Santa Fe’s golf course is in lousy shape

Ihave been playing golf at our Marty Sanchez Links de Santa Fe regularly for 10 years, and I have never seen conditions so bad.

Over the past two years, things had been improving dramatically under the expert guidance of Patrick Brockwell, the recently retired golf course superintendent. Now all of the hard-won progress is vanishing at an alarming pace.

Recently, we played on a golf course that was squishy, septic smelly, with unmowed fairways, leaking valves on cart paths, damaged greens and neglected, weedy sand traps.

We, the patrons of the course, were hoping for a qualified superintendent to continue the progress of the former superintendent, but alas, rumor has it they have hired a gentleman without the necessary experience to take over this complex and demanding golf course. We have already witnessed the lack of experience in the new management, as the greens, so meticulously maintained, immediately began to decline. Nearly half of No. 11 is dead and No. 12 is on the way. The rest of the greens are getting gouged, scalped and have creeping weed infestations.

I play other area courses, and they have maintained excellent conditions with the help of this year’s lovely monsoons. The difficult labor market has affected other courses, too, but they have managed to meet the challenge and get the job done. This can no longer be the excuse the management at Marty Sanchez uses for a declining golf course.

We, the citizens of Santa Fe, have paid for this facility to be built and maintained. This is our home course. We pay fees to play each time out, and we are not getting what we have paid for. The city of Santa Fe deserves better; Marty Sanchez Links de Santa Fe deserves better. Get some competent managers and workers in place now.