While traveling throughout the Rocky Mountain region it was obvious that folks were already nervous about the dry start to the year. Currently, there are numerous wildfires active in all seven of the western states that I cover. (Colo, Utah, Wyo, Mont, Idaho, S.D., N.D.) The combination of wildfires, high winds and a lack of rain has put the entire region on edge.
The Northwest Region plays host to two USGA Championships in the next two months. Starting next week the state of Utah is hosting its first USGA National Championship. The 87th Amateur Public Links (APL) will be conducted at Soldier Hollow Golf Course in Midway, Utah. Meanwhile, Colorado will host the 112th U.S. Amateur to be held at Cherry Hills Country Club and CommonGround Golf Course.
The USGA Green Section is available to make course visits to help review your maintenance programs. We can often help educate players and course officials about the challenges of golf course maintenance thru our TAS (Turf Advisory Service) program. For information about a TAS visit in the Northwest Region, please contact Larry Gilhuly, director, (lgilhuly@usga.org) or Derf Soller, agronomist (dsoller@usga.org) for more information or to schedule a visit. Wendy Schwertfeger, administrative assistant, may also be reached for information at: 208.732.0280 or at wendys@usga.org.