Champlain

[beatnik58]

Anyone played the Champlain lately? Heading there on Thursday afternoon.

[BlackdoG]

Rating the courses I have played this year ONLY by condition:

1. Sorcier. A must play!
2. Renfrew. Awsome conditions. Hard to not rate number 1.
3. Chateau Cartier. Excellent greens. Number 9 green is now open. Tarp is off fairway on number 5. Getting better by the day.
4. Canadian. Greens are extremly fast and true. Still a small amount of airation. Fairways are in good condition.
5. Mont Cascade. A couple of bad greens, but overall good conditions
6. Richmond Centennial. Front nine is only decent, but back nine is almost perfect
7. Les Vieux Moulins. Fairways are a bit rough, but greens are great.
8. Casselview. Greens are in good shape, and farways are not far behind.
9. Nation. Greens are still consistently bumpy
10. Falcon Ridge. Most of the greens and fairways are in good condition
11. Mapleview Was good at start, but has dried out too much. Greens are a bit slow
12. Metcalfe. Some greens and fairways are good, some are bad.
13. Irish Hills. Bumpy greens make it hard to play.
14. Champlain Some burned greens, and lots of dry patches on the course.
15. Gatineau Below average conditions
16. Manderley. Below average conditions considering greens and fairways.
17. Calabogie Fairways are ok, but some greens are totally dead
This is really strange this year because course is usually in great condition



* Keep in mind that some of the courses I played at the start of season, and the conditions may have changed. Please update the list with your opinions.

[Barnie]

Why don't all golf courses cover and insulate their greens?? It seems like all the courses with fantastic greens took time to prepare them for the winter... take Sorcier for example. I played Champlain today and it's a disaster.. Not only are the greens horrible but the fairways as well. Too bad that course doesn't put some money into it seeing that it has such a sweet location and all. I think I just played my last round there for the year..

Ohh I forgot to mention the bunkers.. They looked like they hadn't been raked in at least a week. Foot prints everywhere with mounds of dirt and I teed off at 7:20 this morning so it wasn't from today or anything.

[BlackdoG]

Greens burn out when the snow covering the grass is thin enough to let the light travel through to the grass. It works like a magnifying glass causing the grass to burn and die. When a course covers the green, it also insulates around the tarp cover. Although this does not stop the grass from getting cold, it does stop it from being burned hence the great greens at courses who have done this for the winter.

I think that the reason a lot of courses do not do this is simply the cost. One would think however that the loss of business due to bad greens would make it worth the investment. This winter seems to be worse in the Ottawa area than it has been in the past, so maybe next year courses will go in this direction.

[Barnie]

What do they cover them with? Do they have specially made covers for greens or is it just an insulator and a tarp type thing? I mean how much can it really cost compared to the price you pay for lost revenue/rebuilding costs?

[BlackdoG]

What do they cover them with? Do they have specially made covers for greens or is it just an insulator and a tarp type thing?

Here is an interesting link about one of the products tested for covering greens. It also mentions the price for one golf course. Using the traditional hay method, I think that you just need an impermeable tarp but the cost is mostly for the hay itself and the labour to put it down and clean it up. Anyways, here is the link:

http://www.asgq.org/documents/docs.htm?key=arc_6