We have been sending out customer surveys for the past 4-5 months to each of our customers as they play our courses. The feedback has been tremendous (mostly positive with some welcomed constructive criticism mixed in to keep us humble). We are using Survey Monkey and no I am not receiving compensation for the plug, but the best thing about this service is that you can provide feedback to the customer if they provide their email contact. I try to stay current with the submissions and people have replied to my emails thanking me for taking the time to explain situations or agree with them as to why things are the way they are or seem.
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| Dairy Creek #1 Approach and Green |
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| Dairy Creek #2 Tee Box |
A comment we have received a few times this winter is the title of this post. Most of the comments have come from customers in the Bay area or from Southern Cal. Our turf species in our roughs and fairways are Common Bermuda, Hybrid Bermuda, or Kikuyu grass. All of these species are termed warm season grass or C4 grasses. This year has been unseasonably cold and we have had 17 frost delays at Dairy Creek so far and even one frost delay at Morro Bay, ON THE OCEAN FRONT!! It's not supposed to be cold on the coast right?...WRONG, at least this year. Our greens and green surrounds are nice and green, but if you are not wall to wall green some customers just are not satisfied regardless of playing quality. I guess this is probably why the 2010 motto of "Brown being the new green" did not stick in the golf industry.
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| DCGC #9 tee box and #8 green |
Well the fact is that warm season turfgrasses go dormant during the winter months especially after a frost. These cold temperatures significantly reduce the chlorophyll production of these plants and they begin to shut down to conserve energy and survive the next season. This creates a landscape of gold, tan, and brown hues. Unfortunately, this is not what golfers expect when showing up at a property and why golf naysayers chastise golf courses for being environmental polluters.
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| DCGC #9 tee box |
As a turf professional I am always trying to educate golfers and non-golfers (hence this blog) about what we do and why we do it. I understand when you look at a regional landscape like the one we live within here on the Central Coast of California, given our 13-17 inch annual rainfall average, seeing a vividly green golf course looks like a waste of resources as compared to the dry tan colors of the native landscape 9 months of the year. However, we have done and continue to do what we can to minimize our impacts to the environment. We irrigate with reclaimed water on all three of our courses and try to let mother nature control the reigns of our courses by using appropriate turf species, encouraging wildlife and their habitat, and working towards a goal of Zero Waste. Many of these objectives lead to our golf courses looking more "off-color" this time of year as we are not over seeding areas to promote a green landscape, but rather allowing nature to happen to provide good golf conditions by utilizing "green" practices. These practices include reduced water usage, reduced fertilizer use, and minimal pesticide usage. These reasons are why we created our Zero Waste Park at Dairy Creek so that we can accomplish all of these goals by using our waste streams to create organic fertility products that also eliminate our waste from reaching landfills where it has exponential impacts on the environment.
I would encourage all golfers to enjoy their favorite golf course with an eye towards a bigger picture and realize that the grass may not be as green as you might like, but most times there is a beneficial reason as to why. Not to mention that your ball will probably roll an extra 20 to 30 yards farther and we can all use a little extra distance ... at least I can.
"I've got mae God and mae gowff to see me thro'."
~ Old Tom Morris
