Turf Safety Tips
14 APR 2022
Golf Cart Safety
Golf carts can be dangerous and not a toy. We care about safety for all and preventing injuries. Please be cautious, aware, and responsible when operating golf power carts this season.
Primary causes of golf cart-related injuries:
- Fell/jumped from cart 38.3%
- Struck/run over by cart 16.2%
- Collision with a vehicle or object 9.6%
- Cart overturned 8.9%
- Injury getting into or out of cart 4.9%
- Injury to protruding limb 3.2%
- Other 18.9%
Safety Rules & Practices:
- Golf carts should be driven only by licensed and authorized drivers.
- Keep legs, feet, and arms inside the golf cart.
- Never reverse downhill and use caution when driving over wet, muddy, steep, or uneven ground, especially around ponds, lakes, or bunkers. Approach steep or uneven ground vertically to avoid tipping or sliding off a golf cart.
- Never operate a golf cart under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
- Lock the brake before exiting the golf cart.
- Limit the number of people in the golf cart to the amount recommended.
- The golf cart should be parked only in proper places and on hard surfaces. Especially around greens and bunkers, please keep the golf cart parked on the cart path as it will cause damage to the golf turf and the grass will not recover for many months (or never).
- Restrain from excessive speeding and sharp turns. These vehicles are designed not to go over 30 km/h and will easily flip on one side because of the lower center of gravity.
- Avoid any sort of distraction, such as eating, drinking, reaching for objects, using cell phones, texting, etc.
- Respect the golf course, plants, wildlife, and don’t cause unnecessary damage.
Golf Course Care Tips
Golf course care is critically important this time of the year to help ensure the greens, fairways, and entire golf course can recover from the long cold winter. We appreciate all your help these next several weeks to protect the golf courses, and prevent further damage by fixing ball marks, divots, and operating power carts safely. Below are some tips and video links to help.
Please repairing all your ball marks and a couple others, if possible. Unfortunately, maintenance staffs spend a significant amount of time each year fixing unrepaired ball marks so they don’t negatively impact playability and aesthetics. If you repair your ball mark and a couple of others with the proper technique, you will help keep our golf greens fantastic. Also, the good karma may help you hole that next putt.
Repairing divots correctly is another easy way to make a difference this year and allow our maintenance teams to improve other areas of the golf course. Unrepaired divots on fairways, rough, and tee-boxes create scars and damage that may not heal for many months or ever. This leaves the risk of a bad lie in the fairway or rough for our fellow golfers. Repairing our divots correctly, along with a few others for good measure, will go a long way toward keeping fairways smooth this year.
We all know that golf carts can damage a course if they aren’t used properly, if traffic gets heavy, or if weather conditions aren’t conducive to cart traffic. Following the rules and keeping carts on paths as much as possible will make a difference. If you’re able to walk more often this year, that certainly won’t hurt either.
Bunkers
We removed rakes this year as it increases pace of play. Please give yourself a good lie in the bunker by lifting, cleaning, and placing your ball as close to its original position. Our maintenance teams are maintaining the bunkers daily or as required.