Bella Vista General Manager Recommends Overseeding
Last updated Tuesday, August 19, 2008 9:17 PM CDT in News
By Anna Fry
The Morning News
Related Photos
BELLA VISTA - The Bella Vista Property Owners Association's general manager will recommend overseeding some golf courses to accommodate disabled and elderly golfers.
The association's board of directors in June upheld a decision to halt overseeding on all courses, citing better turf conditions and cost savings. The association overseeds with rye grass, which thrives in winter and remains green.
But several directors expressed concern because not overseeding means golf carts are restricted to paths during winter months, and some residents aren't physically able to walk the courses. They asked the administration to find a way to accommodate golfers with disabilities.
"There's no way we feel we can really accommodate them unless we do some overseeding," Bailey said.
He plans to recommend overseeding the Berksdale and Kingswood courses to the board at a meeting Thursday night. It's possible he will also recommend overseeding the Scotsdale course, he said.
Many golfers objected to the board's decision to halt overseeding. One was Chuck Schroeder of Little Chute, Wis., who comes to golf in Bella Vista twice a year. He comes every summer with his family and in March with a "big group of guys."
"We come down to get out of the Wisconsin winter to see some early green grass and we're not going to come down to play on dormant Bermuda grass," he said.
Bella Vista resident Paul Burris said he thinks Bailey's plan is a good compromise as opposed to restricting carts to paths on all courses during the winter.
"We've got too many folks in the village who could just simply not play, and that would make our rounds go down even more," he said.
The association is down about 5,000 or 6,000 golf rounds annually from what is budgeted, but a good month could compensate for that, Bailey said. It's projected golfers will play 222,000 rounds in 2008. Golf fees are expected to produce 17 percent of the association's income this year.
Burris said he's physically able to golf without a cart but doesn't want to because he doesn't enjoy it. In the winter, he likes the heater on his cart.
There is a misconception the board halted overseeding to save money, Bailey said. The plan was to use the money saved on overseeding for weed control, he said.
Overseeding some courses would be experimental to see if they can handle the increased cart traffic, Bailey said.
Some residents suggested overseeding the courses on a rotating basis. That could work once the turf is rebuilt, Bailey said. Rye grass blocks sunlight, and when Bermuda is weak, weeds grow, he said.
"We're dealing with 18 years now of accumulated damage," he said.
Meeting Information
Bella Vista Property Owners Association Board Of Directors
When: 6 p.m. Thursday
Where: Board Meeting Room, Country Club
Reader Comments (2 comment(s))
The following comments are provided by readers and are the sole responsibility of their authors. The Morning News does not review comments before their publication, nor do we guarantee their accuracy. By publishing a comment here you agree to abide by our comment policy. If you see a comment that violates our policy, please notify the web editor.
Not already registered?
BCR wrote on Aug 20, 2008 8:16 AM: