Stonebridge - Disappointing conditions

[afulton]

I realize it is still very early, but, is anyone else out there disappointed with the conditions at Stonebridge this year? I have played 3 West 9s and 1 18 so far this year and I am wondering if purchasing the 7 day pass again is going to be a good return. I will say the East side "appears" to be in a little better shape then the West, but that isn't saying much. This is supposed to be a "premium" type course (rates certainly suggest so) but, having played a couple other lower tier courses, I think they have a LONG way to go.

If I was to put in order the most important aspects of any course, they would be
1 - Greens (and 10 yards around) - that is prob where you gain/lose the most shots
2 - Tee Boxes - starting point, level and lush is nice, more emphasis on level
3 - Bunkers - hate going in them, as long as there is some sand and as few rocks as possible, no problem
4 - Fairways - Soft and spongy fairways are great, but as long as you can find a decent piece of grass within a foot or so of your ball, heh, what more can you ask
5 - all that other stuff, food, staff, range, putting green, blah blah blah

Based on the above, I feel Stonebridge is really missing something right now. The greens on the west side have a LONG way to go, in some cases they are basically clay with a few blades of grass, they are burning up. The tee boxes are in the same shape, #3 Blue on the west has really lost it shape. A lot of them are turning brown, again, burning up. The bunkers are awful, the ones that have sand (alot of them there is enough sand to cover the clay base, terrible) are so full of rocks, big rocks, you are risking your club every time you play out of them. Case in point, #1 on the west on Sunday, hit in the far Left bunker off the tee, 100 yards to a front pin, figure just pop it out to around the green and see what happens. When I hit the shot all I hear is CLANK, look down, the ball is just out of the bunker, I have a chunk out of my wedge and I pull a rock the size of a softball out of the bunker. Booooo. Then you have the fairways, which for the most part are in good shape, but, shouldn't there be more divots sand filled so they can grow back?

I might be missing something, and there could be a master plan in the works but, they have some work to do.

Sorry for the long winded rant, anyone agree/disagree or have the inside scoop on what is in store? Any other high end courses that are in the same boat? Any courses in fantastic shape that you would recommend checking out?

Cheers

[jeffc]

played there 2 weeks ago, and other than the greens being punched, I thought it was in excellent condition. A lot may have changed since then as we haven't had rain for some time. That being said, they should be watering it regularly. Have you voiced your concerns to the management?

[Txxxxxxx]

I don't know much about how the weather or things are going in Ottawa right now, but to be fair, it's still is pretty early considering how long winter was this year.

There are a few courses out here who lost almost all their greens over the winter. Some courses appear to be in awesome condition, but they are VERY wet and it's like hitting off a wet sponge. Some are in mid summer condition though...I guess it just depends on the superintendant.

Did Stonebridge change theirs? How were the conditions early in the season last year?

[Colby]

EG, the winter here was actually very short and pretty mild. There was not very much snowpack and courses for the most part are really dry. We could use some rain.

[Txxxxxxx]

EG, the winter here was actually very short and pretty mild. There was not very much snowpack and courses for the most part are really dry. We could use some rain.

Rain would definately help, but if the course is watering on a regular basis, it would seem to me the greens and course should be in good shape.

Our winter was long..We got our first snow in the beginning of October and our last snowfall at the end of April.

[Colby]

I'm not sure what Stonebridge is doing for watering, but I know Metcalfe used more water in a 7 day period last week than any 7 day period all last year.

[jvincent]

I play SB regularly with some others and we have been wondering what's up with the watering of the greens too.

The aeration holes are mostly gone now but several of the greens do look like they are on the verge of suffering a burnout.

The tee boxes I play from (black) have all been fine. I haven't noticed any rocks in the bunkers either and believe me I've been in my share this year.

[mjf]

I've been very disappointed with several of the greens at Stonebridge this year as well. I'm concerned that they're actually going to lose a few of them on the West course. When repairing ball marks on some of the greens in the worst shape, it seems that there's almost no root structure at all to hold the surface together!

I haven't had too many issues with bunkers this year although one does come to mind where a few inches from my ball I noticed some clay had been exposed.

I think the tees and fairways are in pretty decent shape. Like jvincent, I play from the Black tees and they're always in excellent condition. I agree that there are probably a few too many divots in the fairways in need of repair. I'd like to see SB hire some students or something and have these filled in with sand/seed.

Hopefully management is aware of these issues and will deal with them accordingly.

MJF

[Kilroy]

I was asked by Stonebridge management to post this on their behalf:

We appreciate all feedback from our customers and try to respond to all regardless if it is positive or negative. I would like to offer Stonebridge’s perspective on a couple of the points raised in the thread started by “afulton”.

Our greens have been watered nightly since early May, while there is no doubt that rain is needed to augment our irrigation schedule. Last night’s rain was a welcome relief to all course superintendents.

All the greens have full grass coverage (“basically clay with a few blades of grass” is a gross misrepresentation and would leave people who read this thread with the wrong impression). Some parts of some of the elevated greens on the West Nine this winter were affected by wind desiccation (exposure to the elements), due to less than normal snow cover. Wind desiccation leaves a slight brownish look to the top part of a grass plant; it is a cosmetic issue and not a “root structural” problem with the plant, the brownish tinge is removed as the grass plant grows. That is why the greens on the East Nine are slightly better (the houses provide a wind block which helps to reduce the desiccation). Again some small sections of some tees faced the same exposure while most other tees are not affected, it is purely random based on how the snow drifts around each tee.

Bent grass greens can and do recover from their dormant state (winter) slightly slower than poa/rye/bluegrass greens (that’s why our bluegrass rough is thick and lush). A consistent correct soil temperature is the main factor in determining the bent grass green recovery time each spring (different varieties of bent grass recover at different rates). With the warmer temperatures last Wednesday and Thursday we’ve noticed a marked improvement in the “look” of the greens. What are we doing to help “Mother Nature”? We have top-dressed, fertilized and sprayed a wetting agent (the wetting agent assists the moisture to get into the grass plant’s root zone) on all the greens in addition to our watering program (this is the same program we have used for years).

Like in previous years our course set-up and greens cutting crew go back out on the course after they have finished their morning duties to fill divots; we also have other volunteers who help out with this daily requirement. Like all public courses superintendents need the assistance of the public to replace their divots (and properly repair ball marks), we have signs placed around the course asking for this assistance.

Finally regarding the bunker situation, every spring the frost pushes up some buried stones. Our bunker crew tries to remove all visible stones but with 96 bunkers inevitably some stones (especially buried ones) are harder to detect. We are waiting for a delivery of our Temisca sand to “top up” some of the greenside bunkers, which comes from northern Quebec. We cannot receive our sand until the weight/road restrictions are removed in late May. We apologize for the damage to afulton’s club, had we been made aware of it we would have been more than happy to repair it for him (we still are).

[pvs1313]

classy response form a good organisation. and like they say, had he mentioned directly to the pro shop they would have doen soemthign about his wedge.

[Indio]

I agree with Gord, that shows a lot of class! I am very impressed with their response!

[Hacker]

First class to be sure

I for one love an expect this "Customer first" approach to business.........I guess I have to get out to Stonebrige now

[BullDog]

First class to be sure

I for one love an expect this "Customer first" approach to business.........I guess I have to get out to Stonebrige now

Yup - I was due to play on Friday but was starting to reconsider based on this thread. I will now certainly be there!

Mike

[habsfan]

i agree good response, but you cant charge $75 prime when you know full well your course isnt up to par, id rather go to Loch March where i know the conditions are prime, better investment personally, not to say i wont go to Stonebridge, just the way i feel.

[John]

If people will pay prime to play their course in it's current condition then really more power to em! People who play Stonebridge regularly love the course and the conditions really aren't that bad.

[jvincent]

Having played both LM and SB within 4 days of each other I can comment on the relative conditions.

The greens at LM were definitely in better condition, albeit much slower, because they use a different grass and didn't have aeration holes.

The fairways at SB were in better condition with fewer dead/dry spots.

The bunkers at SB are always better than LM which has a mix of either very granular sand or powdery dirt. I didn't notice rocks in either.

$65 at LM vs $75 at SB for full rate prime time. I actually pay less at SB because we buy the 48 passes ($53) and the pass book at LM comes out to $55.

It's early in the season, conditions are quite good IMHO.

[langille5]

If you have a problem with a course go in and talk to the management about it. Give them a chance to deal with the concern or problem. I thought the explaination from Stonebridge made sense. The issues were being dealt with and they would fix the club if told about it. Good customer service being shown by them in my opinion.

[Bullet]

Impressive reply from SB. I haven't played there as of yet but will make there sometime this season for sure. Habsfan does have a point when he states that they shouldn't be charging full rates when the course isn't in prime condition. At the very least they should offer a discount coupon for the next round. The reasons are valide on why the haven't topped their bunkers, why the Greens have both cosmetic and physical situations they are dealing with to the best of their abilities. But compensation of some sort could be provided to the customer.

[Mattchew]

Played stonebridge for the first time ever last week, and was very happy with the conditions. Yes the greens were not at top form, but the rest of the course was great! I was very impressed with every aspect of this course. The people were great and the course was great. My playing partner (Paulio) has not stopped talking about how he can't wait to get back there again. And I feel the same! From the minute I walked into the club house and hit the first tee I knew that I was welcome....A feeling I have not had at allot of the top notch courses in Ottawa. A to Stonebridge!

[habsfan]

totally agreed, and as you said its still very early in the year.

Having played both LM and SB within 4 days of each other I can comment on the relative conditions.

The greens at LM were definitely in better condition, albeit much slower, because they use a different grass and didn't have aeration holes.

The fairways at SB were in better condition with fewer dead/dry spots.

The bunkers at SB are always better than LM which has a mix of either very granular sand or powdery dirt. I didn't notice rocks in either.

$65 at LM vs $75 at SB for full rate prime time. I actually pay less at SB because we buy the 48 passes ($53) and the pass book at LM comes out to $55.

It's early in the season, conditions are quite good IMHO.

[jonf]

First of all. I have to agree that this is a very classy response from Stonebridge.


Secondly, having now worked for 3 weeks on the grounds crew at a reaaaaaally well manicured private course, I must say I have a whole new respect for the amount of work and effort that goes into making a course in great shape. With a 10-12 man crew, working 9 hours a day, the amount of man hours required is incredible. Don't even get me started on rocks in bunkers (my specialty). Anyway, even with all that work,, the course is still a few weeks away from peak conditions. And this is in Victoria...where the course has been open all year....and there's no snow, ice, and winter to recover from. So nobody should be expecting top notch conditions at Stonebridge at this point in the season. To be able to golf in May in Ottawa is a small miracle anyway . Anyway....I will never look at a golf course the same way again. And after raking up aeration cores for 3 hot afternoons, will certainly never complain about punched greens again.

[Hacker]

after raking up aeration cores for 3 hot afternoons, will certainly never complain about punched greens again.

Ah yes, I love it when our youth discover what it's like to put in a hard day's work....

[Indio]

Ah yes, I love it when our youth discover what it's like to put in a hard day's work....

and when was it that YOU discovered what it was like to put in a hard days work

[big mac]

Jonf--just be thankful that you did not have to top-dress with a huge grain shovel and drag the green with a 200lb top dressing mat

[Pinshark]

I played SB on tuesday and the greens are in a pretty bad state. They still have a lot of aeration holes in them and are SLIIIIIICK (which is a good thing) but not so good when the ball is bouncing all over the place. I for one will be waiting sometime before heading back out there. Great course bad greens...for now.

[Hacker]

and when was it that YOU discovered what it was like to put in a hard days work

When I was a KID - decided that I didn't like it so I gots me a edumacation and now I's works fer da Feds

[Indio]

When I was a KID - decided that I didn't like it so I gots me a edumacation and now I's works fer da Feds

You must be a sopervisor with great grammmor like dat

[Hacker]

You must be a sopervisor with great grammmor like dat

fo sizzle

[jvincent]

fo sizzle

The correct spelling is: Fo'shizzle!

[Indio]

The correct spelling is: Fo'shizzle!

LOL it is TRAIN the TRAINER night on the forum!