D e s e r t E x p o s u r e
February
2008
The Hole Thing
For Sonoma Ranch Golf Course superintendent Mike Kirkpatrick, computerized watering systems, "stimpmeters," sand-trap swapping and eternal vigilance against fungus are all par for the course.
By Jeff Berg
Knowing nothing about golf, I set out to find out a little bit about the multi-million dollar industry that has created such cultural icons as Tiger Woods, Patty Berg (no relation, darn it) and Sam Snead.
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Golf-course "super" Mike
Kirkpatrick. |
I knew a bit about 18 holes, along with golf carts, holes in one, clubs, caddies (especially Bill Murray), occasional funny clothes, Scotland, the 19th hole and such. And I had no interest in actually learning how to play the game. So I went to visit a gentleman who makes it possible for those who do want to play, to play.
In the work area for the groundskeepers at the Sonoma Ranch Golf Course in Las Cruces is a dry-erase board for Golf Course Superintendent Mike Kirkpatrick to use. Written on the board are 14 names and a number of different duties that most golfers would take for granted. "Verti-cut," "ball marks," "cut putting green," "cups," "traps, "driving tee" and "bathrooms" are all listed by the squad of names on the board. Mundane chores that help keep golfers happy.
Kirkpatrick has briefly ducked out of the office to grab some treats for a small holiday party for his staff, so I take advantage of his absence and look around a bit.
But then the thought strikes me that I have never once set foot on a golf course. Never caddied, never shot a ball, never even gone to a country club for dinner. And, lo, right outside this building, not 50 yards away, is a large piece of green grass, a sand trap and a cup with a flag in it. (I was going to say "a hole," but thought that would be misinterpreted.)
I look at the grass and then at the sand trap and then at my shoes. Dumpkopf that I am, I find myself wondering if I should tread on this perfectly manicured patch while in my street shoes. Aren't golfers supposed to wear some kind of special footwear? Glancing to my left and then to my right, I decide to risk it, and step onto the grass.
It offers an odd, if not cushioned and soft sensation. I step over to the sand trap and then mosey over to the hole with its flag.
Back across the grass again, and it strikes me that I have not stepped on a lawn or any grass at all for several years. Funny what one forgets about when living in the desert. I am harkened back to a time in my life when I had to cut the lawn when I was a kid, and also think of days in Montana or Wyoming where I actually saw groves of trees, and heard running water that wasn't coming from a faucet. I even had a yard once myself. I allowed a straying ex-girlfriend to pay penance by maintaining it and some flower beds for me.
My brief fling with melancholy is soon ended, and I saunter back to the workshop area.
The Sonoma Ranch Golf Course is part of a huge housing development on the burgeoning east side of Las Cruces. The development, begun in 1995, has three stages, labeled South, East and North. The South and North phases combined include more than 3,000 home sites, while the East stage is still in development. One hundred of the home sites enjoy golf course "frontage."
The course is celebrating its eighth anniversary this year, and in the year 2000, it was nominated for a "best new course" award by Golf Digest magazine. It has a total fairway length of 7,000 feet. Green fees run from $27-$49, and include carts for the less hardy. Four other courses exist in the Las Cruces area.
Sonoma Ranch was designed by Cal Olson, an internationally known course designer. Interestingly, on Olson's Web site, one of the intro-page photos appears to be a slightly altered picture of the Sonoma Ranch course, with the Organ Mountains in the background.
It is not long before Mike Kirkpatrick returns. An amiable chap with an easy smile and helpful attitude, Kirkpatrick doesn't waste a moment as he starts to talk to me about his job as the course's "super."
I am inundated with facts about grass, types of grass, irrigation, height of grass. My brief fling with lawn maintenance seems like a child playing in the dirt compared to Kirkpatrick's wealth of expertise.
"We use A-4 Bentgrass on the greens," Kirkpatrick says. "There are 150-200 different cultures or cultivations of bent, and this specific type helps keep the grass low."
Sonoma Ranch has four acres of greens alone.
According to Seedland.com, bentgrass requires extensive mowing, which Kirkpatrick makes sure happens. It also requires adequate soil treatment in order for it to "breathe."
Kirkpatrick goes on, "It is bred to grow low and offers a smooth surface to help with the greens' speeds."
Course-maintenance people rely on something called a "stimpmeter" to measure the speed of greens. This low-tech little gizmo uses a small metal ramp that is angled down to a flat part of a putting green. The distance a golf ball released down the ramp rolls along the green determines the "stimp" rating of the green. The farther a ball rolls, the higher the stimp rating and the faster the greens.
With 40,000 golfers traipsing over the Sonoma Ranch course annually, one cannot emphasize enough the importance of proper maintenance of the turf. But thanks to Toro, those folks who might have made your lawnmower when you lived back east, Kirkpatrick's job has become somewhat easier. Toro offers a complete software program that helps maintain golf courses, with frequent updates for water usage and maintenance. Kirkpatrick has a close personal relationship with the computer that supplies this information, and it is used exclusively for the Toro program. No other access is allowed on it.
Kirkpatrick's computer workstation also includes a highly detailed and sensitive weather station. This monitors the usual things such as temperatures and wind speeds, but also includes "ET" information. "ET," as you probably don't know, is "evapotransformation." This measurement assists Kirkpatrick in adjusting the watering system on the course to replace the moisture that a plant has lost. "Too much and they drown; too little, and they die," he says. "Each of the water heads is computerized."
Kirkpatrick briefly shares how the course's irrigation system — called an SOA (Service Oriented Architecture) Irrigation System — works. The SOA system waters 70 acres of the course in in the winter, 130 acres in 12 hours in the summer. Pipes of several sizes help carry the water from the pump station, which houses three pumps. The water heads use a minimum of 65 PSI to operate, with a flow of about 37 gallons per head, going to a total of roughly 2,000 sprinkler heads. In the summer the heads pop up (and of course require monitoring and repair), but in the winter, they keep a low profile. Each has a coverage area of about 70 feet, and watering usually starts at around 6 p.m.