BETHPAGE, BLOODY MARY'S and BATTING CAGES

Arrival in Manhattan.

Nothing prepared me for the sight of the Manhattan skyline. I sat in awestruck wonder, as Matt beside me in the yellow cab, snapped photograph after photograph.

This was just the start of what turned out to be a fantastic week in New York, courtesy of the STRI Golf Environment Competition.

Hire car.

We woke up early on the first morning, and after experiencing a proper NewYork Danish and coffee breakfast for the first time, set out to pick up the hire car. The destination for today was Pine Valley, the worlds no 1 golf course. The rain was hammering against the New York streets, as we picked up the black 4 x 4. I had never driven abroad before, but today was going to be my first attempt. Talk about jumping in at the deep end!

Pine Valley.

Pine Valley was everything I was expecting and more. Very intensive, high cost turf management, and large mantenance compound with hordes of greenstaff. The golf course was perfectly set into its natural surroundings, with huge waste bunkers, merging seamlessly with various cartpaths on the site.

One of the famous features at Pine Valley is the Devils Asshole bunker. A bunker so deep and claustrophobic, it makes the Road Hole bunker look tame.

We were given a tour of the maintenance compound and came across a white board showing the months spraying activities planned exactly to the day. Preventative fungicide applications were being made weekly, with primo and proxy used to stop the dominant poa from seeding.

Cutting heights for Pine Valley, and in general for all the courses were 2 – 2.5mm with golfer expectations of 11 feet (daily play) and upto 13 feet for medal golf. Surfaces at Pine Valley were 100% Poa, but incredibly tight, uniform and beautifully smooth. I felt the only let down was the ingression of coarse rye and smoothstalk meadow grass into the green surrounds.

USGA.

Next day, we travelled to the USGA headquarters, for a tour of the facility conducted by Jim Snow. The offices and grounds are beautiful, and include an A4 creeping bentgrass putting green in the main gardens. We didn’t need to be asked twice for a game of putting.

We also received a tour of the equipment testing facility, and watched the robots hitting endless golf balls perfectly onto the range. It was pleasing to hear that limits have been placed on the initial velocity of the golf ball and hence the flight distance can be restricted.

We then discovered that the players have to endure random checks of their balls to make sure they conform to standards. We were fortunate enough to be presented with two unused balls of Tigers.

Rutgers.

Next stop was to Rutgers University, and a tour of the trial plots. Some close mown fescue plots existed, but at a cutting height of 3mm, were not doing well. Dollar spot is the main disease in this area of the States, and masses of research was being carried out on this pathogen.

An interesting piece of kit was the machine that applies wear to the turf. It’s name was Death by a thousand slaps, and looked like a modified procore.

AUDOBON.

We left Rutgers and headed North, where we met up with Joellen Lampman from Audobon International. This organisation works with Golf courses to improve their environmental credibility. Two golf courses in the area that work with Joellen are Rockland GCC, and Westchester GCC.

Rockland, would be described as a typical country club, expensive clubhouse, immaculate course, well tended flower beds and golf carts everywhere. However all was not bad, because they were allowing areas of the course to grow in, to become valuable wildlife habitat.

Westchester GCC, again an opulent club, with croquet lawns, grass tennis courts, 2 immaculate golf courses, and wall to wall money. We graciously accepted lunch in the biggest clubhouse I have ever seen with the Superintendent and General Manager.

We then received a lengthy and detailed tour of the golf course, and chatted about maintenance programs, and problems affecting golf in this area.

HAMPTONS.

We set off for Long Island, to sample some of their famous iced tea, and visit 3 of the finest courses in America, namely, National Golf Links; Sebonack and a drive past of Shinnecock. All incredible courses, with similar management regimes. At Sebonack we learned that fescue can be grown in areas that are close mown, such as tees and fairways, but poa ingression is regularly chemically controlled using a product called “trim it”

Both National and Shinnecock had vast areas of roughs, allowed to grow, which created beautiful definition of each golf hole.

BETHPAGE.

The golf course visits were now coming to an end, but for me, the best was saved for last.

Bethpage is simply a municipal golf resort where anyone can turn up and play, even on the stunning US OPEN Black course

FRANK ROSSI.

MANHATTAN.

So we travelled back to Manhattan, for two days of sightseeing and sampling some of the local food and drink. By this time I had a real taste for Long Island Iced Teas and other cocktails, made even more tasty by the surroundings, especially the evening we spent on a rooftop bar overlooking the city.

We spent two fantastic days in Manhattan, visiting the usual haunts such as the Empire State building, Times Square and Central Park.

THANKYOU.

To wrap this up may I send a huge Thankyou to our guide for the week, Lee Penrose from the Stri, to Matt for sharing a drink and a laugh, and to the STRI and sponsors for providing such an amazing award.

Graeme Taylor

Course Manager

New and Jubilee Courses