GOOD NEWS FOR FOX RUN!

It seems that for a long time no one got it: "Plans" without action, are as valuable as the paper these are written on. Furthermore, bad plans done right, are more damaging than good plans done wrong. In other words, doing the wrong thing right takes a lot longer to fix than doing the right thing wrong, and golf courses or operations of golf courses, are not immune to this statement, and specifically, Gallup.

In early 2009, after four straight years (2005-2008) with season long problems that negatively affected the course conditions and playability, our former golf course superintendent, acting on an idea of a fellow city employee and friend (the grant writer for the City of Gallup), came up with a "6-Year Plan" (written by both) that was later called, by both of them, "a Wish-List dependant on funding" (????!!)

When the superintendent was asked what could he do with the resources he had, instead of what he could promise with what he didn't have, he declined to answer... and in fact, nothing was done... OK almost nothing: there was the "Signature Hole" project with which 70,000 sq ft of perfectly usable grass on #14 and #17 were destroyed with the excuse that the area was full of weeds and Bermuda grass, none of which was true. Now, after 5 months of "fiinishing" these areas for seeding, they are full of weeds, and the new "weather station" is useless because the soil was not prepared right to begin with (note: the grass taken out was not used to sod any of the problem areas of the course and was destroyed by spraying with chemicals the day before it was turned inside out with a tractor on September of 2009). The result is that over $120,000 of your tax payer dollars, were wasted! (and that is just one project!). So, 18 months after releasing the "6-Year Plan", the golf course was all but gone. Sure, there will be a "spin" of "he was not allowed to finish", which many might thnk of as a positive. Many say "good, just look at what he left", and some say, "he was a scapegoat". You decide. OK, that is past.

The good news for Fox Run is that the "3-Year" plan of 2007 (which was never implemented), and the "6-Year" plan of 2009 (ditto), have been replaced by a 90 Day Plan that starts Monday, July 19, 2010 and which will be carried on mainly by Tommy Noe (see pictures) and some by city councilor Bryan Wall. The plan could be called "A 90 Day, Take Action Now, There Are Things That Can Be Done Now" plan. Obviously, there is little that can be done in 90 days except perhaps show that with some action, our golf course, which regressed 20 years or so in rounds and revenue, can be salvaged instead of trying to build a new course that would cost upwards to $12,000,000 that we don't have.  In addition to the operation, the addition of Vince Alonzo, who spent well over 25 years with the city in golf course and parks,  gives our course something we lacked for a while: personality to deal with the public. Alonzo -who is acting as a foreman who is well liked and respected by public and crew-, and Richard Gomez, who has been at the golf course for close to 20 years and knows pretty much how to run the maintenance, make a good team with Noe, who knows the construction end. People have already noticed some positive changes in the daily procedures and are hopeful. With time, they will notice the construction part.

This 90 Day plan calls for redoing greens #'s 7, 8 and 10, plus seeding the driving range (the sprinklers had been capped off for no known reason since the end of 2007, which not only caused the cancellation of Junior program in 2008 and 2009, but also caused losing the fairway on #18, when the winds blew the sand of a bare driving range to the adjacent fairway). There is a lot to be done, but these three greens and the driving range is a great start. There is another positive: the public, thank God, if given something positive and some hope, usually has short memory. Show some progress instead of broken promises, and the previous 6 years will be forgotten, almsot overnight!

Two questions remain:  1) What do we do with the $150,000 "signature hole" and the destruction of #14 that yielded nothing but weeds? (the whole thing will have to be redone in order to regrow the wasted grass; and 2) Who approved this nonsense by the superintendent, particularly after strong warnings?

PICTURES:
Top Left: Vince Alonzo praising the "top dogs" (top right) of the golf course crew: Preston Tom, Richard Gomez (Asst. Superintendent) and Dennis Nieto.

Bottom: Left, Tommy Noe (operating the "BobCat") beginning work on #7 green; and on right, #7 green totally "rotto-tilled" before the soiuld is mixed with sand and peat-moss, and then reshaped and ready for sod.