Golf Carts Return To The Course in Early May

Brian Whitlark is a USGA Agronomist and a colleague whom I have worked with for years. He recently paid us a informal visit to check out our renovation progress. His overall impression was very positive on where we were relative to the scope of work accomplished in 2021 and related maturity of the turf grass playing surfaces. He was impressed we were able to keep golf carts off of the course for over six months after re-opening. The two major takeaways I took from him during our meeting were related to the greens and to cart traffic returning to the course.

On the greens he was impressed with current density and root development stating that year two of a putting surface's life "not the year for speed" but continued root development. On cart traffic returning to the golf course he warned that "whatever you do, dont allow more then two carts per foursome on the turf."

Golf Carts are a part of the game, but to pretend that driving on the turf does not effect health and quality would be a mistake. Cart traffic can be very hard on the turf playing surfaces, and that is why we are going to re-open the course to cart traffic with some very specific rules to follow while driving on the course. 

Golf Cart Rules

• When feasible, utilize cart paths rather then driving on the course.

• Enter & Exit the course through  "gates" designated by the white tipped, tall black stakes. (see below pictures)

• No more then two carts per group allowed on the turf on any given hole. 

• Travel in the fairway hybrid bermuda turf as it will take the traffic better then the cool season rough turf.

• Do not use a cart on any par 3 hole. 

Granite Bay Carts will be easier for us to manage as they will be Geo Fenced to keep them off  and out of areas we do not want them to go, and we can insist on players pairing up. Private carts are a little harder for us to manage, so we will have to rely on the honorable nature of the game as well as our private cart members to do the right thing. 

Examples of entrance gates on #1

Examples of exit gates on #1

Example of a the typical traffic pattern we would like carts to follow when carts are allowed back onto the course. Stay on the cart path until the first "entrance" gate. Drive on the fairway turf as it is more durable then the cool season turf in the rough, and finally exit between the "exit" gates further down the fairway. 

We would like to thank everyone for the diligence shown during the past seven months while we have been cart path only. The course benefited immensely. Hopefully we can keep the momentum going by following the rules and limiting cart traffic whenever possible. Lets keep in mind that Granite Bay has very young  turf grass surfaces that still need time to grow in and mature. We are grateful for your support and patience while this grow in process and maturation continues and promise that patience will be rewarded. The best is yet to come.

Thanks