Craig Sterrett
Despite herculean efforts by grounds crews, early-spring golf course conditions sometimes fall short of pristine. Therefore, there’s no better time than the present to learn the rules of taking relief from damaged turf, aka “ground under repair.”
Golfers at many Door County courses certainly should not expect perfection this May, as a major April ice storm necessitated the use of motorized equipment to efficiently remove tons of broken branches and trees.
On opening day, May 3 at Peninsula State Park Golf Course, the greenskeepers already had the fairways perfectly mown and greens groomed to roll smoothly and true. Still, just off of the fairway in a couple of locations such as No. 4 and No. 10, a few muddy spots remained from major debris-clearing efforts.
Those areas will grow back soon, and golfers should expect similar healing of some rough spots at Maxwelton Braes, where owner Mark Murphy invested heavily to install the 96-year-old course’s first fairway irrigation system. Some golfers who rarely put a drive in the short grass might become agitated if a ball comes to rest in the middle of a fairway on disturbed turf left behind by trench-cutting equipment used during the irrigation project.
But there’s no reason to get aggravated. The rules of golf can come to the rescue. Before tournaments or after minor repairs, course crews often paint a white circle around damaged areas, and they sometimes write GUR – standing for Ground Under Repair – with marking paint.
But in early spring, course crews aren’t going to mark off all of the damaged or imperfect spots. Golfers and playing companions in their groups or leagues ought to agree upon what is and what isn’t ground under repair, and then follow US Golf Association (USGA) rules.
When a ball comes to rest in a location with abnormal course conditions, according to the USGA, the golfer may either play the ball as it lies from the ground under repair or take free relief. The player should find the nearest point of complete relief from the GUR and drop a ball within one club length from that point, and not nearer to the hole.
It should go without saying that you shouldn’t hit a ball off of new sod or from newly-seeded grass. Take care of the courses to allow them to heal and to keep conditions excellent for other golfers.
It’s up to you and your playing companions to determine what’s unplayable if your ball comes to rest on a muddy patch in a fairway.
At The Orchards at Egg Harbor, manager Jack Jackson said some trees around the perimeter of the course fell into the playing area due to the ice storm, but damage was minimal. He said cold nights in late April and early May inhibited the growth of bentgrass – still, the course was greening up nicely.
On Washington Island, the April storm put at least half an inch of ice on tree branches at the renamed Top of the Door Golf Resort, causing a major cleanup project for owner Keith Mann and his staff.
“It set us back a lot,” Mann said on May 4, when he still had a lot of limb pickup and branch-cutting to do. The course lost a couple of mature trees and piles of branches from many of the pine trees. Mann confirmed that there is some damage to a fairway, but that came from the repair of a water line that runs from the pond to the irrigation pump.
While the Washington Island course and resort, formerly known as Deer Run, often would open by Mother’s Day, Mann wasn’t sure if he’d have all of the cleanup done by mid-May. He said he’ll certainly have the hotel rooms and course open by Memorial Day. Plus, a bar and Mexican-food menu with late-night service will spice up the 19th hole by June 1.
Caddy Notes
• Gibraltar Athletic Booster Club’s golf scramble, set for 8:30 am, Sunday, May 18, expanded to an 18-hole format. Information is available at the Peninsula golf clubhouse.
• The Orchards at Egg Harbor replaced its golf cart fleet. Like last year, the carts are electric, but they now have GPS, providing distances and mapping to help golfers plan their shots and stay on the proper route.
Craig Sterrett is an award-winning journalist, Sister Bay hardware store manager and avid golfer who’s almost as good at the game as he thinks.
