so i just played at a muni today and walked on as a single in the afternoon, the club dude didn't tell me the greens were being aerated!!!...shouldn't they give discounts or at least tell you if you're going to play the course?....
so putting was like putting in a bunker - sand everywhere!!!
needless to say, i wonder if you can even really count this round in your handicap....horrible...
i think a club should inform the player when greens are being aerated...
Usually, the courses I play at will tell me when they aerate their greens. They usually have calendars and they know about this in advance so it's posted. I have played on aerated greens before and the putting was just a terrible experience. Sure wish I didn't have to pay full fee but now, I just try to avoid courses when they're aerating their greens.
I wouldn't post the score for handicap--unless you're looking to sandbag your buddies.
Some courses I play do only one nine at a time to reduce the impact for players. Of course, that doubles the time that the course is not completely at its best. It's something that must be done, so there's no use being too upset unless you paid big bucks for a special experience. Then, at a so-called "destination course," they really should have told you or given some sort of discount.
I definitely don't keep those scores for handicap tracking purposes. The last time we played on aerated greens, there was so much sand, we joked that the worst we could do was only 2 putt. By the end of the round, we stuck to that as it was the only way to keep our sanity. They must have aerated the greens the day before or something.
I can remember at times in our golf practices in high school invoking the "two putt rule" after they aerated, since the course we played easily had an inch of sand on top after they did it.
I've played 2 places recently in that condition. Both places told us about it before we paid(and it was to late to make other plans), but NOT when I called and made a tee time. We did get a discount at one place... there was also an outing in front of us there. I wanted to just take a 2-putt and if you want to try & sink it you must putt out & take your chances. We were playing skins & our opponents are real sticklers & insisted on putting them all. I don't think anyone was under 2-putts per hole on the round. Not a lot of fun on the greens. Everything over a foot was an adventure.
I agree that they should give discounts. Having been burned in the past, I make it a point to ask in April and September, and if I don't its my own fault.
Wow, you guys must have some horrible aerating equipment.
My high school golf was played at Lake View Country Club, which has hosted the PA amateur a few times - a better course than Kahkwa and Lake Shore in the area, but it has less money.
Their aerating process was fairly simple: punch a bunch of holes, spread a ton of sand, and then sweep so the sand went into the holes.
The holes were small and densely packed - I've seen greens with huge punches in them. Anyway, putting was a little "less smooth" but really not enough to affect much at all. Slow due to some topdressing, but nothing to deflect putts very much.
I don't think discounts should be given. Discounts would make more people want to play the course, and aerated greens do best when they're let alone for a week or so. Greens are a rather small part of the experience, anyway. You pay full price when it's wet out, or cold, or really windy. Rough greens? It's a fact of nature just as rain is. But yes, buyer beware. Ask in spring and fall if you're worried.
Last edited by iacas : September 29th, 2004 at 01:34 PM.
Reason: Added last paragraph
Well, iacas, you happened to play on the nicest course I've ever seen, so I would expect that it would be easier to putt.
That's what we do at the course I work at as well. At the end of the process the greens aren't THAT unputtable, and within a week all is well. Of course, I've seen some courses in our area that put so much sand on that they can't sweep it into the holes when they're done, and that's when the problems with greens that play like bunkers start.
That's what we do at the course I work at as well. At the end of the process the greens aren't THAT unputtable, and within a week all is well. Of course, I've seen some courses in our area that put so much sand on that they can't sweep it into the holes when they're done, and that's when the problems with greens that play like bunkers start.
See, you guys aren't looking on the plus side! You can't complain about hard greens when they're all sandy! You're probably hitting and holding the green more often. An extra putt every 6 holes should be more than compensated!
Haven't had to worry about hard greens too much this year with all the rain we've had, haha. I don't complain anyway, I think of it as more of a challenge (not that I need any more of a challenge ) putting on them when they're that way. Your ball striking has to be better to shoot the same score you normally do.
how long after aeration do you think the course is safe to play?
Depends on when they're done - about a week and a half if they're done in late August-early Sept. Another thing you can ask your course is to only aerate 1/2 of the green at a time. Some customers asked us to do that years ago and I went along with it - seemed fair. They paid full price and if you had a 15' putt or shorter, you played on a regular putting surface. If you're over 15', chances are you weren't going to make it anyways and you still had a good chance to 2 putt. Since I've started doing the greens this way, we have had NO complaints. Yes, it takes the maintenance staff a little more time to aerate greens, but its worth a try to ask your course if they would consider it. Golf course supts can be bribed too!
To add to greenguy's response...healing time depends on if the golf course aerifies by pulling plugs or using solid tines or water jet. Of the three, water jet heals the quickest (can hardly tell it was done), followed by solid tines and then by hollow tines (healing depends on size of plug and amount of top dressing. Most superintendents will say that pulling plugs is the only way to go for the overall, long-term health of the greens but sometimes, the grasses used don't respond well to that and the greens become very bumpy as every hole punched "volcanoes" leaving not only a hole but a raised hole. However they do it, it is essential to the health of our courses and golfers will either be complaining about the disruption of aerifying or dead greens.
September 29th, 2004, 03:54 AM
Wow
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