Caledonia 2 weeks ago

Friends of mine played Caledonia this past Wednesday... they have all played the course on previous occasions.  They were disappointed in the condition as 7 of the 18 greens were essentially dirt, no grass.  Otherwise, the remaining 11 greens were good, fairways were good and the layout remains timeless, especially #18.  The $79 fee through the MB Passport was judged to be too much for the conditions presented.

Was any reason given for the 7 bad greens at Caledonia?   
Did they spray a wrong chemical?  Although no need to spray this time 
of year, unless to fertilize the overseed or prevent Poa.   
 
The Cal greens were fine for me in Oct, so something happened since. 
 
Thanks for your reports!  

I've got Caledonia on the schedule in one month. Should I switch it out for say True Blue?

@kio57 In one word, Yes

Posted by: @kio57

I've got Caledonia on the schedule in one month. Should I switch it out for say True Blue?

Without seeing or hearing about what happened, my thought is
they can't recover bermuda in Jan/Feb.    They can sod bad spots, 
but that won't heal very fast during Feb.   

surprised about the greens at Cali.

surprised about UGP driving 30 miles to golf.

not surprised that UGP birdied and still lost the hole to Quevy.

Thanks for the updates UGP

JW

Posted by: @jw11

surprised about UGP driving 30 miles to golf.

More like 60 miles! And Quevy knocked in his eagle 2 before I hit my second shot which hit on the green inches from Quevy's - his rolled forward, mine backed up!

@kio57 I would recommend an alternate be chosen this winter, I have not played either True Blue or TPC MB this winter but assuming typical conditions - they most closely approximate the Caledonia golf experience within a short drive of Kingsmill Road. As mentioned in this thread, seven of 18 greens have lost nearly all overseed and additionally have been vertical so grass is extremely spotty and bumpy surfaces as of my last loop on 1 removed link  

Sad to say but the reality for now.

Not the news I wanted to hear.  My group is playing here on 3/26.  Gotta check with Brian for an alternate course…..True Blue, Prestwick maybe……

@twiz82 We also had Cali on the schedule the last week of Feb. I sent Brian an email about this thread and asked if we should switch to True Blue or TPC. His response was that he switched us to True Blue and a credit would appear on our cards. Reach out to him.

Edit: And we really wanted to play Cali

I wonder if something went wrong when they overseeded the greens (if they did)?

I'm surprised so many courses down there are doing that this year. Dormant bermuda is a great surface for greens, and it can be painted to look green. Overseeding the greens can cause all kinds of issues, and also make them much worse than the dormant bermuda would have been.

I know someone who played at the Dye Club at Barefoot recently -- they overseeded their greens this year, and the overseed hadn't come in uniformly so the greens had varying speeds in different places. That's not what you want on a golf course.

It seems like an unnecessary expense that provides worse playing conditions both in the winter and in the spring when they're getting rid of the overseed.

One of the benefits of the hybrid greens was having a longer growing 
season, so they could dye them instead of overseed.    It does seem like 
a lot have gone back to overseeding greens.   I have not heard why. 
 
I am curious what happened at Caledonia.  I don't think overseeding 
would cause a problem.    My guess would be spraying the wrong or 
too much chemical.   It would be interesting to know.   

@artmbgolf I didn't mean to imply that the overseed itself would have killed the greens -- just that it adds extra processes that lead to more chances to make mistakes like spraying the wrong chemical.

I do think overseeding greens in general is a bad practice, though, both for playability and maintenance.

Seems like overseeding of greens is always hit or miss and there is variations within the same golf course.  Painted, dormant Bermuda is fine, it's actually quite fast and it remains true to the topography.  Thus far, this winter we've seen overseeded greens at Barefoot and Aberdeen, everything else is painted.