Spring Cart Traffic Reminders

Now that we are finally dried up enough to let carts off the path it's a good time for some reminders on cart traffic.  How you drive your cart has a big impact on course conditions. 

Summary of the basics...

1. Park all your tires on the path when stopping at a green or tee.
2. Enter the fairway anywhere beyond the first black and white post.  90 Degree turn off the path to your ball. 
3. Exit the fairway anywhere before the second black and white post.  90 Degree turn onto the path.
4. Only 2 carts may leave the path on any given hole.  
5. Don't drive in the rough on the "far" side of the hole.  
6. All Par 3s are cart path only.

Expanding on those basics with the top four mishaps we see from golf carts...

1. Parking at a green or tee with two tires in the turf.  This ultimately kills the turf which quickly leads to a full crop of unwanted weeds like goosegrass and others.  Those weeds then put up millions of seeds which get tracked to the tees and greens.  Please park all four tires on the path when stopping at greens and tees.
2. Misinterpreting or ignoring the two traffic posts along the path.  The two black and white posts on each hole represent the first and last points of entry/exit.  You can exit the path anywhere past the first post and return anywhere before the second post.   If your second shot does not go beyond the second post, then you are free to drive directly to your next shot.  Once your ball is well beyond the second post, head back to the path at 90 Degrees.  Most humans instinctively take the quickest route and ignore the posts or the 90 degree rule.  We may remove the first post on each hole this year and try another method if we don't see improvement in the 2 post system.  
3. More than 2 carts per group leaving the path.  When a threesome has 3 carts or a foursome has 4 carts we ask that only 2 carts leave the path per hole.  This obviously helps alleviate unnecessary wear and tear.  One of the unintended consequences of having so many private carts is that very few people ride together.  Fescue in the rough does not fare well during the busy summer season and the fall golf season doesn't offer us a reasonable opportunity to re-seed.  Anything we can do to alleviate excess wear is a plus.  
4. Driving in the rough on the "far" side of the fairway.  Fescue rough on the "far" side of each hole (the side opposite the cart path) is off limits to cart traffic.  This was the policy in place when I arrived in 2000 and it was clearly a smart one so we kept it.  Please limit traffic in the rough to just the travel between the fairway and the path.