"You can forget notions of prevailing winds here, which is one reason there's no slope/rating for the scorecard nor fixed handicap index per hole."
Is this really true, or is it just that the course has yet to open? The White Course has ten course ratings. I am growing weary of this legend that the Sand Hills is too windy to be handicapped.
I've never heard the wind excuse. The likely factor on why these prairie links courses don't publish their slope and rating, is that the criteria for gauging these numbers, don't equate with the style. So, the numbers come out too low for their liking. There are no trees, manicured rough, and no water hazards. Most, if not all these course raters, come from metro areas where these weak design elements, take center stage on quantifying the misguided concept of difficulty.
Michael Whitaker, Forget what their ranking is, how do they have the nerve to charge what they charge if conditions are that spotty? But, if it doesn't affect play, and is purely cosmetic, it's a non factor for architectural analysis.
I'm not sure exactly what went on this winter. My uneducated opinion is that the Poa annua checked out. I know it can go into a deep dormancy and almost always survive. But based on the pattern, and the fact that Bayside's greens appear to have zero poa on them this year, I'm convinced that's what happened here. And from all accounts, their course suffered very little compared to others.