Scorched Earth
Wed, 08/04/2021 - 1:53pm
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Mtn. View Mayor Speaks Out on Golf Course Conditions
By:
Amanda Mendez, Publisher
Elected on June 2, 2020, Mountain View Mayor Donnie Pruett’s 13 months in office have been plagued with criticism and upheaval. The latest round of complaints has to do with the municipal golf course. The 18-hole course at Mountain View opened in 1980. Designed by Bob Stevens, the course features 6,175 yards from the longest tees and a par of 72.
So far this season, three organizations have cancelled tournaments at the golf course. According to Mayor Pruett, one organization cancelled due to COVID concerns and the other two pulled out because of an increase in tournament fees. The recently passed municipal budget shows an expected revenue of $13,000 in tournament fees for the upcoming fiscal year. This figure was based on similar revenues raised in past years, reported Mayor Pruett. It is unclear whether this sum can be recovered. The City of Mountain View uses a July-to-July fiscal year, meaning there will be opportunities to host tournaments during this fiscal year next spring and early summer. Pruett pointed out that this year’s golf department budget is projected to spend $11,000 less this year on salaries and wages compared to the last budget.
A Tale of Two Timelines
It is clear to even the most casual observer that the greens at the Mountain View course are currently damaged and unattractive. What remains at odds between those who blame the mayor and those who do not is exactly when the declining conditions at the course became a major problem.
As tournaments were cancelled this summer, this reporter received multiple requests to investigate the City’s management of the municipal course. One critic who was willing to go on the record was Desmond “Des” Miller. A member of the Mountain View Golf Course since 1998, Miller was banned from the course in March 2021. According to Miller, he was banned for making critical comments about the course on Facebook. A heated verbal exchange at the clubhouse followed, confirms current golf superintendent Denny Cunningham. Cunningham has since invited Miller back, but Miller does not play in Mountain View anymore.
According to Miller, the course has had its problems over the years, but conditions took a sharp turn for the worse because of the mayor’s involvement.
In Miller’s version of events, after his election as mayor, Pruett “started changing things” at the course and was overly involved in its management. The superintendent at the time resigned and volunteers from the community stepped in to maintain the course while the City looked for a replacement, as they had done in recent previous gaps between managers. Miller said he personally volunteered.
Problems including a defunct irrigation system are alleged to have caused significant damage to the greens during this time. The current superintendent, the fourth in three years, Denny Cunningham, began work on January 4, 2021. Miller suggests course conditions began to rapidly deteriorate further.
“The course at that point was completely done,” said Miller in an interview on July 20, “They didn’t take the time to water [the greens] and keep them in shape… All of this transpired because these people [in the City government] wanted to make all the decisions in the course regardless of who is running it… It’s been a nightmare to watch it decline.”
However, Pruett himself and Superintendent Cunningham counter this version of events with one that contrasts the level of damage that currently exists at the golf course with the period of time they have each been in decision-making positions.
One Year, One Season
“I don’t know how I could decline the golf course in one year,” Mayor Pruett said to Howell County News in an interview on July 30, “I have only been in office about a year, one season...
Maybe I did micromanage in the beginning. I was gung ho.”
Last June, Mayor Pruett and the Board of Alderman fired then-City Administrator Mike Wake within an hour of taking their oaths of office. Since then, Pruett has functioned in many of the roles that have been recently handled by the City Administrator. He points out this has saved the City more than $90,000 in salary and benefit expenses.
“I’m for the course and I’m for the town, and I stepped on some toes. I knew I would have to make tough decisions,” Pruett said.
When Pruett was elected mayor, Dennis Voyles was the golf superintendent. Both Miller (and other critics) and Mayor Pruett agree that Voyles did fine work for the City.
“The course was in bad shape way before Dennis, but he made it work with what he had to work with,” Pruett said.
Now under Denny Cunningham, the golf course is facing problems the City says are at least 5 or 6 years in the making. Cunningham’s first priority was tackling a defunct irrigation system. He told Howell County News in an interview July 31 that he and his employees excavated over 120 buried sprinkler heads and spent about $20,000 to restore the watering system. Today, the water is no longer the problem.
A Blight on the Greens
According to current golf superintendent Cunningham, the reason for the current appearance of the greens is because they have been damaged by a fungus called Pythium blight. He says when he took the position, he discovered about $80,000 worth of antifungal chemicals in storage that had not been applied properly over a period of several years.
Mayor Pruett corroborated this statement, saying that the superintendent before Cunningham, Voyles, resigned his position before the window to properly apply them occurred and Cunningham was not hired until afterwards.
Cunningham is now actively treating the course for the blight and says the greens are salvageable.
“On every green where blight hit, we sprayed and stopped it. Therefore, none has went to sand. Still grass, just not pretty green,” he said.
Despite their appearance, Cunningham says the greens are “completely playable.”
“Give the Man a Chance”
When confronted with the accusation of being personally responsible for the problems at the golf course, Mayor Pruett stood behind his decisions, specifically his decision to hire Cunningham who he said was the only applicant in six months who had any golf course experience.
“He impressed me with his desire, his willingness to work,” Pruett said, explaining that Cunningham paid $2,000 out of his own pocket to take a course in turf management.
“These people, [my critics], are not giving our supers time to fix it, and nobody can fix it in one year,” Pruett said. “Give the man a chance. We can’t run off every super I get.”
For himself, Cunningham also wants a chance to prove his abilities.
“Look, I'm just a guy who happens to love bent grass, greens, fairways. I love to see the beauty of something that I have redone or created. I...take pride in what I do. I have not even seeded, verticutted, or anything with planting new grass. I inherited a mess, and I'm doing my best, along with two devoted hard workers, to solve the course’s problem once and for all...Give me the dignity of a chance.”
Current State
At the time of this writing, the golf superintendent reports that two of the eighteen holes still have problems with the fungal blight. The recently fully operational irrigation system should have programmed control panels by next week. Greens are being cut and re-shaped.
While the City is confident the course can be salvaged, detractors worry that they may be beyond repair. For now, golfers and taxpayers in Mountain View must watch and wait.
Editor’s note: This publication is aware of disagreement and criticisms regarding Mayor Pruett’s firing of a longtime golf course employee. Because employment information is protected, we are choosing to omit these particular criticisms from this article.