Early season rates for golf club memberships until March 1

Whitefish Lake Golf Club memberships are on sale at the early season rate until March 1. 

The rates at WLGC are the lowest in the valley and were not increased in 2016. Purchases may be made online or in person at the Golf Shop.

Nurturing healthy greens

What conditions help make a golf green healthy and a quality putting surface? Can courses control those conditions?

Weather, ice, heat, humidity are areas that we cannot control, but there are other conditions that we can influence with proper maintenance.

The growing environment surrounding a green can be augmented by making sure that enough sunlight penetration is available to the putting surface. If you notice on most golf courses the best greens are in fairly open areas with available morning sunlight. Since the early morning sun is the most critical to a healthy green we are doing some tree removal around greens Nos. 1, 3, 7, 8 and the practice green on the North Course to allow more penetration of needed sunlight.

These are all greens that have had occasional issues and the tree removal will hopefully facilitate an improved growth environment, while not affecting the playability of any of those holes. Unfortunately the eastern most large tree on the practice green is dying and it too will be removed this spring.

Proper drainage is another concern for a healthy green as the water tends to collect in low spots and foster either disease or, in winter, ice damage. The rebuild of some of greens was associated to drainage issues, especially where the collars have grown to prevent water from running off the surface. The putting surface area also has to allow for water to pass through enough to reach the roots and feed the turf. Drainage of subsurface areas can be accomplished without major disruption to the putting surface with modern techniques.

Green design and routine physical maintenance via aerification helps to keep the soil profile in good condition by allowing gases, nutrients and water to move through the various layers and allow a healthy plant growing environment. Greens that slope enough to allow proper drainage, but not so steep as to prevent various cup locations, are ideal. South facing greens also ensure better sun exposure and longer growing seasons.

Green Committee

The green committee of any golf course has a very responsible position to fulfill and must make decisions that affect the total operation.

Our local committee is comprised of three current board members, Carroll Lilly, Jody Fee and Dennis McConnell; and three at-large members, Stacy Dolan, Jamin Patton and Steve Gold. They focus not only on daily practices for maintenance but on long range planning for course improvements and changes.

All our course improvement projects are developed with the help of Golf Course Architect, John Stiedel, and overseen by Superintendent Dick Collins. WLGC has been lucky enough to continue course improvements as needed over the years to develop what is easily the best public facility in the Northwest.