Oakmont closed 5-7 days to protect greens ... anyone know more?

[cwglum]

Anyone hear anything about Oakmont closing for 5-7 days ... lost some greens from US Womens Open prep and the hot summer conditions that lasted so long ???

[hayzooos]

It wouldn't surprise me too much given the conditions, but with that course, you would think they'd be able to protect them better. However, the US Open setup is probably what did it.

I know a ton of courses in NC have lost their greens because of the heat. It simply didn't cool down enough at night and just stayed too hot for too long. They tried venting greens on most of the courses, but they still couldn't keep them.

Something to almost expect out of a normal muni, but NOT Oakmont.

[GAL007]

[quote name='hayzooos' timestamp='1282845311' post='2663468']
It wouldn't surprise me too much given the conditions, but with that course, you would think they'd be able to protect them better. However, the US Open setup is probably what did it.

I know a ton of courses in NC have lost their greens because of the heat. It simply didn't cool down enough at night and just stayed too hot for too long. They tried venting greens on most of the courses, but they still couldn't keep them.

Something to almost expect out of a normal muni, but NOT Oakmont.
[/quote]


Quail Hollow is shutting down for about 3 weeks for the same reason. Huntingdon Valley in Philly, which is a great old William Flynn design with a rather large budget, lost their greens completely and are shut down for the rest of the season at least. It's been terrible weather for bent grass this year

[Treykook]

Between the heat, the fungi and too much rain, lots of courses in NC are losing greens. There are four on my course that are mostly dirt now and are closed.

[Tmiller72]

Yeah, courses all over NC are shutting down. A qualifier I'm playing in next week just got moved to another course due to the greens. Several courses in NC have switched to the new Champions bermuda this year and I hear the greens at those courses are perfect right now.

[Pepperturbo]

You people probably already know shaving greens to get to 13-14 stimp is a recipe for loosing them; add heat, wind or no wind and it's a crap shoot as to whether or not they can be brought back. Shutting down is a requirement to eliminate traffic.

[Treykook]

[quote name='Pepperturbo' timestamp='1282860008' post='2663964']
You people probably already know shaving greens to get to 13-14 stimp is a recipe for loosing them; add heat, wind or no wind and it's a crap shoot as to whether or not they can be brought back. Shutting down is a requirement to eliminate traffic.
[/quote]

The greens at my club haven't been anywhere near 13 or 14. 10 might be a stretch.

[matpatsheehy]

So I have heard exactly the problem from a realiable source at Oakmont what caused the issues. It is all the result of the US Womens Open.

During the Womens Open, Pittsburgh received some very heavy rain on either Thursday or Friday evening. Several inches. I can't recall now what day. Well the USGA spent that evening rolling the greens to push the moisture out of them. Essentially they rolled them and pushed the water down into the root structure of the grass. Pittsburgh then had some really hot weather following the storm and the result was that the water essentially boiled the root structure. The USGA would not allow the greens to be syringed at all following the rains the course received because they wanted to the course to firm back up for the weekend.

Now combine this with the fact that the Oakmont tee sheet is filled seven days week with waiting lists on guest play days and you can see how the course and greens can get stressed out. The course never gets a break and the staff rarely have a chance to do work while individuals are playing given how packed the course is. Also, the summer has been extremely dry and hot in Pittsburgh this summer to there has been no real let up.

So they are shutting down to give the maintenance staff time to work on everything and to help some greens. When they re-open, the course will only be open to member play for several days. No guests allowed.

Also, I found it interesting that the pace of play policy is 4 hours and 15 minutes. You don't finish your round in under this time and you are sent a letter. No ifs and or buts.

[cwglum]

Thanks for the info ... I found out about 5 weeks ago that I was part of a group lucky enough to make it on the tee sheet for Tues 8/31 and Wed 9/1. We found out last week Friday via letter that we were no longer able to play due to the 'members only' policy when the course was opened for play again.

I didn't actually receive the letter ... just got word of it so I don't know the exact wording provided by the club.

Very slight possibility that we'll be able to try again next summer but not likely.

[Mike_C]

It has been just downright brutal here in NC, I'm amazed that our club has kept our greens open and playable. They are not perfect by any means, but compared to the "dirt" greens I'm hearing about around here they are amazing.....

[luxman]

It's been a brutal summer here in Southeast PA and there are plenty of private clubs that have temporary greens. I also know of at least 2 very high end private clubs that shut down for 6-10 weeks.

[Pepperturbo]

[quote name='Treykook' timestamp='1282865599' post='2664088']
[quote name='Pepperturbo' timestamp='1282860008' post='2663964']
You people probably already know shaving greens to get to 13-14 stimp is a recipe for loosing them; add heat, wind or no wind and it's a crap shoot as to whether or not they can be brought back. Shutting down is a requirement to eliminate traffic.
[/quote]

The greens at my club haven't been anywhere near 13 or 14. 10 might be a stretch.
[/quote]

I should have been more articulate... Tournament venue's, clubs that host tour events shave greens for speed.