BRING ON THE HEAT: HOT WEATHER SUITS JAYCEES COURSE

Searing temperatures may not be the ideal playing condition for golfers, but Jaycees Municipal Golf Course greens superintendent Randy Lueder welcomes the scorching heat of July and August.

While other courses struggle to keep their bent grass greens from burning up, the Bermuda greens and fairways of Jaycees are rounding into their best condition of the year.

As Jaycees recreation coordinator Sabrina Tate notes, "We can't get it hot enough out here. The hotter and humider, the better (the grass) takes. We try do everything we can in the summer because of the heat."

In fact, the course has recently taken advantage of the heat to plant new Kickstand Bermuda fairways on Nos. 16 and 18.

While some golfers may not understand why the two holes were tilled up and closed for several days during the middle of the golf season, Lueder cited the calender for two reasons.

The course is owned and operated by the City of Cape Girardeau, which begins its fiscal year on July 1. Funds became available for the reseeding project, which coincided with the heat.

"The weather is the main thing," said Lueder. "With Bermuda you have to wait at least until its 85 to 90 out before you can do anything."

A $2,000 reseeding project began on July 15 and the holes were closed for a week. The two holes are now open for play, but are nowhere near playable.

Lueder, who has been the greens superintendent for the past nine years, estimates the new 328 Tiffgren Bermuda will be coming in at about 50 percent within three weeks.

The grass is different from the Westwood Bermuda on the other fairways. Lueder said it is the same kind of grass currently at Busch Stadium and replaces the "junk" that previously provided the green coloring on the fairways.

"We wanted a strand of grass that would be hardier," said Lueder. "And it should be faster to green up in the spring."

He said many courses close holes for three or four months to allow new grass to grow.

"I didn't want to do that because of the amount of play," Lueder said.

He said he didn't hear any complaints when the holes were shut down.

"Of course 16 was pretty bad," he said. "It was rough and had a lot of holes and bare spots. I think people realized that. I didn't want to keep it closed all year because then you would get some griping. We want to keep the play flowing."

Tate, who manages the clubhouse and golf activities, said the course did have to answer a few dissatisfied golfers when the holes were closed.

"We had a few people tell us they just would of paid for nine holes if they knew the holes were closed," said Tate. "We had a big sign posted when they came in and assumed people would read it before they came in. Ninety percent of the people are good to work with. Some of them just didn't understand why we had to do this in the middle of the season instead of the offseason. The main reason is heat and Bermuda."

The pond on hole No. 16, which provides water for approximately half the course, was also recently drained. A new suction line for the irrigation system was installed and the pond, fed by a well, is currently refilling.

Lueder said the course is watered with 250,000 gallons a night when the irrigation system is in full operation.

With a limited budget, Lueder said no other course projects will be undertaken by his nine-man staff this year.