Events

Western Lakes has always taken great pride in providing a quality product at a reasonable price.  As many of you have seen over the last week or so, we are experiencing difficulties with our greens. We feel that we owe you an answer as to what exactly is happening and what is being done to fix it.

Every spring as the turf comes out of dormancy, it is stressed due to harsh winter conditions.  For the plant to come back to prime condition it needs warmth, sunlight, and a little bit of moisture. This spring we received little sunlight, not much warmth, but an extreme amount of rain.  The parts of the green that appear the be dead are actually experiencing what is commonly referred to as “root rot”.  After receiving over 9 inches of rain over the past 18 days, the ground is so saturated that the roots of the plant are suffocating as they are unable to breathe.  The leaf of the plant has now died, but there is still life in the root.  What we need is for Mother Nature to quit with the rain and give us some dry sunny weather.  Once the ground begins to dry and the roots get oxygen, the plant can rejuvenate.  If the current 10-day forecast holds, this disaster can turn around quickly and we can get back to normal.

Although nobody is at fault for this problem, the ownership and staff at Western Lakes feel awful about the current condition of the course.  Please know that this is not being taken lightly and that we will be doing whatever it takes to restore the greens to prime condition.  We have brought in PhD turf management experts from the University of Wisconsin to test our soil conditions and work with our staff to find the best possible solution.  Greens were punched to quicken the drying process and help the plant breathe, plus we added additional seed to the areas already seeded last week, to grow turf in areas that may not come back on their own.

We appreciate your support over the years and ask that you please hang in there with us through this troubling time.  The year is bad enough with having to deal with COVID-19, but this has put our stress level at an all-time high.  We are making no excuses for this problem, but rather focusing our energy on finding a solution.  Thank you again for your continued support.