A survey by The Sacramento Bee found that of 34 18-hole courses in the area, 15 were not planning to “punch” their greens this spring, and several were also not planning to do so in the fall. The change is often being driven as much by financial reasons as by weather conditions.
Most golf courses in Northern California are in the same rain-besieged boat after this winter’s heavy rains, The Sacramento Bee reported, leaving their operators with a big decision to make.
That decision, the Bee reported, has two choices: Aerify greens this spring, per the norm, and absorb another financial blow? Or skip the recommended maintenance practice and save the estimated $30,000 in labor, material costs and lost revenue?
A schedule published by the Bee showed that of 34 18-hole courses in the Sacramento area, 15 were not planning to aerify this spring, and several of those were also not planning to “punch” their greens in the fall.
At Castle Oaks Golf Club in Ione, Calif., Mike Lahmann will not aerify this spring for the first time in 20 years as the course’s superintendent, the Bee reported. The change is often being driven, it was noted, by financial reasons as much as by weather conditions.
Lahmann has joined an increasing number of superintendents in the area who are now being asked to aerify once a year and find ways to maintain agronomic health that doesn’t drive away business, the Bee reported.
“I don’t think anybody thinks [not aerifying is] good for their greens,” Lahmann said. “It’s just the bottom line.”
As frustrating as one of the wettest winters in Sacramento history has been to golfers, the Bee reported, it’s been a financial disaster for course operators.
At Cordova Golf Course in Sacramento, golf professional Jim Marta estimated that 70 percent of the 59 days in January and February went without a round being played, the Bee reported. Some diehards were willing, Marta said, but he couldn’t justify charging them, because the course was too mucky to mow.
“It wasn’t right to ask people for $12,” he said.
Cordova’s greens are not being aerified this spring, the Bee reported.
At Auburn Valley Golf Club in Auburn, Calif., where 55 inches of rain has fallen since October 1 and there have been 25 days since January 1 that no rounds were played, Director of Golf Kyle Metzler is taking a glass-half-full approach, the Bee reported.
“It’s going to be a great spring,” Metzler predicted.
Auburn Valley is also not aerifying, the Bee reported.
Now that the rain seems to finally be subsiding, a week of good sun and conditions should be ideal at area courses, the Bee reported.
“I’ll tell you, it’s green,” said Phil Sponseller, the golf professional at La Contenta Golf Club in Valley Springs, Calif. “You might want to add ‘lush.’”
La Contenta is planning to aerify, the Bee reported.
Lasting positives to the winter deluge will be minimal, even after the sun comes out to stay, area superintendents told the Bee.
“Areas that get beat up, where the grass gets thin or weak because of high traffic, like cart-path edges, a lot of those areas we have back,” Scott McCullough, superintendent at The Ridge Golf Course & Events Center in Auburn, Calif., told the Bee.
“And we’re not watering,” McCullough added. “I guess that’s always a positive.”
Castle Oaks’ Lahmann was asked if drought or deluge was tougher to handle as a superintendent. During drought, he said, an irrigation pipe breaks and a green can be lost in a matter of hours. During a deluge, he said, it’s a mess everywhere. Pumping water is no fun, and neither is cleaning up fallen trees and debris.
“I’ve thought a lot about that question this winter,” he told the Bee. “Both are equally bad.”
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