The LPGC Master Plan, at last!
Subcommittee of Lonnie Poole Advisory committee offers non-binding advice for golf course improvement. What's next?
If you’re sleepy but can’t remedy insomnia, your must secure a copy of and take time to peruse the recently completed and presented Master Plan For The Lonnie Poole Golf Course at NC State University, 2022-2032. It’s not exactly riveting reading (neither is this post), and it falls short in its effort because of its lack of suggestions to specific areas of the golf course while taking a long-look. To be fair, from the start, the work of piecing together the report was not to include many specifics such as a hole by hole approach. The report’s duty was to give a general overview of long-term recommendations for course improvement. With that regard, it serves its purpose.
Lonnie Poole Golf Course has been open since 2009 without a published long-view of course improvement and enhancements. All golf courses need that. LPGC hasn’t even come close until now. The report includes non-binding suggestions for continued course maintenance and improvement, something NCSU Associate Vice Chancellor at Campus Enterprises Rich Berlin has suggested (the improvement part) is not needed as long as the number of annual rounds of golf played at LPGC is high as it is (at least 40,000 rounds a year) and the course is making money.
The report—after a historical introduction and a point-on thesis that says “continuous … improvement is required to keep a golf course from falling into disrepair…” especially one with … 40,000 rounds played annually—is divided into 10 sections covering the entire course in general terms without specifically advising for improvements on individual holes though in reading it, one could say the approach was specific to the 10 sections.
The University established an Advisory Committee many years ago as a way to offer a critical eye—critical doesn’t mean criticism; It means taking a view of this major University asset and suggesting how to make it a crown jewel of the entire campus—to the course and its operation and to involve some of the course instigators, making them feel as if they were in charge of changes as the course evolved . Unfortunately, Mr. Berlin likes to remind the committee it’s only advisory in nature and not a decision-making body. Maybe that ages-old saying “children should be seen but not heard” applies. Embedded in the Advisory Committee is the Greens and Grounds subcommittee, a well-documented group of golf course-related experts including three current NC State University staff members.
On the subcommittee: Jim Kerns, NCSU associate professor, entomology and plant pathology; Fred Yelverton, NCSU professor and extension specialist, crop and soil sciences; and, Brian Green, who is listed in the NCSU Directory as a University Program Manager for Campus Enterprises but who is the Director of Golf Course Maintenance at Lonnie Poole Golf Course. Another on the subcommittee is Harold Coble who was a professor of crop science at NCSU for nearly 30 years before working for the United States Department of Agriculture for nearly 14 years as an agronomist.
The 10 subsections of the report—which when presented became an official record of the NCSU Campus Enterprises department’s Associate Vice Chancellor, include, in order: fairways, tees, secondary rough, bunkers, greens, cart paths, practice area, trees, ponds, and maintenance area and program. So, in the best way possible, here’s a summary of each section:
FAIRWAYS: The fairways are generally in great shape—with the exception of an uncountable number of divots which need more attention than from a small group of patrons/customers who volunteer to fill divots—but improvements to course drainage and elimination of zoysia grass (overtaking the Bermuda grass in various fairways) are needed and should be addressed by the spring of 2024, says the report.
TEES: Several tees—which slope down from right to left when facing the fairway ahead—need to be laser leveled. Specifically, the par 3 holes (2, 6, 8, 14, 17) are addressed in the report which says the use of artificial mats during the dormant grass growing seasons (late fall through early spring) has improved the tees during the growing seasons. The committee feels the use of the mats should be continued but, in reality, the mats decrease the overall value and appearance of LPGC and is a negative talking point by course patrons for about a five month period. In reality, according to USGA standards, the square footage of most teeing areas at LPGC is too small, leaving little space for maintaining the repairing the teeing areas. Between the Director of Golf Course Maintenance and NC State University’s turf grass academicians, a solution much better than artificial mats must be found. Not written in the report: A major effort must be made to keep grass grown on the tees especially to get rid of the mats from which not all patrons play, bypassing course preference. One would think, with the world’s best University turf grass experts, the tees on the par three holes could be built to a higher standard, adding more space and eliminating plastic mats.
SECONDARY ROUGH: These areas are primarily a fescue grass that eats golf balls but lend somewhat of a beauty to the course. Unfortunately secondary rough requires much more maintenance if players are to locate and play from the secondary rough instead of the usual “I’ll just toss one out here and take a one stroke penalty (sorry but it’s either two strokes or a stroke and distance penalty.)” The budget doesn’t allow for constant maintenance of the beatification areas of the course. Also addressed in this section are the walking paths from the green of a hole to the next tee and the walking paths from teeing areas to fairways. There are 11 of “green to tee” paths with, many times, multiple paths to follow to different tees. Hopefully the process of improving the walking paths includes killing the clumps of grass there now, removing roots, scraping the turf and sodding of a durable grass. The committee wishes this to be accomplished this year, 2022.
SAND BUNKERS: Too much money has been spent on sand bunkers since the course opened and issues remain, especially because either the wrong sand was used or the right sand just refuses to act correctly. Shame on the correct sand. The report says the expense of replacing the sand be considered in 2024 or 2025.
GREENS: The report praises the Director of Maintenance, and rightfully so, for management of the greens year-round, especially because of the bent grass makeup. During the heat of summer, the greens may be a bit thin, but overall these are among the best greens in the region, the report says. With a 20 to 25 year life expectancy, look to 2028 to 2033 for greens renovation either with similar grass or a warm weather grass. The report suggests a study by the University’s turf grass faculty be completed in 2023 to determine what’s best and when.
CART PATHS, PRACTICE AREA, TREES, PONDS, MAINTENANCE AREA AND PROGRAM:
Cart Paths are in need of repair and in some areas are not wide enough to accommodate players riding carts and maintenance vehicles at the same time which makes one wonder, “Which came first the chicken or the egg?”
The short game practice area has been addressed in a previous post. It’s up to the NCSU Department of Athletics to make sure a new practice area comes to fruition, though the report mentions having it accomplished by the 2023 college golf season which could be 2022-23 or 2023-24, In either case, that’s a rather tight schedule for such a major overhaul needed.
The public practice tee area needs to be expanded. There’s a plan afoot to add about six more spots. The practice putting green is too small, says the report. What the report doesn’t say is the green slopes too much and doesn’t have a relatively flat area for honing your putting. Also, there are not enough holes on the practice green. The report suggests adding another practice putting green.
Trees in many areas need to be removed to help air flow around greens, to keep from destroying cart paths and sand bunkers, and to prevent course maintenance equipment from constant repair. Not addressed are removal of trees to offer better sight lines and playability of the course, especially for non-professional golfers though some trees have been removed for that purpose.
Ponds on holes 3, 15, and 16 need attention.
Maintenance area (behind the second green) is adequate but needs some improvement. Reliance on part-time employment of NCSU students needs study to have more consistent staff with less turnover rate and smaller training costs. The course irrigation system will need major repairs or replacement on a schedule parallel to greens renovation.
Commentary above says the report falls short because it’s mostly a general overview with the Director of Maintenance directed to plan and implement long-range suggestions. The subcommittee did a good job overall, and the Director of Maintenance is capable of looking ahead with various projects but there’s money involved and that’s the tough part. The University provides little monetary support of LPGC and that needs to be addressed if this asset is to remain just that…an asset. Maybe there’s a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
If you wish to read the entire document, click this link: Master Plan For The Lonnie Poole Golf Course at NC State University, 2022-2032. Or, send an email request and you’ll get a PDF.
NOTE: The document was developed by the Greens and Grounds subcommittee of the Lonnie Poole Golf Course Advisory Committee and submitted to officials of NCSU’s Campus Enterprises department, which makes this document a public document and subject to the NC Public Records Act. As found in the link, the report has been edited to correct grammar, typographical errors, and extraneous word usage. Also, the font and type size of the original document as provided by a University lawyer with permission of the two Campus Enterprises officials has been purposely changed from the original font and type size for easier reading. It’s still the same report.
Get a good night’s sleep!