(Pictured: Greeley Country Club)
Both private and public facilities in the Greeley, Colo. area have closed entirely or restricted play to walking only, because of how cart use can inflict long-term damage on the extremely dry turf. According to the National Integrated Drought Information System, of Colorado’s 5.6 million residents, more than 3 million are currently living in drought conditions, and another 1.7 million live in abnormally dry areas.
The drought conditions that currently plague much of Colorado have trickled down to club and golf course operations in the Greeley area north of Denver, the Greeley Tribune reported. The lack of water has resulted in close closures or limitations on the use of electric golf carts that can cause additional damage to the already dry turf, the Tribune reported.
Greeley County Club, a private facility, closed its course, driving range and putting greens on January 21, following the lead of other private clubs in the nearby cities of Fort Collins and Tinmath, the Tribune reported.
Greeley’s two public courses, Highland Hills and Boomerang Links, are year-round courses and remain open weather-permitting, the Tribune reported, but course staff has restricted the use of carts that can beat up dried out sod, especially in common areas such as entry and exit spots on the fairway that wear down with repeated use.
Without cooperation from Mother Nature, the low amount of moisture in northern Colorado dating to at least January 2018 has area golf course officials taking matters into their own hands to protect the future of their facilities, the Tribune reported.
The city of Greeley posted a notice about the restriction on the courses’ website, http://www.golfingreeley.com.
“This is due to the extreme drought conditions and to make all efforts to currently protect the golf courses and secure the excellent playability of our golf courses for this upcoming season,” read the letter that was signed by Wayne Leighton, the city’s Manager of Golf.
Though area golf course staffs use water on greens and tee boxes, watering the fairways is generally off limits because of the amount of water required and the risk of freezing the irrigation system, the Tribune reported.
“Normally what helps us is in December we have six to eight inches of snow and then we close, and then we open and we have another storm,” said Dwight Staats, Superintendent of the Highland Hills.
Highland Hills previously restricted cart usage in 2002 and 2006 because of lack of moisture from snow or rain, Staats said. This year, the city will likely continue the restriction on cart use until the beginning of February, and then make a decision on its next move, he added.
“The big difference [this time] is not having a long stretch of no play,” he said.
Doug Hammond, Director of Golf at Pelican Lakes Golf Club in Windsor, Colo., told the Tribune that when courses are as dry as they are now, the golf carts cause much of the damage. With more cart traffic, the grass becomes so brittle it breaks at the base, making it difficult to re-grow.
Hammond’s course, a semi-private facility that has members and is also open to the public, currently has a walkers’ only policy in place to try to weather the drought, the Tribune reported. No carts are allowed at the course, even though Hammond said Pelican Lakes has a complete cart path throughout the course, meaning “no tires should touch grass.”
The cart ban is in effect, Hammond told the Tribune, because a lot of golfers who play Pelican Lakes have their own carts.
These private carts, unlike those rented out at the course, don’t have GPS, so the course can’t keep track of the carts and restrict them if they stray into a prohibited area.
“On our carts, the GPS allows detection and it will shut the cart off,” Hammond explained. “With private carts, we have no control and that’s where we decided to go with walkers only.”
The Pelican Lakes staff will re-evaluate on February 1 if it will continue the walkers’ only situation or start to allow carts again, the Tribune reported. If the course is re-opened to carts, Hammond said, golfers will be required to use one provided by the course.
“Maybe we all should pray for a little bit of rain down here,” Hammond said.
Jeff Ulvedal, head golf pro at Ptarmigan Country Club, a private club in Fort Collins, Colo., told the Tribune that his club made the decision on January 30 to re-open Friday through Sunday. Ptarmigan has been closed since January 12. Ulvedal said the club will close again on February 4 through February 15, and then re-evaluate.
Leighton, who oversees both Highland Hills and Boomerang, said if the cart restriction wasn’t imposed at those courses, certain areas of the grass would be worn down to dirt.
“We need the snow,” said Leighton, lamenting that while nearly a foot of snow fell in the Denver area on January 28, Greeley was left with no snow and wind that aggravated the dryness.
“I needed that snow up here,” Leighton said. “It protects the golf course. It keeps people off of it, gives it a rest and it melts and we’re good to go.”
The restriction on rental and usage of the carts at City of Greeley courses does not apply to “qualified individuals with mobility disabilities,” according to Leighton’s online letter. On January 29, Leighton clarified that the courses will follow the Americans with Disabilities Act on allowing golfers to use carts, the Tribune reported.
“If there’s no way you can walk, it’s OK,” Leighton said. “We’re trying to keep as many riding carts off as possible.”
According to the National Integrated Drought Information System, more than 3 million Colorado residents are currently living in drought conditions, the Tribune reported, and another 1.7 million live in abnormally dry areas. (The state has a total population of 5.6 million.)
Scott Dillinger, who has held two superintendent positions in two decades at Greeley Country Club, told the Tribune that in 2018, the area was only about an inch below its yearly average of roughly 15 inches of rain. The average annual snowfall in Greeley is 41 inches.
“Over the last 20 to 30 years, we play golf in almost every month of the year in the Front Range,” Dillinger said. “It’s very common. What is unusual is that we’ve not had any significant moisture since before Thanksgiving.”
Greg Heiny, Greeley CC’s Director of Golf, told the Tribune that the closure there is the first of this length in his 23 years at the club. While the shutdown isn’t ideal, and he doesn’t know how long it will last—it depends on the weather —Heiny said the membership has “been pretty supportive.”
“It’s easier for us to weather” than it is for public courses, Heiny added, because the members at a private course pay monthly dues where a public course loses daily play with closure.
Longtime Greeley Country Club member Glen Droegemueller told the Tribune that he has had no problem with the closure. Droegemueller, who is predominantly a golfing member at the club, said the shutdown has had a “negligible impact” for him.
“From my perspective, you have to trust the superintendents,” Droegemueller said. “If you put their collective years of knowledge together, it’s the best for the club.”
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