The proof is in the putting...surface that is.

Of the 125 acres we highly maintain at Harrison Bay there are really one three that golfers really care about and those three acres are our putting greens.  No matter what else you have on your course or what you offer, if you have poor putting surfaces you are likely not going to be successful in this business.  Golf course superintendents, in most cases, worry and fret over the greens more than any other part of the golf course and with good reason.  That's why golfers pay "Greens Fees" and not "Tee Fees" or "Fairway Fees".

Last year at Harrison Bay we took a very large hit on our greens and our reputation due to the conditioning of our greens. Look Back at 2016 A severe infestation of nematodes virtually destroyed the root system of our greens turf leaving us with patchy greens, weak turf, disgruntled and dissatisfied golfers, and a lot of recovery work.  At times in life we all take our eyes off the ball and loose concentration about what our main task is.  As a golf course superintendent my main task is healthy, puttable greens that are smooth, true and at a playable speed.

It has been a long year and a herculean effort by our agronomy staff but I am thrilled to say that the greens at Harrison Bay are back to the exceptional standard that we, and our golfers, expect them to be.  The above photo is of the putting green last April and the photo to the left is from this April.  Lots of work, TLC, and attention to detail have been poured into these greens and I want to commend and celebrate the work that our agronomy staff have done.

#2 Green April 2016

#2 Green April 2017

#13 Green April 2016

#13 Green April 2017

The one thing we learned through this experience  is to not look at the most obvious culprit.  When our greens started to fail last year everyone, including soil labs, were claiming we had diseases such as pythium root rot and dysfunction.  Nematodes were not mentioned or considered until we started to look at the greens from a third story view.  Why was the 419 in the collars dying? It's hard to kill 419 but we were doing it.  It turned out the greens had encroached over the years and the areas where the 419 was dying outside of the greens perimeter were actually growing in greens mix, and nematodes like sand based soils better than clay based soils.  Applications of products such as BAYER Golf Nortica and Aqua-Aid Worm Power have protected and revived our root systems so that we have turf roots out the bottom of our cup cutters now.

It has been a long year and I know some swore never to come play our course again due to the condition of the greens but if you have not played the course yet this year I encourage you to give us another look.  The agronomy staff has done a tremendous job getting the greens back in the championship conditions that we strive to deliver every day.  We will continue to work and keep our eye on the ball so that the issues we encountered last year don't happen again.  A sincere thank you to the agronomy staff for their hard work and dedication.  A sincere thank you also to all our loyal golfers who have had only praises for the course this year. It is so much better to hear than some of the comments last year.