Big tournament week
This past Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, the Whitefish Lake Golf Course hosted the Northwest Sectional Qualifier for the Club Professionals in our region. The group consists of some excellent players capable of competing on the PGA Tour.
In fact, one of the players recently competed in the PGA Championship at Baltusrol. Our local professionals will get a chance to measure their games against the best in the Northwest.
Member/guest tournament
This Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 27-28, will be the annual WLGA member/guest tournament, with play alternating between the North and South Courses. The first day will be two-person net best ball format, with day two a modified Stapleford style of competition.
In a Stapleford format, the players get points for net pars, birdies, eagles and loose points for a bogey or worse. An eagle may be worth three points, a birdie two and a par one point for the team.
Rules of the game
A dropped ball must be re-dropped if it rolls into a hazard, out of a hazard, onto a putting green, out of bounds or to a position where there is interference by the condition from which relief is taken (in case of immovable obstructions, abnormal ground conditions, embedded ball or wrong putting green).
A re-drop is also necessary if the dropped ball comes to rest more than two club-lengths from where if first struck a part of the course or nearer to the hole than its original position, nearest point of relief under Rules 24-2 and 25, or where the ball last crossed the margin of a water hazard under Rule 26-1.
If the ball when re-dropped rolls into any position listed above, place it where it first struck a part of the course when re-dropped. (20-2c). Good luck and good dropping. Dropping the ball is part of my warm-up drill.
Fall maintenance
on South Course
The green crew will conduct the annual fall maintenance procedures on the South Course on Aug. 29-30. These agronomic processes are necessary procedures to ensure the highest quality putting greens imaginable. Compaction and thatch build-up are the enemies of quality turf at any golf course of lawn, and these procedures combat the effects of traffic on the putting surfaces.
This year, the crew will use a small-tine aeration probe and a de-thatching machine, followed by top dressing and rolling of the South Course greens. If the weather cooperates, the greens will recover quickly and return almost to normal in a week or so.
The South Course will be closed during the two days of the fall maintenance procedures. The North Course will be aerated, top dressed and de-thatched later this fall. Fall maintenance done early enables the greens to enter winter stress in the best possible health.