Can you believe it is Columbus Day weekend already? Our final tourney is this weekend. It has an interesting story of how it began so I thought I would share it with you all. When our previous Pro, Allen Menne came he thought it would be a fun idea to have what is generally referred to as a Superintendent's revenge tourney. I was somewhat familiar but had never been at a club where we had one. He was enthusiastic as he explained to me that this was supposed to be a fun event for me and my staff. We get to put the pins in collars and all sorts of weird places. The tee markers could be placed on the sides of the tees. The format is virtually limitless. The players have a blast playing this goofy set up. Being somewhat of a pragmatist I asked "what happens for the rest of the day? We are open to member and also public play?" He answered "yes". "OK so the goofy set up stays or we would then have to go put it back to normal?" Silence and total deflation of exuberance as he answers "yeah I guess so." I then asked that this was a tourney for us? If that is the case then my revenge would not be for double the work but no work at all. You get the course as it is: dew covered, un-mowed, un-raked bunkers etc. and we get to sleep in. The compromise is that we set the course up fairly normal and the pro-shop puts out an extra set of tee-markers in the rough and fairways and you play the course backwards. Brilliant. Due to our unique orientation you always go around counter-clockwise. It is a completely different feel to approach greens from strange angles when you play it clockwise. It is similar to what is referred to as cross country golf where you zig-zag all over the property. A fairly common treat for employees late in the day or in the off-season when looking for a fun way to just play golf. I have played in the tourney several times and it is a real treat and something you should try at least once. It has become a staple and our closing tournament for the
season.
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| Mink Meadows from the sky |
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| Late season rose and a yellow dog |
As I was mowing greens today the pin on 6 caught my attention. Chris placed it right in the middle of a patch of bentgrass. We still have some of the original grasses the greens were seeded to in 1936. The seed blend was called South German Mix and contained several varieties. I am sure there are several biotypes of these and other bluegrasses in these greens as well. The old bentgrasses really show up starting this time of year as the soil temperatures start to dip. When the soil gets cold the phosphorus gets bound up and harder for the plant to take it up. Phosphorus deficiency manifests as a purplish color so as we head into Fall the greens will once again look like the patchwork quilt that they are. It occurred to me that maybe what golf needs is not a bigger cup but a bigger target instead. Check out the pictures below and anyone playing this weekend let me know if it was distracting to putt to this cup or helpful.
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| patch of old bentgrass |
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| Target golf |
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