Tuesday, November 15, 2011
A Post on Cart Traffic Exit Posts
For traffic control, we've tried our fair share of options. We've roped off all the approaches. We've pulled those ropes and tried signs. Some people did not like the signs because they were too close to the ground so we elevated them on green stakes. We then pulled those signs due to more complaints and since then, we've had very little traffic control anywhere on the course.
My attitude towards this problem is...... or maybe was, "They aren't going to follow it anyways, so we might as well keep it clean." I hate ropes and stakes mucking up the golf course. Do you ever see a golf calendar with a shot of a beautifully manicured green complex surrounded by plastic stake, rope, signs, and other traffic control garbage?
To combat the compaction near the greens we started to aerify more, fertilize more, and use wetting agents. This micro-management worked well, but we still have our trouble spots.
With the encouragement and direction of the Green Committee and Senior Men Board of Directors, I made some cheap exit posts and placed them in the fairway just before the approach. I really didn't think people would pay any mind to these things, but it was worth a try at little expense, time, or effort. To my surprise, most people are observing the slight restriction.
Traffic control is similar to insect control on the golf course. The goal is not to eradicate all possibility of cart traffic, because that would require way too much rope and cause problems with aesthetics. Eradicating all insect activity would require way too much pesticide and hurt populations of beneficial organisms. So just like we handle insects we are trying to limit traffic to the damage threshold. As long as all the golfers are not driving up to the edge of the green, the turf will be fine and I will not go crazy. 85% of our members are trying to follow the new exit posts, that is pretty good control.
Thank you to those of you who are trying to keep this course in good shape. Those who choose to ingnore our traffic control are not reading this website and hopefully will not complain that I compared them to nuisance insects.
My attitude towards this problem is...... or maybe was, "They aren't going to follow it anyways, so we might as well keep it clean." I hate ropes and stakes mucking up the golf course. Do you ever see a golf calendar with a shot of a beautifully manicured green complex surrounded by plastic stake, rope, signs, and other traffic control garbage?
To combat the compaction near the greens we started to aerify more, fertilize more, and use wetting agents. This micro-management worked well, but we still have our trouble spots.
With the encouragement and direction of the Green Committee and Senior Men Board of Directors, I made some cheap exit posts and placed them in the fairway just before the approach. I really didn't think people would pay any mind to these things, but it was worth a try at little expense, time, or effort. To my surprise, most people are observing the slight restriction.
Traffic control is similar to insect control on the golf course. The goal is not to eradicate all possibility of cart traffic, because that would require way too much rope and cause problems with aesthetics. Eradicating all insect activity would require way too much pesticide and hurt populations of beneficial organisms. So just like we handle insects we are trying to limit traffic to the damage threshold. As long as all the golfers are not driving up to the edge of the green, the turf will be fine and I will not go crazy. 85% of our members are trying to follow the new exit posts, that is pretty good control.
Thank you to those of you who are trying to keep this course in good shape. Those who choose to ingnore our traffic control are not reading this website and hopefully will not complain that I compared them to nuisance insects.
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