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Member Clubs
5 Ways to
Help Your Super
Keep Virginia courses in mint condition this season
by DAVE POND
1
OBEY CART RULES
Really. Just do it. Just one tire
track across wet ground—even
from a golf cart tire—can cause severe
damage that costs money and takes a long
time to repair.
“Soil has pores that are normally filled
with air, but they get filled with water when
10
it becomes saturated,” said Whitmire, who
has served as Williamsburg superinten-
dent since 1997. “Driving on saturated soil
causes these pores to collapse, and cause
compaction (which destroys the structure
of the soil).”
Compaction causes many problems. It
prevents water and nutrients from getting
V I R G I N I A G O L F E R | J A N UA R Y / F E B R UA R Y 2 0 1 9
into the soil and also limits rooting. And,
since grass receives all of its nourishment
from its roots, no roots means no grass.
That’s the primary reason you might see
dry, soil-exposing tire marks crisscrossing
your favorite hole later this year.
“Traffic damage can occur in differ-
ent ways in different conditions,” said
Cote, a 16-year member of the Golf Course
Superintendents Association of America
(GCSAA). “The best thing golfers can do is
obey cart rules for the day, and in a general
sense, be aware that cart traffic, in general,
isn’t the best thing for turf.”
2
RAKE THE BUNKERS
Failing to rake out bunkers
s m o ot h l y a f t e r u s i n g t h e m
is a classic case of poor etiquette. At a
vsga.org
VIRGINIA GOLF OFFERS SOME OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL SCENERY AND
COURSE CONDITIONS IN THE COUNTRY, thanks to legions of skilled landscapers,
groundskeepers, and other staff members who put in long hours every day, all in hopes of
making your first and final rounds of the 2019 season equally enjoyable.
But they could use your help, too.
We reached out to two of the best superintendents around—Jeff Whitmire at Williams-
burg Golf Club and Mark Cote at the Pete Dye River Course of Virginia Tech—for some
guidelines for golfers like you to help keep courses in mint playing condition all year long.