The CSGA Links Volume 2 Issue 3 May, 2014 | Page 32

Fore the Golfer: TV Golf versus Daily Play

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early every weekend throughout the year, a beautifully maintained golf course
can be seen on television. It’s only natural to want to play similar conditions on
your home course. The biggest misconception amongst golfers is that these nearperfect conditions seen on the PGA Tour can be provided and sustained on a daily basis.
The fact is, maintenance programs surrounding a PGA Tour event, USGA Championship and
even a CSGA Championship are designed for the course to “peak” right when the event is
played. Take, for instance, the 2012 Connecticut Open Championship, which featured U.S.
Open-type rough and diabolically fast greens. This was a project that took months of hard
work from the Grounds staff, and the rough was mown the very next day.

The type of green speeds and course conditions generated from such a plan are
designed exclusively for top amateur and professional golfers, not the recreational golfer. To
have these conditions on a regular basis at even the most exclusive of country clubs is too
expensive. The end result usually leads to turf loss and frustrated golfers who are subjected
to conditions far too challenging for their ability.

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Connecticut State Golf Association