GOLFING HIGHLIGHTS

  Gurney Takes Control At Kutsher's C.C.

 

 

  It's great golfing news to learn that the Kutsher's Country Club will once again become part of the Sullivan County golfing community and that a professional  golf course superintendent is in charge of shaping the course up to championship form.

  Tabbed by many as one of Sullivan County's outstanding golf courses the facility is now under the management of  Guy Gurney

   The front-nine (1-9 holes) at Kutsher's Country Club Golf Course will open for play in mid July.

    The course layout at Kutsher's County Club  will see no major redesign and basically will remain the same but significant improvements will greet golfers, according to Gurney.

  Gurney noted that a  new modular constructed clubhouse will be added to the course and  28 new golf carts will be available to golfers. Stage two of the construction  phase will include a new clubhouse with a banquet hall, restaurant and pro-shop.

  For the time being Gurney is expected to become the golf course manager along with duties as clubhouse manager and manager of the pro-shop.

  Gurney presently has  11 employees working on the course and when the back nine opens will employ 15 to 16 grounds crew. 

  No date has been set for the opening of the back nine (holes 10-18). 

  Kutsher's Country Club will  be open to the general public and golfers will see a course that  has seen regrassing, reseeding of the fairways, tees and installation of new irrigation heads connected to a computerized system and refurbished traps that include beautiful white sand.
  A new driving range will also become a part of the course in the future.

 With slight modifications the 18th will be a slight dog leg left instead of the present dog leg right and a new fairway bunker will be added to this hole.
 Complete  bunker renovations included  removal of the old sand and reshaping the bunker floors, adding new drainage to all the bunkers, edging bunkers and adding new sod where needed and that the bunkers will also receive 4 inches of new white bunker sand.

  Originally construction of the Veria Health facility at the site of the former Kutsher's hotel would have resulted in a redesign of several  holes at the golf course but when the location of the Veria Center was moved this eliminated the need to redesign the golf course.

  Gurney is presently studying  plans  that may relocate the tees on hole No. 12 to the far side of Kutsher's pond which from the blue tees would result in a tee shot of about 190 yards over the pond to the fairway making this hole  an attractive "signature hole." He emphasized that this is only a design study plan at this point and more than likely will be part of phase two.

  Repairs also are taking place on the cart paths, drainage added where needed and course will be dressed up with new tee markers, benches, garbage cans, water coolers, yardage markers, bunker rakes, pins, cups and flags.
  Par on this course with the changes being made will be 71 to 72 with  a total yardage of around 7,200 yards from the blue tees. Par on the front nine will be 36 and on the back nine 36.

  Gurney was hired as the new Golf Course Superintend in April and has 26 years of construction and golf course maintenance experience. He was born and raised in Fairfield, Conn, a graduate of that high school and the University of Connecticut. He is married with three children. 

  With the  opening of Resorts World the Kutsher's Country Club Golf Course may get some of  the new resorts golf play until their redesigned Monster course opens possibly next year.

  Golf fees will be $25 with a cart for 9 holes and $35 with a cart for 18 to start with.

  The telephone number at the golf course is 845-707-4077.

 

Ed's Outlook

 

  All us golfers saw it, but, it's difficult to digest it.

  Phil Mickelson did something you do if you're four years old and playing mini golf for the first time.

  In one of the most bizarre moments in a career full of them, Mickelson intentionally hit a moving ball of the 13th hole to prevent it from racing off the front of the green.

  It resulted in a two-shot penalty under Rule 14-5 and pushed  his score on that hole to 10.

  Yes, he has apologized but this should never happen and Shinnecock Hills now has something in their record books no one is proud of. 

 

Golf Tip

By Bob Menges

 

Choosing a set of tee to play from is our tip this week.

Most golf courses have different tees to play from on each hole. They are called  tee markers and are set up on the teeing area.

 In the past, most courses had red tees for women, white for amateurs and blue tees for advanced players.

  Most courses today refer to the tees as forward, middle and back tees and some courses have an many as five different tee boxes to choose from. 

  One problem I see with most golfers is trying to play a golf course that is too long for them. I believe a golfer should pick out a set of tees to play from that will let them enjoy the golf course and not get frustrated.

  Some courses will recommend what tee you should play from based on your USGA handicap, but all golfers do not have a handicap so they do not understand what that means.

  On a typical scorecard you should be able to find out the total yardage of the course from each different set of tees. 

  The PGA of America and the United States Golf Association started a program called "Tee It Forward." Basically, this was designed to get golfers to move up to the tees that are best suited for his or her game.

  The program encourages golfers to play a course yardage based on  how far they hit the ball off the tee. For example, if you drive the ball 250 yards off the tee you should play a course that is 6200 to 6400 yards in total distance for all 18 holes. 

  As your driving distance goes down in length, you should play from the tees that make the course shorter in length. In doing this, it will allow the golfer to reach the green in less shots, thus making the round much more enjoyable.

  You can look up the "Tee It Forward" program to get a chart on the recommended yardages you should play based on your driving distance. If you play from the tees that are suited for your game you should see lower scores and enjoy yourself more on the golf course. 

  Robert Menges is the head golf professional at the Swan Lake Golf & Country Club on Mt. Hope Road in Swan Lake. He is available for private lessons and if  you have a question or subject you would like covered, he can be reached at 845-292-0323 or via email at menges@hughes.net 

 

Putting Tip

By Glenn Sonnenschein

 

  Speed control is one  of the key skills you need to become a good putter.

  The factors that effect the speed of putts are slope (uphill, downhill), height of green cut and grain.

  Reading these factors is a skill that takes observation and experience and a little common sense.

  Before each round a little time on the practice green will give you an idea of the speed of the greens that day. Although, as seen in the U.S. Open, the speed can change throughout the day depending on weather conditions.

  Speed control can be developed with some time on the practice green with the following exercises. With 6 balls, space them 4' apart starting 4' from the hole in a line out to 24'. Start putting them from the 4' putt, then the 8' putt etc. concentrating on the length of stroke needed to reach the hole. Us the same tempo stroke but just slightly longer as you get farther from the hole. Keep in mind that it is a stroke you are making as opposed to a hit that stops at the ball. Vary the hole that you putt to, some downhill, uphill and sidehill etc.

  Another drill is to take two balls ad start 15' from the hole putting the first and then adjust your stroke with the second ball depending on how you did with the first. Now vary distances around the green, 5', 25', 18', 45', 7' etc and this will help develop a feel for how must stroke you need for different distances. Do these drills on a regular basis and speed control will become second nature. 

  Glenn Sonenschein is a Class A PGA Professional and is Director of Golf at the Tarry Brae and Lochmor Golf Courses. He is available for golf lessons at Tarry Brae, at 387 Pleasant Valley Road, South Fallsburg. If you have questions or a subject you would like covered he can be reached at 845-434-2620 or by email at glenn@tarrybrae.com 

  

  Ed Townsend is a Public Relations Consultant to the sport of golf and brings over 60 years of sports journalism experience writing and compiling the information for this column. If you have league or tournament information, score a hole-in-one or shoot you age, let Ed know at 845-439-8177, email to edwardctownsend@hotmail.com or fax to 845-205-4474. View this column and Ed's photos at http://bght.blogspot.com We are also on Facebook and Twitter.