Get Down With Brown

On the first day I walked on the property at Ballyneal I knew that I had to throw all my previous golf course agronomy experience out the window. I had to wipe my plate clean of all techniques and management practices that I had learned over the last 8 years and that I was about to become part of a world that most golfers and Superintendents never understand and never will.

At Ballyneal, maintaining the color of the grass is not as important as maintaining the playing characteristics. The look and feel of the turf that we shoot for is sometimes brown, sometimes yellow, sometimes reddish purple, sometimes grey and even occasionally green. What comes with bright green is everything opposite of what we stand for and what the traditional playing surface of golf is. Our goal is to get the golfer thinking and experience golf that is outside of his box. To maintain fast and firm conditions the turf at times will appear brown, but that is all part of our program. Our turf conditions present more options for golf shots, yet the aerial attack is available on a calm day. When the wind blows the firm playing conditions allow the ball to come alive and ride along the natural contours below the breeze. Ballyneal isn't for everyone. It is for the golfer that understands and loves linksland golf and turf. Until you see it, touch it, and feel it under your feet you just won't get it.

The topography of Ballyneal is reminiscent of seaside links courses on sand dunes in Scotland and Ireland. The traditional surface which grows on these courses is a fescue sward. Here at Ballyneal we have planted our own blend of fescues on top of our chop hills in Northeast Colorado. Our fescue allows us to create traditional playing surfaces.

We keep our agronomic program simple and use traditional ideas to complete our daily tasks. We are frugal with our inputs and remind ourselves before we make decisions that this is not our course, it is nature's course. Growing a traditional playing surface of fescue, inland away from the ocean is a challenge in itself. Trial and error is the name of the game as there has not been much history to guide us. I am sure many of our members miss the days of our greens rolling a 6 on the stimpmeter. Without the patience and understanding from the membership that the turf comes first, we would not be where we are today. We have continued to reduce inputs yearly and the stand of turf that we are working and playing on is well on its way to becoming a successful inland links turf.

Nothing at Ballyneal is artificial or over managed. Our course is ever changing with seasons and day to day. Our fescue greens are firm but receptive to a well struck shot and roll true.They will not roll 11 on the stimp, nor should they, due to the eclectic green contours, but they will provide options never before experienced by most golfers.

Ballyneal is a golf course working with it's environment and we will let Mother Nature help make our decisions for us, and the ball will be kept alive at Ballyneal, as it should be.