Quote:
Originally Posted by mikeod
There are some posters that feel golf administration does not care about the course conditions because we are a captive audience. I'd like to give my experience.
For the last five years, I've been a member of a resident group that meets quarterly with representatives of GMS, and the Director of Executive Golf Maintenance. At those meetings, we report on our evaluation of course conditions, and suggest improvements to the courses or procedures. Our reports are also sent to the facility managers responsible.
During my time with the group, we have seen several maintenance companies lose their contract or have it not renewed because of issues. At the same time, we have seen companies that produced good results get more contracts and/or more courses to handle. So these companies are required to produce results or risk losing out. With regard to the current problems, I received a response to my evaluation of the sorry state of Bogart and Bacall that indicated the contractor has even reached out to national experts for help. Since in April, these courses were graded as excellent, and I don't believe the contractor has forgotten how to maintain a course, there is something else going on. Some greens display the signs of disease, rather than just poorly growing grass.
At all our meetings, I have found these people to be engaged in the conversations, receptive to our comments, and follow through on our suggestions. As an example, the district is discussing waiving the spectator fee for the executive courses, a suggestion we brought up in April.
I cannot agree that these people don't care. My experience is the opposite. BTW, if you ever find Eric Van Gorder in his office, I would be shocked. And you may find Erik Greulach touring almost any championship or executive course every week. A claim that they sit in the office all day is not factual.
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In what ways have the contractors "reached out" to national experts and who are these experts? One can reach out very far but they need to make an actual connection on the other end. There are experts at the Univ. of Florida Agriculture Extension who may be able to determine what these problems are. Has anyone thought to take multiple samples of soil, turf, irrigation water, seeding, etc. to send for scientific analysis? If not, then they are NOT doing all they can to get these problems controlled. There is no way to convince myself and others that specific scientific issues cannot be identified. I have corresponded with Eric recently and he offered to meet to discuss these problems which I commend him for. However, meeting and discussing with your group has not produced positive results.
