Modern design keeps many links in area playable
By JOHN BAGLEY
Pinnacle Staff Writer
Balls plug in the mud. Putts are slow. Pant legs are muddy from
the knee down, and solidly struck 5-irons dribble only about 130
yards.
No, this is not a typical round at St. Andrews in the summer.
It’s a round of golf in the Tri-County area this winter.
Balls plug in the mud. Putts are slow. Pant legs are muddy from the knee down, and solidly struck 5-irons dribble only about 130 yards.
No, this is not a typical round at St. Andrews in the summer. It’s a round of golf in the Tri-County area this winter.
For the past month, high winds and strong rains have hammered golf courses in the area. Yet despite this, local tracks from Ridgemark in Hollister to Cinnabar Hills in south San Jose seem to be holding their own despite Mother Nature’s wrath.
“We’re in great shape right now,” said San Juan Oaks Professional Pat Larkin. “We’re able to mow and the drainage is great. When they built this, they put a lot of money into the drainage system. After the first year, they saw the problem areas and improved on it further.”
The majestic, 7,100 yard track first opened in 1996. Since it was built with the most modern methods of construction, San Juan Oaks is able to handle the rains that have dumped several inches of water on the area in the past month.
But in addition to exceptional design work, Larkin believes that the key to San Juan Oak’s ability to hold up is good fortune.
“We’ve been lucky with the breaks between the storms,” he said. “A lot of these holes run off into the ponds and creeks. But if it didn’t stop, there would only be so much you could do.”
At the moment, all of the courses in the area are playing under lift, clean and place rules.
Like the Fred Couples’ designed San Juan Oaks, similar statements can be made for both Coyote Creek in South San Jose and Eagle Ridge in Gilroy.
Built in the late 1990s, they also have state-of-the-art drainage systems, which allow golfers to play in almost summer-like conditions year round.
“We’re holding up really well,” said Coyote Creek Head Professional Steve Janisch. “I played it this week and other than a few wet spots here and there and slower greens, the course is in great shape.”
Coyote Creek is probably in the best shape of any other in the area. According to Janisch, a lot of it has to do with the course’s initial design work.
“We are the only sand-capped course around here,” he said. “When they built this they laid six inches of sand under the tee areas, the greens and the fairways. Sand drains faster and filters better.”
Using a sand base throughout a golf course is more common in southeastern states such as Florida that often are barraged with a battery of tropical storms.
Since Coyote Creek drains well, it hasn’t experienced much of a drop off in play this winter. On Monday, the 7,057 Jack Nicklaus Valley Course had 104 rounds of play and the Jack Nicklaus Tournament Course had 115 rounds. Even in the peak season, the two tracks seldom get more than 150 rounds a day.
The rain does have an impact when it’s coming down though.
Last Saturday, the two courses at Coyote Creek did 60 rounds combined during a storm.
“We really expect that this time of year,” said Janisch. “We’ve been cleaning carts and the pro shop and finishing paper work lately.”
At San Juan Oaks, it has been slow too but sometimes even the rain won’t deter the average golfer.
“If it’s raining, they don’t want to drive down here an hour from San Jose to play in the rain,” said Larkin. “But some guys will play anyway because it’s the only day they get off. I guess it really depends how hard it is coming down.”
While the newer tracks such as San Juan Oaks, Eagle Ridge and Coyote Creek tend to drain better and recover from torrential rains, they aren’t invincible. The bunkers at the modern courses take the biggest hit.
“They are the biggest problem right now,” said Janisch. “The modern bunkers are usually steep-faced. When a rain comes in, it washes the sand away. You have to decide do we fix them now, in between storms, or wait.”
The recent rains impacted several bunkers at Eagle Ridge as well.
“We’ve had a little problem with the bunkers,” said Eagle Ridge Head Professional Tom Mejia. “We’ve spent a lot of time on maintenance patching up the ways of the bunkers.”
At the older courses like Gavilan, Gilroy and Bolado Park, bunkering is also a problem. But unlike their modern counterparts, drainage can be the biggest culprit.
“It’s playable out there. If someone wanted to play they could, but I wouldn’t want to right now,” said Gilroy Golf Course Assistant Professional Doug Fick from the club’s empty pro shop on Monday. “You can play it, but the fairways are pretty wet right now.”
Gavilan Golf Course Professional Nick Mitchell agreed.
“There are a few wet areas and carts aren’t allowed, but it’s playable,” he said. “All of the surrounding hills are green so it does look real nice right now.”
Most of the older courses drain naturally while the newer layouts have elaborate systems to get rid of the excess water. Still, getting a fairway mower on the course-regardless of design-is not the easiest thing this time of year.
As a result, the neglected areas eventually pave way for some pretty deep grass-especially in the rough.
“I’d say our course is playing at least 20 yards longer off the tee right now,” said Janisch.
Other than some standing water in the bunkers, slower greens and little roll off the tee, none of the courses in the area have suffered any major damage since the recent storm surge hit the region.
Coyote Creek did lose an oak tree on the third hole at the Valley Course.
