GolfClubAtlas.com > Golf Course Architecture
Is Tall Fescue Overdone?
John_Conley:
--- Quote from: Jim Sweeney on July 22, 2008, 09:51:46 PM --- It took five+ hours to play with numerous searches for balls lost in the fescue.
--- End quote ---
Jim, this is related to yesterday's thread about slow play. I was told I am very slow because I've played in a group that took 4:30 for 18 holes. Your experience matches mine. If you wanted us to play in 3:45 you shouldn't have built a course so demanding. If you play by the rules and try to post a good score it can take a long, long time when you add in looking for balls.
One good thing about fescue is that it can be cut back. Lakes are harder to modify.
Rich Goodale:
In GCA fashion terms, fescue is "the new black." IMO it looks stupid when introduced to areas where it is not native, and its "playability" in those areas is nil.
Steve Kline:
I agree with Rich. I live in SW Ohio and my course has a ton of it. It is always super thick and almost impossible to find your ball except in March and maybe April before it has really started growing. The probably didn't plant the right kind, it rains way too much in the spring, the maintenance staff doesn't have a clue how to manage it nor does it care, and MASSIVE weeds are growing everyone in it this year. IT's so bad and obviously the members dislike since virtually the time the club has opened there has been a local rule to play those areas as a water hazard. With that rule we have more water hazards than any course in Florida could dream of. They have cut back a few areas over the years but it is still way too much. The only year the stuff was playable was last year when we had a severe drought with high heat - that kept the stuff thin and playable.
Mike Sweeney:
I played the Matt Ward highly rated public Hudson Hills for the first time a week or two ago in Westchester County. Architect had a bad piece of property so there were many blind shots off the tee where you could not see the landing areas which were often US Open width due to the terrain. So to make it look cool we then put in high thick fescue.
What a shocker, it was slow to play. I left when we had a 2 group backup on #16.
I magine that this look is expensive to maintain, but Wayne had a good post on Hidden Creek's fescue earlier in the year. It is very wispy and not dense.
http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php?PHPSESSID=618b2376e3d291ab21ad825a6d8659cb&topic=34663.0
Jim Thompson:
Tall fescue is not overdone. Sadly, however, it is often overwatered, overfertilized, and overgrown! Worse yet is the blue fescue mix used when seeding that is planned to be fescue then watered with blue in the mix; awful result.
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