Brown Courses

[i*windows]

so Donald Trump doesn't like brown courses, he likes the manicured greener than green look, how do you lot feel? Personally I like the natural look, greener in the spring, browner in the summer. It's good for the environment, cheaper to maintain and more fun to play.

[playa]

In Oz it's the winter they go brown from the frosts. But the brown colour has no effect on the condition. Only a heathen would care about colour of grsss above condition of course.

[avrag]

The more natural, the better. Going to East Lothian this week. Can't wait.

[thatboygaule]

Depends on what the course is set up like i suppose

[Asiz]

The brown doesn't appeal to my eye.

[Sixcat]

I love the natural look! All courses should fit the natural landscape and native vegetation.

Trump is a first class ******! He has spent 20 years attempting to get inside the USGA's good graces and host a US Open. He will continue to buy his way in as long as courses continue to mismanage revenues and resources.

[imakaveli]

Donald Trump is like Jon Snow

[North Texas]

Don't like Donald Trump or the brown look. Prefer something between brown and green but more toward green.

[Pinsplitter59]

Golfers really do get spoiled like babies.
[attachment=2278343:grampians_7860w.jpg]

[JimNewton]

I love it...

[color=#333333][size=3]Bill Fownes later offered a rebuttal. "Should we have well-watered greens so that any kind of shot will stick by the pin?" he wrote. "And a slow surface for putting, so that you can bang the ball at the hole with no fear of running out of holing distance? [b]The virility and charm of the game lies in its difficulties. Keep it rugged, baffling, hard to conquer, otherwise we shall soon tire of it and cast it aside.[/b] And so with putting greens. ... Let the clumsy, the spineless and the alibi artist stand aside!" His defense is still the rule of law at Oakmont. [/size][/color]

[imakaveli]

Muirfield last year was yellow and brown, one of the most beautiful courses I have ever seen

[lumberman2462]

Double edged sword on this one.

Many courses that have some brown and golden hues of native grasses off of the fairway are beautiful while you are actually on the golf course playing. I think it has something to do with the contrast.

They do tend to look like crap on TV.

[TJCDAS]

Maintenance is going to be a disaster in the long run. The brown fairways edges will die out and be over taken by weeds, the waste area will turn into a wild jungle and become unplayable.

To keep the course in it's current condition will just as much work as a normal green course.

[marmooskapaul]

This works at PH#2 because they could spend millions to make it work...Millions to make it look natural...lol...Lower end public courses don't have money to make the courses look natural. They just don't have irrigation systems,except by the greens. So...you get dead grass and dirt for fairways and rough??? I guess that's natural.. It's been my experience that most people don't care for this. If they/we do play courses like this...and we do...they/we are not gonna pay more than 25$...If you throw in burnt up greens into this equation...and that does happen...and no one wants to play those courses..
On the flip side...some years are wetter than others and you don't get the dead grass/dirt so much....that's natural..not making it look dead on purpose.There are plenty of public courses that will give you that natural look...but they have to do it the natural way...without spending tons of money...

Paul

[Frankie Lob Wedge]

[quote name='TJCDAS' timestamp='1402927407' post='9505965']
Maintenance is going to be a disaster in the long run. The brown fairways edges will die out and be over taken by weeds, the waste area will turn into a wild jungle and become unplayable.

To keep the course in it's current condition will just as much work as a normal green course.
[/quote]

It looked shabby and run down. My friend called it a "shanty" major. LOL!

Maybe they are too cheap to water the grass because the club members are wealth cheap snobs. They should not play majors on old dusty course with brown grass. There are too many nice courses like Shinnecock, Oakmont, Whistling Straits, the one in WA state in 2015. Play places where the club actually waters the greens and fairways.

I know people turned off this major when they saw the brown grass. I watched some of it after my round at the local muni and people were laughing at how bad it looked. Theyu said very rude things about the shabby course. Like some club with dead grass run by hillbillys.

[nochct1]

[quote name='Frankie Lob Wedge' timestamp='1402928772' post='9506093']
[quote name='TJCDAS' timestamp='1402927407' post='9505965']
Maintenance is going to be a disaster in the long run. The brown fairways edges will die out and be over taken by weeds, the waste area will turn into a wild jungle and become unplayable.

To keep the course in it's current condition will just as much work as a normal green course.
[/quote]

It looked shabby and run down. My friend called it a "shanty" major. LOL!

Maybe they are too cheap to water the grass because the club members are wealth cheap snobs. They should not play majors on old dusty course with brown grass. There are too many nice courses like Shinnecock, Oakmont, Whistling Straits, the one in WA state in 2015. Play places where the club actually waters the greens and fairways.

I know people turned off this major when they saw the brown grass. I watched some of it after my round at the local muni and people were laughing at how bad it looked. Theyu said very rude things about the shabby course. Like some club with dead grass run by hillbillys.
[/quote]

I don't think the brown fairways were an issue at all. Its interesting that everyone praises the courses in Europe for being natural looking, but when a course in the US does the same thing everyone gets annoyed.

I've played each of the courses you mentioned in your post as well as a number of other top courses. They are great courses because of the design of the courses, not just because they have green grass everywhere. Yes, they are in great condition, but I would have no problem if they had some brown spots in the fairways.

I personally think this is great for golf. If more courses would be more strategic with the watering of the course we could potentially see lower operation costs. It won't lower greens fees, but we could potentially see rates hold steady over the next several years.

[ryanarneson]

[quote name='marmooskapaul' timestamp='1402927547' post='9505977']
This works at PH#2 because they could spend millions to make it work...Millions to make it look natural...lol...Lower end public courses don't have money to make the courses look natural. They just don't have irrigation systems,except by the greens. So...you get dead grass and dirt for fairways and rough??? I guess that's natural.. It's been my experience that most people don't care for this. If they/we do play courses like this...and we do...they/we are not gonna pay more than 25$...If you throw in burnt up greens into this equation...and that does happen...and no one wants to play those courses..
On the flip side...some years are wetter than others and you don't get the dead grass/dirt so much....that's natural..not making it look dead on purpose.There are plenty of public courses that will give you that natural look...but they have to do it the natural way...without spending tons of money...

Paul
[/quote]

So most courses don't have the money to make it look natural, but the do have money to make it look....what? Unnatural?

The fact that Pinehurst #2 went from 55 million gallons of water a year down to 15-17 million after this renovation and removing 400 acres of rough is going to be more than enough to get more and more courses to at least rethink their methods. Save water on irrigation, save time/money on mowing. More interesting play.

Will every course pull off what #2 did, to that extent? No. But many are going to have to get creative with their water budgets in the upcoming years that's for sure. They are going to have to start questioning the wisdom of acres and acres of rough. They are going to have to justify every last drop of water they pay for.

So you may not want to play brown courses for more that $25, but when the only courses left that are the overwatered green monsters we see today charge $250 (or even worse, the Augusta Nationals of the world that most people can't get on for any price) we shall see what tune you are singing then.

[frybot]

Well that's it then. Frankie's buddy says it's a shanty course. End of story.

Let's forget the universal praise from the best players in the world of the course and Martin Kaymer's performance. Some of the best golf played in the history of the game.

[TLUBulldogGolf]

[quote name='Frankie Lob Wedge' timestamp='1402928772' post='9506093']
[quote name='TJCDAS' timestamp='1402927407' post='9505965']
Maintenance is going to be a disaster in the long run. The brown fairways edges will die out and be over taken by weeds, the waste area will turn into a wild jungle and become unplayable.

To keep the course in it's current condition will just as much work as a normal green course.
[/quote]

It looked shabby and run down. My friend called it a "shanty" major. LOL!

Maybe they are too cheap to water the grass because the club members are wealth cheap snobs. They should not play majors on old dusty course with brown grass. There are too many nice courses like Shinnecock, Oakmont, Whistling Straits, the one in WA state in 2015. Play places where the club actually waters the greens and fairways.

I know people turned off this major when they saw the brown grass. I watched some of it after my round at the local muni and people were laughing at how bad it looked. Theyu said very rude things about the shabby course. Like some club with dead grass run by hillbillys.
[/quote]

If you think Chambers Bay will look different than this, I think you are going to be disappointed. Shinnecock gets pretty browned out when the open is there as well due to the typically breezy conditions. Pinehurst does water but they don't have irrigation on the edges of the fairways anymore, so the edges start to get brown. It's different but I definitely wouldn't describe it as shabby.

[mschu24]

"You know nothing Jon Snow"

[2putttom]

The only brown I wanna see is in a toilet bowl.

[hogans71]

 

I'm thinking this exactly how Chambers Bay will look this time next year. Can't wait to watch this version of the U.S.Open...

[blink3665]

I think it depends on the area. FWIW Chambers will look brown. (EDIT: See pic above for what next year's US Open will look like.) That is the natural look for that type of course. It is gorgeous in person. However, it doesn't make for very good TV. Something about the brown while watching on the tube doesn't translate very well.

[OldGolfer87]

Would any of you be happy with the brown burned out condition of fairways with patches which was close to dirt on some and hard greens that at times even reject good shots that were Pinehurst # 2...... if you were paying between 300 and 500 dollars for 18 holes ??? I know I wouldn't

[JimNewton]

I paid $25 for exactly that yesterday and loved it. Goat tracks are pretty fun IMO. A true test of patience. Good golf.

I'd pay $500 for Augusta itself ... that's about it.

[Jaylasvegas]

Which would you rather look at while playing?

 

 

 

[marmooskapaul]

[quote name='ryanarneson' timestamp='1402931478' post='9506399']
[quote name='marmooskapaul' timestamp='1402927547' post='9505977']
This works at PH#2 because they could spend millions to make it work...Millions to make it look natural...lol...Lower end public courses don't have money to make the courses look natural. They just don't have irrigation systems,except by the greens. So...you get dead grass and dirt for fairways and rough??? I guess that's natural.. It's been my experience that most people don't care for this. If they/we do play courses like this...and we do...they/we are not gonna pay more than 25$...If you throw in burnt up greens into this equation...and that does happen...and no one wants to play those courses..
On the flip side...some years are wetter than others and you don't get the dead grass/dirt so much....that's natural..not making it look dead on purpose.There are plenty of public courses that will give you that natural look...but they have to do it the natural way...without spending tons of money...

Paul
[/quote]

So most courses don't have the money to make it look natural, but the do have money to make it look....what? Unnatural?

The fact that Pinehurst #2 went from 55 million gallons of water a year down to 15-17 million after this renovation and removing 400 acres of rough is going to be more than enough to get more and more courses to at least rethink their methods. Save water on irrigation, save time/money on mowing. More interesting play.

Will every course pull off what #2 did, to that extent? No. But many are going to have to get creative with their water budgets in the upcoming years that's for sure. They are going to have to start questioning the wisdom of acres and acres of rough. They are going to have to justify every last drop of water they pay for.

So you may not want to play brown courses for more that $25, but when the only courses left that are the overwatered green monsters we see today charge $250 (or even worse, the Augusta Nationals of the world that most people can't get on for any price) we shall see what tune you are singing then.
[/quote]
The courses I'm talking about don't use much water now. They don't have watered fairways and rough, just greens. The only way they could use less is to stop watering the green...can't afford to do that.
My point was...we already have the brown courses in my and many areas. They are called cheap public courses...get out and enjoy them...I do...lol
Paul

[nochct1]

[quote name='OldGolfer87' timestamp='1402934979' post='9506787']
Would any of you be happy with the brown burned out condition of fairways with patches which was close to dirt on some and hard greens that at times even reject good shots that were Pinehurst # 2...... if you were paying between 300 and 500 dollars for 18 holes ??? I know I wouldn't
[/quote]

I assume you're not booking a trip to Ireland or Scotland any time soon? The USGA and pinehurst put a lot of time and money into creating a great event. The fairways weren't brown because of poor maintenance.
There weren't too many really good shots that didn't hold the greens. For the most part, the shots that hit the green and trickled off did so because the player hit the ball to the wrong part of the green. It's a very well designed course and the players know going in that they need to hit the ball on a certain part of the green.

I may have missed it, but did you post during the masters when someone would hit the green but the ball would roll off the sides/front/back of the green.

[502 to Right]

Which would you rather look at while playing?

 

 

 

 

I think there's a happy medium somewhere in between. I don't need wall to wall green but I don't like courses that look like cow pastures either (and living in Wisconsin I've seen plenty of cow pastures in my time).

[JimNewton]

Maybe I'm weird but I'd take pic #1 all day. LOVE it.

That's actually a great photo.