Bandon Preserve

[philsRHman]

The rough month of weather was to blame while I was out there. Caddies said there hadn’t been enough decent days for the grass to grow in.

 

What do you guys think of the shift to Poa? Will it really change the playing characteristics of the resort? We even see it’s starting to creep onto Old Mac.

[oregongolf]

The rough month of weather was to blame while I was out there. Caddies said there hadn't been enough decent days for the grass to grow in.

 

What do you guys think of the shift to Poa? Will it really change the playing characteristics of the resort? We even see it's starting to creep onto Old Mac.

 

Not appreciably... I mean, did you even notice it at Bandon Dunes or Pacific? I still hit the same shots as I would on Mac, albeit I can fly them closer to the hole on greens that are predominately poa.

 

The greens at Preserve have always been pretty iffy anyway. Nobody really complained because it's best played in a group setting or as a warm up for the other courses.

[philsRHman]

I meant across the resort. The fescue at OM really set it apart in my opinion. Not sure I liked it more or less, but they seemed much quicker and tougher to hold. My understanding was they all started with a lot of fescue but have transitioned. I just question whether the fescue is as big a part of the links experience as it seemed at OM or if it was all the other design and look/feel elements.

[philsRHman]

Also, without having played the Preserve I guess I’d think that a par 3 course should have the best greens on the property, so that’s a bummer to hear it’s not the case. To be honest I thought the same about the Punchbowl, where the green was quite rough compared to elsewhere on site.

[VNutz]

Also, without having played the Preserve I guess I'd think that a par 3 course should have the best greens on the property, so that's a bummer to hear it's not the case. To be honest I thought the same about the Punchbowl, where the green was quite rough compared to elsewhere on site.

 

I thought the greens on the Preserve were slow and shaggy when I played there in 2017. I assumed it was on purpose as a way to protect them a little bit as the greens of a course made of par 3s, and generally shorter ones, is going to take much more abuse than one that contains full length holes. That and some of the Preserve greens had some severe undulations to them that might become very hard to play at faster speeds.

[oregongolf]

Also, without having played the Preserve I guess I'd think that a par 3 course should have the best greens on the property, so that's a bummer to hear it's not the case. To be honest I thought the same about the Punchbowl, where the green was quite rough compared to elsewhere on site.

 

 

Punchbowl is transitioning exactly like Trails has. It is a little worse early in the season since the fescue and poa aren't growing even close to the same rate.

 

While I love the punchbowl and won't really complain since it's free, I do agree with you and the entire group I take thinks the same thing. It doesn't detract from the experience enough, but waiting for the transition to be more palatable sucks.

 

To your point above, I do think the greens at Mac are better played with fescue, especially given their size. It's obviously the most links-like. I don't think the greens being fescue at the other 3 change the way they play for the vast majority of the holes.

 

Perhaps anecdotally, I take a group every President's day weekend and for the higher handicaps, they tend to struggle more at Mac until they relent and putt/chip with hybrids or fairways from everywhere compared to everywhere else.

[ebrasmus21]

Played in Sept of 2018. I found the greens to be in good condition. I don't specifically remember anything egregious about them at all.

 

Fun course, too. By far the best par three I've played.

[spud3]

Last time I played the Preserve (2017), the greens were perfect fescue, the best on the whole property. Sad to see the poa take over, though I know it's inevitable.

 

I don't think that poa greens will make the actual play much different (as Jon stated above), but I do think the experience will suffer a bit, as we in the US just don't have many places where we can play fescue greens on links courses.

 

I love the greens on OM, but they don't really love me back.

[ebrasmus21]

Last time I played the Preserve (2017), the greens were perfect fescue, the best on the whole property. Sad to see the poa take over, though I know it's inevitable.

 

I don't think that poa greens will make the actual play much different (as Jon stated above), but I do think the experience will suffer a bit, as we in the US just don't have many places where we can play fescue greens on links courses.

 

I love the greens on OM, but they don't really love me back.

 

Is Poa taking over the entire property? Is this just happening on PB and Preserve?

 

If I'm remembering correctly fescue was played on OM, Pacifc and Dunes. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

[mallrat]

You won’t notice much of if any difference in the way they play. Remember the grass is what you see but the majority of the way those greens play is the turf (grass/soil combo) and the turf there will always be unique to Bandon. The Poa May take more water but they will figure it out. Biggest difference will probably come on OM on the spots where you can’t tell where the 1st cut ends and green begins, that should become easier as the Poa will most likely be greener or a different shade.

 

One nice thing about the Poa is if greens are struggling they will most likely be able to water their way out.

 

EDIT... one thing to remember is the greens have never played as fast as they seem, it’s the healthy soil.

[mallrat]

Last time I played the Preserve (2017), the greens were perfect fescue, the best on the whole property. Sad to see the poa take over, though I know it's inevitable.

 

I don't think that poa greens will make the actual play much different (as Jon stated above), but I do think the experience will suffer a bit, as we in the US just don't have many places where we can play fescue greens on links courses.

 

I love the greens on OM, but they don't really love me back.

 

Is Poa taking over the entire property? Is this just happening on PB and Preserve?

 

If I'm remembering correctly fescue was played on OM, Pacifc and Dunes. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

Poa will eventually take over any course in the PNW. If not, they are fighting it and spending a LOT of money to keep it out.

 

They all were fescue originally but most have made the transition. OM being the newest is still predominantly fescue. The reason Preserve is going through this is they basically killed 12 of the 13 greens on accident.

[mallrat]

The rough month of weather was to blame while I was out there. Caddies said there hadn’t been enough decent days for the grass to grow in.

 

What do you guys think of the shift to Poa? Will it really change the playing characteristics of the resort? We even see it’s starting to creep onto Old Mac.

 

I would guess they used a slit seeder to seed the greens and grow them in, which this time of year is tough.

 

Spud may remember a few years ago when the fairways on 1, 2 & 4 at Langdon all looked dead; they basically killed them on accident by spraying the wrong product) and they were back within a month or so.

[oregongolf]

Bandon is obviously embracing the move to poa because you realistically can't keep it out. I know after talking to a USGA agronomist, they were hopeful an application was coming to market to really combat poa invasion in greens, but the EPA shot it down (this was before the US Open at Chambers).

 

Back in the day at Bandon, they had .25 cent poa bounties for their greens crew.

[spud3]

The rough month of weather was to blame while I was out there. Caddies said there hadn't been enough decent days for the grass to grow in.

 

What do you guys think of the shift to Poa? Will it really change the playing characteristics of the resort? We even see it's starting to creep onto Old Mac.

 

I would guess they used a slit seeder to seed the greens and grow them in, which this time of year is tough.

 

Spud may remember a few years ago when the fairways on 1, 2 & 4 at Langdon all looked dead; they basically killed them on accident by spraying the wrong product) and they were back within a month or so.

 

I do remember that. It was sad. Very sad to think that same thing happened to most of the Preserve greens. Giving anyone the benefit of making a mistake, that's a doozy. I hope they have adjusted their processes so that has no chance of ever happening again.

[mallrat]

Bandon is obviously embracing the move to poa because you realistically can't keep it out. I know after talking to a USGA agronomist, they were hopeful an application was coming to market to really combat poa invasion in greens, but the EPA shot it down (this was before the US Open at Chambers).

 

Back in the day at Bandon, they had .25 cent poa bounties for their greens crew.

 

Different versions of that product are in trials every year. 2 years ago Sunriver was one of 25 approved courses nation wide for trials that year and was not on the list the next year. That specific product made it to the 3rd year of trials which was the closest any product has come to going to market. Right now I know of 2 others that are in year 1 or 2 of trials but none are close to being available. The thing is with the focus right now on golf courses use of herbicides/fungicides/pesticides it is only going to get tougher to bring a product to market.

[spud3]

Bandon is obviously embracing the move to poa because you realistically can't keep it out. I know after talking to a USGA agronomist, they were hopeful an application was coming to market to really combat poa invasion in greens, but the EPA shot it down (this was before the US Open at Chambers).

 

Back in the day at Bandon, they had .25 cent poa bounties for their greens crew.

 

Different versions of that product are in trials every year. 2 years ago Sunriver was one of 25 approved courses nation wide for trials that year and was not on the list the next year. That specific product made it to the 3rd year of trials which was the closest any product has come to going to market. Right now I know of 2 others that are in year 1 or 2 of trials but none are close to being available. The thing is with the focus right now on golf courses use of herbicides/fungicides/pesticides it is only going to get tougher to bring a product to market.

 

Why do most products fail those trials? Effectiveness or toxicity or ?

[mallrat]

The rough month of weather was to blame while I was out there. Caddies said there hadn't been enough decent days for the grass to grow in.

 

What do you guys think of the shift to Poa? Will it really change the playing characteristics of the resort? We even see it's starting to creep onto Old Mac.

 

I would guess they used a slit seeder to seed the greens and grow them in, which this time of year is tough.

 

Spud may remember a few years ago when the fairways on 1, 2 & 4 at Langdon all looked dead; they basically killed them on accident by spraying the wrong product) and they were back within a month or so.

 

I do remember that. It was sad. Very sad to think that same thing happened to most of the Preserve greens. Giving anyone the benefit of making a mistake, that's a doozy. I hope they have adjusted their processes so that has no chance of ever happening again.

 

Generally it’s pretty hard to make a mistake like that but it happens. At Langdon someone took the label off of the container and put it on top of a different product. The guy grabbed the container thinking it was the same thing and when he ran out and went to refill his tank he noticed the products were different colors. Stuff happens as much as it stinks

[mallrat]

Bandon is obviously embracing the move to poa because you realistically can't keep it out. I know after talking to a USGA agronomist, they were hopeful an application was coming to market to really combat poa invasion in greens, but the EPA shot it down (this was before the US Open at Chambers).

 

Back in the day at Bandon, they had .25 cent poa bounties for their greens crew.

 

Different versions of that product are in trials every year. 2 years ago Sunriver was one of 25 approved courses nation wide for trials that year and was not on the list the next year. That specific product made it to the 3rd year of trials which was the closest any product has come to going to market. Right now I know of 2 others that are in year 1 or 2 of trials but none are close to being available. The thing is with the focus right now on golf courses use of herbicides/fungicides/pesticides it is only going to get tougher to bring a product to market.

 

Why do most products fail those trials? Effectiveness or toxicity or ?

 

Honestly I have no idea. I know there is a huge push in not contaminating ground water and worry of run off but the don’t let us know those things.

 

Let me reach out to a buddy. He runs trials for NC State and a company called Syngenta. I know he mainly works on wetting agent trials but will see what he has to say.

 

From what I know of those products there is a worry of runoff killing or harming surrounding native plant life.

[155 Funson]

I just walked the Preserve course this past Saturday as it was my first time at Bandon and I at least wanted to see what the course looked like. It was supposed to be my group's final round of the weekend and man, that would have been a blast to play as an 8some. Each green was covered with tarp and we could see grass seed scattered throughout the greens. I'm not exactly sure of the timeline on when it would be open, but from my view it didn't appear to be anytime soon.

[hbrar99]

I called today for final planning for my trip in a few weeks and was told that they are scheduled to open April 1st. 

[Edaw68]

April 1st will probably happen for re-opening. I just got back and most of the greens are no longer covered with tarps and have flagsticks in them. There is a noticeable color change now from the green surrounds to the greens themselves.

[bird206]

Does anybody know if they re-opened the Preserve? If not, any update when they will?

[wtoomey]

I’m here! And it’s open. Haven’t played it yet, so I can’t speak for condition. According to our caddie, they started to fertilize for Poa too excessively in an attempt to speed up the transition and it ended up killing the fescue and not stimulating Poa growth at all.

[wtoomey]

Update- It’s open, but as expected, the greens are SLOW. Didn’t really get any of the cool benders off the banks because of the speed. Still a great course, just needs time.

[kanard1]

I agree, I played it yesterday afternoon for the first time. They only charged us $50 vs $75 because the greens are still healing. We still had a blast and it was a good little warm up after a long day of travel. The views are top notch.

 

[tonypizzle]

awesome guys. thanks for the update. the view do look amazing. I cant wait to go next month! do you think it makes sense to book a tee time or will we be able to walk up and play?

[spud3]

Great photo!

[wtoomey]

Get a tee time. It’s completely refundable if not used and it can get busy.

[bird206]

Just finished playing the Reserve. I loved it. I wish I can have #9 in my backyard. Yes, the greens were really slow due to the reseed of Poa. But, it did not take away from the experience and they only charged $50. Weather was great. Barely no wind and partly sunny. Hittin up Bandon and Pacific tomorrow. Attached pics are some of the green conditions on #2 Rreserve and #9 hole view

 

[ebrasmus21]

> @bird206 said:

> Just finished playing the Reserve. I loved it. I wish I can have #9 in my backyard. Yes, the greens were really slow due to the reseed of Poa. But, it did not take away from the experience and they only charged $50. Weather was great. Barely no wind and partly sunny. Hittin up Bandon and Pacific tomorrow. Attached pics are some of the green conditions on #2 Rreserve and #9 hole view

>

>

 

Soak it all in, brother. Soak it in.