

Practice Tee and Divot Patterns

Practice Like a Pro

A new article from the USGA: Practice Like a Pro: Two simple adjustments to the way you practice will result in less wear and faster recovery of range tees.

The persistent warm and dry weather this year is beginning to show in the usual areas of cart traffic wear. The constant traffic on these areas and the resulting soil compaction leads to a shallower root system and a weaker plant. We have ropes placed to control cart traffic in these areas, but the golfer can help us by dispersing traffic patterns as they move around the course.

These two pictures show the traffic patterns of the carts on the course. It is evident in the top picture how concentrated the traffic is between the bunkers on 9 fairway. The weak turf in this area is a function of the cart traffic. The picture on the left shows the usual traffic pattern down the middle of the 8th fairway. Next time you are on the 8th fairway, look at the turf in the middle of the fairway and compare it to the turf on the left half of the fairway. As much as I want to believe the weaker turf in the middle is a result of relentless play from the middle of the fairway, my observations lead me to believe that cart traffic may be the offender. The turf on the left half is in much better condition due to the lack of traffic. Helping the turf in the middle is as simple as make a conscious effort to drive on the left half rather than the middle.

This picture illustrates how we are able to move the traffic patterns with the ropes. Even with the ropes up, we would still like golfer to try and disperse traffic from the usual pattern.

Areas where carts leave the cart path are notorious for traffic wear. If you see an area like this, and there is no rope, try to drive a little farther on the cart path before you make your way to the fairway. This will help these areas until we are able to change the ropes in that spot.

Our practice tee gets used heavily, and any effort made by the golfers to disrupt the smallest area in a manner that allows for the quickest recovery will help us keep the tee in the best possible condition. I mentioned yesterday (Practice Tee and Chipping Green Schedule) that the scattered divot pattern is bad. Creating divots in a line will disrupt less surface area. This was addressed in a post last year (Practice Like a Pro), and we will post on the blog and in the clubhouse regularly this year about this method.

The pattern on the left side in the picture is how we would like divots to be taken on the practice tee. Placing the ball immediately behind the previous divot will make a divot pattern in a line and disrupt less area. Both areas in this picture have had 25 balls hit from them, but the area on the left has disrupted much less area. This picture is from "Dirty Divots,"a Golf Week article written by David Phipps, Superintendent at Stone Creek Golf Club in Oregon. (His blog can be found here)

The picture on the right illustrates how to create the preferred divot pattern.

Here is a video talking about this type of divot pattern from Dan Meersman, Superintendent at Philadelphia Cricket Club. (His blog can be found here)

This is a quick post to supplement the Divot Repair post from a month ago. Erwin McKone is the Director of Golf Operations at Briar Ridge Country Club in Schereville, IN and has a YouTube channel, and World of Turf blog that I follow. He has posted a good video regarding filling divots that I wanted to share.

Note: We do not have the divot bottles on our carts, and request that divots in the fairways be replaced when possible. The Green Department will take care of any further repair.

The following article recently appeared in the USGA Green Section Record. It was written by Ty McClellan. Ty is our USGA regional agronomist. We utilize his expertise on a regular basis; he visits Naperville CC regularly to evaluate course conditions. This is part of a program offered through the USGA Turfgrass Advisory Service. The article is very timely so I wanted to pass it along.

By Ty McClellan, agronomist, Mid-Continent Region
July 13, 2011


Randomly scattered divots (on the left) remove up to 50% more turf than practicing in a linear pattern (on the right) where each new shot is placed directly behind the previous divot.

Late July is usually the time when there is a lack of turf coverage on practice range tees established with cool-season turfgrasses, such as creeping bentgrass or Kentucky bluegrass. Heavy play removes divots faster than the turf can recover, and hot, dry summer conditions leave little opportunity for seedling establishment or regenerative growth of surrounding turf. Poor turf coverage that comes in mid-summer generally indicates that the practice tee is simply undersized for the amount of play received, i.e. there is not enough time for turf to recover before tee stalls are returned to previous locations. It also indicates that tee stall rotations need to be reviewed for efficiency and that synthetic turf options should be considered at the rear of the tee to provide the additional time needed for turf recovery.

With the exception of an efficient tee stall rotation, enlarging the tee(s) and adding synthetic turf are improvements typically left for the off-season when time and funds become available. So, until then, what can be done? The solution resides with golfers. Since randomly scattering divots can quickly destroy a practice range tee, the better approach is to shrink one’s divots by removing them in a pattern just like the professionals. More specifically, this includes placing each shot directly behind the previous divot. This can easily be repeated for up to 10 shots resulting in much less turf being removed.

Let’s take a look at a practical example that was provided by Golf Course Superintendent Chris Pekarek at The Village Links of Glen Ellyn in Illinois. Mr. Pekarek estimates more than 2 million shots are taken annually from the 1.25-acre Kentucky bluegrass practice tee and that 1.5 million of the shots result in turf removal. Although divots come in all sizes, the average iron shot is believed to remove a divot 3 inches wide by 6.5 inches long for a total of 19.5 square inches. After just 30 shots, or a small bucket of balls, 4.1 square feet of turf are removed, given a typical practice routine (30 shots x 19.5 in² = 585 in² / 144 in²= 4.1 ft²). Therefore, after an entire season, 205,000 square feet of divots are removed from the tee. That's more than 4.6 acres of turf from their 1.25-acre surface.

If instead each shot is played directly behind the previous divot, subsequent divots are reduced to an average size of 3 inches wide by 3 inches long, or 9 square inches. After 30 shots, this pattern removes only 2.1 square feet of turf. (As the first divot removes 19.5 square inches and the subsequent 9 divots remove 9 square inches each for a total of 81 square inches, a total of 100.5 square inches is removed for every 10 shots, which is typical for this linear pattern. For 30 shots or a small bucket of balls, 3 x 100.5 = 301.5 in² / 144 in² = 2.1ft²are removed.) If everyone adopted this method, the annual number of divots removed would be reduced from 205,000 square feet to just 105,000 square feet. That’s nearly a 50% reduction in the amount of turf removed.

Implementing this simple divot pattern into your practice regime has significant season-long implications at your facility. So, rather than voice a complaint about the turf during oppressive conditions in July and August, do the turf a favor and practice like a pro!

A refresher on divot repair from the club's Divot Digest.

Seed and soil boxes.

Seed and soil boxes are located on the par 3 holes. They are filled with a mixture of sand, peat, and T-1 bentgrass seed.

If your divot is intact, it is best to replace the divot. If the divot explodes then it should be filled with the sand/seed mixture.

There is no need to overfill your divot, simply fill the divot about half-full that then tamp it down firmly.

A properly filled divot will avoid damage to the mowers and allow the new seedlings to grow slightly before they are subject to their first mowing.

Properly filled divot.

Divots that are over filled will be slower to heal because the mowers continuously scalp the young turf.

The mix in the seed and soil boxes should only be used on the tees. Use of the divot mix outside of the tee surface will result in bentgrass contamination.

At NCC we have moved away from the use of seed and soil bottles on golf carts. There are several different types of grass on the golf course. It is important that the proper seed be used in the correct area. This also minimizes waste; seed will germinate if it is exposed to moisture. When you are done filling a divot please make sure to close the lid on the seed and soil box to keep the seed dry. The maintenance crew fills tee divots on a daily basis and fairway divots are filled weekly. It is more efficient for our crew to fill the divots directly, than to spend labor servicing seed and soil bottles.

Always replace your divot.

Always replace your divot - whether the replaced divot will survive is for the maintenance crew to evaluate. Replacing a divot is proper golf etiquette, and guarantees the best course condition for members and guests who play later in the day.

If replacing a tee or fairway divot, replace it in the same direction that it was removed.

Tamp the divot down firmly so that a mower will not pull it out, and so that the severed root are placed back in contact with the soil. This provides the best opportunity for the divot to survive.

Tamp the divot.

A correctly replaced divot may not always grow back, but it will insure a reasonable lie in the rare instance that a ball comes to rest in the divot.

Divots that do not survive will be removed by the maintenance crew, and the void will be filled with the seed and soil mix during the course of routine maintenance.

The membership of NCC is linked by their pride in the unique piece of property that is Naperville Country Club. Members of NCC consider it an extension of their home. While playing the course, the membership takes great pride in caring for the course and leaving it in better condition than they found it. This is manifested through proper golf etiquette of ballmark repair, divot repair ad proper cart usage.

This is obviously a different divot situation that should not even need to be addressed - a divot off of the fifth green this past weekend.

With several new members joining the club this spring I thought I would make available the Green Department's New Member Orientation packet for 2010. This packet highlights on course etiquette that members and their guests should exhibit, as well as specific issues unique to the club. This packet will also be linked to under the "Frequently Used Maintenance Practices" heading.

2010 New Member Orientation Packet

Welcome new members!

The rain we received Sunday afternoon and evening have left several wet spots on the course. Though the course is not wet enough(currently) to prevent cart traffic, some caution is still need when driving on the course.

When the course becomes too wet, and cart traffic is restricted, the goal is to prevent damage caused by tire rutting and skidding. This type of damage can take weeks to recover or require sodding.

We have set several ropes throughout the course to help identify wet areas. Avoiding the ropes will help prevent possible rutting of the soil. Other things you can do to avoid damaging the turf are to be mindful of the location of drains in fairways, as these areas hold water for a longer period of time. Walking to a ball in these areas rather that driving will help to prevent damage.

Avoid attempting to drive on steep slopes while the course is wet.

Avoid driving through areas that are heavily shaded by trees. The turf in these areas is not thick enough to handle traffic when the soil is wet.

The weather looks like it may continue to rain off and on this week, so the course will likely have wet spots the remainder of the week.

Members often ask:”What can I do to help care for, and protect the golf course?” We ask that each member please consider the following items in order to keep the course in great condition.

1. Scatter cart traffic. One of our main goals is to improve beaten areas caused by cart traffic. We ask for everyones help in scattering the cart traffic. Don’t simply follow earlier cart traffic patterns.

2. Always replace your divots. Whether the replaced divot will live is for our crew to determine and to repair. Replacing your divot is a kind courtesy to golfers behind you.

3. Do not over-fill divots. Simply sprinkle a fine base in the divot. Overseeding will result in new grass growth being cut and killed by the mowers.

4. Repair your guests, and other ball marks on the greens, including your own.

5. Dispose of cigarette and cigar butts in the trash cans provided at each tee box.

6. Cigar smokers, please mind your ashes while putting.

7. Keep carts 30 feet from all sides of the greens. Cart destruction of playable areas surrounding the green is a key priorities.

8. Keep carts on the path around all practice areas.

9. Please be understanding when the Superintendent implements cart retrictions, or delays play on account of frost. Our goal is to provide the best possible playing conditions for all the members and their guests.

COURSE CONDITIONS

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