June 09, 2011 |
RCSC has made huge strides in improving the quality of its eight golf courses, according to the official report from Brian Whitlark of the United States Golf Association’s Green Section, who visited RCSC’s golf courses on May 3. Since 1921, the USGA Green Section Record has been providing the game and industry of golf a reliable, unbiased, and agronomically sound source of information regarding the care and management of golf courses. Mr. Whitlark had many positive things to say about the upkeep and conditions of RCSC’s golf courses, as well as pointing out areas that need to be addressed to continue to improve the quality of the courses for golfers’ enjoyment.
“Without reservation, I can say that Mr. Snyder and his agronomic staff manage the eight golf courses at the Recreation Centers of Sun City in an economically efficient manner, while continuing to provide a quality product for golfers to enjoy,” Mr. Whitlark wrote in his report. “It is even more impressive to see that the condition of the golf courses rival those with golfers paying over $50 a round.”
In his report, Mr. Whitlark applauded RCSC for making progress on previous USGA Green Section recommendations to upgrade teeing grounds and bunkers, improving turfgrass density and roughs health, as well as upgrading pump stations and equipment. “At this point,” he wrote, “it is important to note that the most essential area to address once the tee and bunker renovation is completed is water use and irrigation renovation.” The full report is available on www.sunaz.com.
Some highlights of the report include:
-Maintenance expenses. RCSC’s average annual costs per hole and per round of golf are significantly lower than similar golf courses throughout the western United States and a sampling of courses in northern California, which is a region known to have some of the lowest golf course maintenance costs in the nation. RCSC’s average annual maintenance costs per hole are $34,837, which is significantly less than the average annual maintenances costs per hole of western U.S. golf courses ($128,274) and more than 25% less than the northern California courses ($47,373). RCSC also easily wins when comparing average annual costs per round of golf: RCSC – $14.85; western U.S. golf courses – $82; and northern California courses – $24. The most telling comparison, according to the report, is the total operating expenses, which are expenses other than the total wages and benefits. Of the 94 responses in Mr. Whitlark’s northern California survey, 90% said their operating budgets were greater than $250,000 ($13,888 per hole). For RCSC, the same line item is less, at $12,972 per hole. “The value that golfers receive at RCSC with such minimal inputs is unheralded in the western United States,” Mr. Whitlark wrote in his report.
While RCSC’s golf course maintenance expenses are extremely lean already, Mr. Whitlark suggested making adjustments to the amount of highly maintained turf on the golf courses and maintenance standards to help further reduce expenses, as well as water use.
-Greens conditions. Putting green surfaces are in good condition with soil samples revealing a variety of subsurface conditions, root depth between 5 and 7 inches, and dense, health turfgrass. Mr. Whitlark recommended continuing with the existing aeration and surface grooming programs currently in place. “The current cultural practices have been aggressive enough to maintain a healthy balance of organic matter and sand beneath the soil surface,” he wrote. He suggested using deep soil tines to penetrate 8 to 10 inches below the putting green surfaces to help relieve compaction, penetrate the multilayered subsurface and promote healthy root systems.
-Greens rolling. The idea of rolling the greens with special roller attachments on the mowers was discussed during Mr. Whitlark’s visit. He stated in his report that rolling three times a week does not increase compaction, but actually produces faster putting surfaces when combined with mowing. “This strategy may be considered for RCSC in the future,” Mr. Whitlark wrote, “but from a pragmatic perspective, this may be difficult to achieve” because of the increase in labor and cost that would be required. Such a rolling process could add between 12 and 15 labor hours a week at an additional cost of approximately $50,000 a year, according to the report.
-Greens slope. Greens slope has been a discussion topic during USGA Green Section visits in years past, especially slopes at Riverview. Excessive slope on several greens results in a very small area to cut a hole on a daily basis, which results in traffic becoming concentrated in these small areas and fails to offer a variety of hole locations for golfers’ enjoyment. Mr. Whitlark recommended possible greens reconstruction at Riverview sometime in the future to address the slope issue.
-Fairways and roughs transition. On fairways and roughs where irrigation efficiency is poor, soil moisture will be inadequate unless staff has the ability to hand water or place portable low precipitation sprinklers. Because only seven workers are used for every 160 to 200 acres, it is not realistic for employees to cover large areas with poor irrigation systems. Mr. Whitlark noted that, with the exception of South, every RCSC golf course has poor irrigation efficiency, which results in a noticeably worse transition each spring.
-Core aeration vs. wetting agent on fairways. It is suggested that RCSC consider two core aeration events on golf course fairways annually. To offset the cost of the additional aeration process, Mr. Whitlark suggested significantly reducing or eliminating the wetting agent at one of the golf courses on a trial basis. “It would be interesting to try such a program for two to three years and evaluate the benefits of two core aerations on one golf course versus a regularly scheduled wetting agent program on the other courses,” he wrote.
-Irrigation. Mr. Whitlark applauded efforts by irrigation consultant Marvin Mills to document irrigation heads on Willowcreek using GPS technology and suggested similar efforts continue at the other golf courses. “Such information is invaluable to document where irrigation improvements need to be made and to determine what level of renovation will be required,” he wrote. The Board of Directors actually approved this same GPS mapping process for Riverview at their May meeting. For undersized mainlines and plumbing, such as at North, Mr. Whitlark recommended a brand-new system be installed. “In such instances, this rasies the question of how much of the irrigation system should be reconstructed,” he wrote. “Clearly, it will be important to consult with Mr. Mills and his staff regarding this issue and the board should consider the long-term goals of the golf courses when deciding exactly how much turf the irrigation system should support.”