Saddle Creek Golf Club has altered a bumpy process.
The public facility in Lewisburg, Tenn., 45 minutes south of Nashville, unveiled a creative response to greens aerification: 8-inch cups.
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Superintendent Adam White and his crew completed the course’s fall aerification program on Monday, Sept. 8. Along with thatch and other unwanted organic material, the crew also removed its normal 4 1/4-inch cups, replacing them with the bigger ones for three straight days following aerification. Club manager Jason Sanders says associate golf professional Dameon Burns initiated the idea. “It seems like the most logical thing in the world,” Sanders says.
The concept was, well, a big success at Saddle Creek, a 6,700-yard Gene Bates design. “People are freaked out when they hear the word aerification,” Sanders says. “They think, ‘Oh, man, it’s going to be a nightmare.’ But nobody can make a 50-foot putt anyway, or least the margins are slim. The bumpiness calls into question how good of a putter you are within 10 feet. We felt like 8-inch cups would counterbalance the, ‘Oh, man, I missed another putt because of the greens.’ It took away a bunch of … I guess it took away all the excuses.”
Despite the threat of poor weather, the course received steady business over the three days, with 150 golfers making their way to what Sanders calls a “Small Town USA” setting. A turnout of between 75 and 100 golfers would have satisfied Sanders. Saddle Creek marketed the change to its regular players, sending out emails and posting information on its Twitter and Facebook accounts about the big cups. White and his crew needed one day to punch, topdress and groom the greens, and if they didn’t use the big-cup idea, Sanders says the course would have likely alternated nine-hole closings and openings on Sept. 8 and 9.
“Aerification is nails on the chalkboard to some golfers,” Sanders says. “You have some people that will say, ‘I’ll give you a couple of weeks to heal.’ That doesn’t have to be the mentality of the golfer. I think you can say, ‘Hey, look, come have fun.’”
The course’s normal cultural practices will include aerifying the bentgrass greens in the spring and fall, with the spring being the bigger of the two aerification processes. Big cups are expected to follow next spring’s aerification, meaning what happened Sept. 9-11 started a trend.
“This is a practice of ours from now on to eternity,” Sanders says. “As long as I am operating any golf course, this is something that we will do. We have the cups, we have the cutter. If you don’t use it, you’re not getting your money’s worth out of it.”
Saddle Creek experienced a management overhaul after temporary closing last winter, and Sanders, who previously worked for Troon Golf, and his team quickly purchased equipment to support big-cup events. On July 4th, the course scheduled tee times from 7 to 11 a.m., and the maintenance staff then went behind play, changed the cups to the larger size and created a short course with holes ranging from 85 to 185 yards. Instead of having a slow holiday afternoon in sultry summer condition, the course attracted 60 golfers in the afternoon. “We have tried to shine up the penny,” Sanders says. “We have worked hard to be communicative, helpful and friendly, and bring golf back to the area and give people a really good golf course to play.”
Guy Cipriano is GCI’s assistant editor.
