Letter to the Editor

Conditions at Thunder Bayou win praise

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

To the editor:

My son Brock and I visited Thunder Bayou for a round of golf July 5, more out of curiosity than anything else ... I am course superintendent at Blytheville Country Club and Brock is assistant superintendent at Jonesboro Country Club.

We wanted to see how the new superintendent, Dale Fender, was doing. We were amazed!

Not only were the bent grass greens alive, there was no disease present. The entire course was in the best shape I have seen it in four or five years. No, the greens weren't as firm and fast as they were when Jeff Haskins was superintendent, but they weren't missing a strand of grass and were 8-8.5 on the stimpmeter.

You have to understand that Dale is using equipment that is worn out. It is hard enough to do a good job with nice equipment like Brock and I both have at our courses. I understand his position because I had the same problems when I started at BCC in May 2002. But by 2005, the club started investing in the golf course by buying new equipment piece-by-piece every year since 2004. Not only am I able to do a better, more efficient job with these investments, the membership is pleased with the results. BCC has some of the best amenities of any golf club in a 300-mile radius, the most well-stocked pro shop anywhere, clay tennis courts, a just-refurbished Olympic sized swimming pool and a good golf course.

It's because the members and board have made the proper decisions and invested in all areas.

Dale Fender has done a remarkable job at Thunder Bayou. He has been able to do it with equipment that has no life left in it. He doesn't know on any given day if his fairway units will make it through the day, much less mow evenly. The triplex units are absolutely exhausted.

The have rebuilt bunkers and they are as good as any bunkers anywhere, except probably Dalhousie near Cape Girardeau.

He installed a 6-inch drain pipe recently to prevent the pump house from flooding ... no one told him to do this, he just decided to solve a problem tat has existed since the course opened. The pump house has flooded numerous times, costing the city hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years. The electric components are destroyed inside each time this area floods, and a 3- or 4-inch rain will cause flooding!

I am impressed with what he has accomplished and I'm not easily impressed at the care of a golf course.

Superintendents are resilient. The yearn to be mentors and want to help employees advance in their jobs and careers, to enable them to reach their full capacity. We don't have any problems, only challenges we have yet to overcome. So our perspective on a problem (challenge) makes all the difference when it comes to finding a solution.

I offer thanks to Dale for a job well done. I'm sure the people of Blytheville are proud of your accomplishments, especially since tax dollars are being spent. You are doing a great job and it is simply because you want to make thunder Bayou as good as you can. It's a pride issue with superintendents -- your golf course is a direct reflection of who you are.

Ted Bullard
Blytheville Country Club golf course superintendent