An interesting piece from the USGA on getting in some golf on a time budget

Time For Nine

Time For Nine

USGA partners with Golf Digest, PGA of America to encourage nine-hole play

By USGA, Golf Digest, PGA of America
April 22, 2013

Americans are spending an average of 500 to 1,400 more hours at the office per year than their parents did. Most people have seen time for leisure activities shrink to two hours per day, maximum. But even a two-hour window of free time can be a chance to play nine holes of golf. In its June 2013 issue, Golf Digest, the bible of the avid golfer, is launching a campaign to support and encourage more nine-hole rounds. Many golfers can play nine holes even when they are busy—and a little golf is always better than no golf at all.

With promotional support from the United States Golf Association and the PGA of America, Golf Digest will create a list of nine-hole-friendly golf courses that will appear at golfdigest.com. The Time for Nine list comprises courses that allow and promote nine-hole play for men, women, juniors and families on layouts that make it easy to do so. Golfers are encouraged to submit qualifying courses to editors@golfdigest.com or 9isfine@pga.com or Timefor9@usga.org and the list will be published at golfdigest.com.

“We think golfers will play a whole lot more if they join the growing number of golfers who have come to love nine-hole rounds,” says Golf Digest Chairman & Editor-in-Chief Jerry Tarde. “The real message is, don’t let the inability to play 18 pull the game away from you. Eighteen is great. But nine is fine.”

In addition to serving as President of the PGA of America, Ted Bishop is the general manager and PGA director of golf at The Legends Golf Club in Franklin, Ind. Thus, he understands the time constraints that many people are under and is a proponent of nine-hole rounds, both as an industry leader and a golf-facility operator.

“We are very pleased to support Golf Digest and the ‘Time for Nine’ initiative,” says Bishop. “Golf can be experienced in many different ways, and I’m proud that PGA Professionals across the country are encouraging people to have fun by playing nine holes. This new effort shows the commitment that Golf Digest has for the long-term well-being of the game, and I am confident that PGA Professionals will embrace it.”
       
The USGA’s support for the “Time for Nine” campaign is part of a multifaceted program that was announced in February to identify challenges and solutions regarding pace-of-play issues in the game of golf. This USGA-led set of initiatives includes: an analysis of key factors known to influence pace of play; the development of a pace-of-play model based on quantifiable data; improvements to the USGA Pace Rating System; on-site assistance at golf courses to help managers assess and improve pace of play; and the creation of player-education programs.

“Five-hour plus rounds of golf are incompatible with the compressed time that many of us have available for recreational activities,” said USGA President Glen D. Nager. “Time for Nine is a fun and creative start to promoting the nine-hole round of golf as a complete and enjoyable experience that is consistent with the traditions of playing the game.”

According to the USGA, nine-hole rounds of golf are fully compatible with both the Rules of Golf and the USGA Handicap System. For more information on how to calculate a nine-hole handicap, visit www.usga.org/play9.

Course update

With all of the beautiful weather the area is experiencing the golf course is absolutely wonderful. The great temperature has really kicked the grass into an aggressive growth mode. To ensure the playability stays very high I also have to increase the mowing and agronomic practices to combat the intense growth rate. My team employs tactics like double cutting, grooming and even spraying specialty chemicals to slow the growth down. Because I have been babying the course all winter and now have begun to slowly increase the agronomic practices, you might see some slight scalping in the turf in areas where it has become thatchy and/or puffy. This is only a temporary aesthetic issue. The Celebration will grow out of the scalped look in a day or two.

The birds and the....well more birds

Today I had the bird boxes checked. Besides our normal purple martins, woodpeckers and bluebirds, this year we have a screech owl in one of our boxes. Looks like a momma and three babies.

Spring has sprung

With the full sun temperatures reaching low 90's there is no doubt about it, Spring is here. If you ask a true Floridian, the way we tell Spring is here is when the cypress trees pop out their new leaves and take on that lime green color. The cypress are our version of Punxsutawney Phil, without the whole getting it wrong part.

All this means that the grass is actively growing and I'm glad to say the course is beautiful and lush. Last week I had the course fertilized in anticipation of the rain. We all know there's nothing better than a good soaker Spring rain to green the course up, but when you add a little fertilizer to the mix you get that extra wow effect.

I'm also pleased to report 99% of the Spectacle damage has gone away. I still have a couple small spots that I am babying along, but even those areas are charging back to full strength. Tim and I are finalizing the settlement with Bayer so in the near future this whole ordeal will be behind us. I'm looking forward to a long hot summer of growing grass!

Fountain on hole 15

The fountain on hole 15 is turned off for the time being due to the low water level in the pond. The fountain is sucking up debris off the bottom of the pond which will eventually cause damage to the motor or impeller. When water tables start to come back up after the rains start the fountain will be turned back on.

Clubhouse putting green update

It's not secret that the clubhouse putting green has struggled this winter after looking so good going into season.  Suspecting the problem has to do with something out of my control I did some investigation.  Like most causes to problems on a golf course, it's the things that you can't see that get you and the clubhouse putting green is no different.  Turns out that the putting green has excessively high counts of nematodes.  A nematode is a microscopic worm (it looks like an earthworm) that feed on plant roots.   

 

 

To confirm this theory, I had the University of Florida's nematology department do some analysis on some soil samples I sent in.  They're count results showed large numbers of nematodes above tolerable levels.  The results of the sample counts can be found by clicking this link Clubhouse nematode results . 

 

If you are interested in more information on nematodes and their devastating power on golf courses you can find everything you wanted to know by clicking this link Nematodes and golf .

 

For the treatment of nematodes there are few options that really work and they usually involve some pretty nasty chemicals.  Fortunately there has been some products recently released that work on a biological basis.  Their focus is to promote the plant to help the plant withstand the constant attack from the nematodes, as opposed to dealing with the nematode directly.  The clubhouse green has been treated with this new biological to promote a better root system.  If we can grow some good roots, the part that we can see will take care of itself.

 

Interestingly though, when the samples from the Clubhouse putting green were taken I also had some samples from #7 green taken and tested at the same time.  The sample from #7 green came back with a high count of nematodes as well.  The difference between the two putting surfaces is in their maturity.  As you would expect, the nematodes tend to have more effect on the lass mature grass plant root system.  This is good news for us.  Hopefully as the clubhouse green gets a full summer of growth and development the affect of the feeding nematodes will not be as apparent. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

201300436 putting green Bermuda

MiniVerde

Lance Hoplolaimus 266

Root-Knot Meloidogyne 11

Diagnosis:

This crop is at high risk of damage caused by the nematodes indicated.

201300437 #7 green Bermuda

MiniVerde

Lance Hoplolaimus 319

Root-Knot Meloidogyne 4

Diagnosis:

This crop is at high risk of damage caused by the nematodes indicated.

Friday, March 15, 2013 Page 2 of 2



16 tee lake

I recently was asked why the water in the pond on hole16 is green. The answer is planktonic algae and not because the water is full of golf course runoff. Planktonic algae control measures can be hard on non-target species like fish and other invertebrates so I try to manage the algae with non-chemical treatments. One of the best is to dye the water a dark blue or black to try and block out the sun so the algae cannot use it to make food.

So if you're on the 16th tee and get some fountain spray on you have no fear. Although I wouldn't recommend you drink it, the water is non-toxic.