The Cloquet Country Club's back nine is incapable of supporting healthy grass conditions for good golf. The Club's July newsletter includes statements from the CCC Board president that support my claims. The fairways are concrete hard in spots and the grass does not grow because the drainage base under the topsoil wasn't constructed properly and does not allow staff to aerate the fairways without breaking their equipment on the underlying rocks. The sod that was placed on the fairways is so contaminated with thatch that water can not get through the thatch to the roots. The grass never grows. It remains a sickly yellowish green. During three seasons of play, I saw several fairways where the grass was never cut because it did not grow. The back nine greens are like "birdbaths" that hold water in their low spots. Read the USGA's report about the CCC that was distributed to the members -- the USGA report is the source for many of my statements. The thickness of the layer of drainage sand (please note that a certain thickness is needed to maintain the correct moisture level for healthy greens) varies throughout each green. The moisture problem causes areas that are always very wet and muddy. Other areas are not muddy wet, but they are too moist for healthy plant growth and the excessive moisture breeds mold and other plant diseases which affect the greens. Some areas are so dry they can not grow grass. Most of the greens have large areas where the layer of drainage sand under the grass is not thick enough to place a golf hole. The front nine used to be blessed with very lush fairways, healthy and fast greens, and beautiful pine trees along the fairways. If you compare Cloquet maintenance expenditures for chemical applications, fertilizer, grass seed, top dressing, etc. from the year before I joined, when the course was properly maintained to expenditures in the years that I was a member, you can see the drastic reduction in expenditures that led to the course's rapidly deteriorating condition. Play at the Cloquet Country Club is usually very slow. The Board of Directors decided it could not afford to ranger the course so members get away with whatever they want. Groups of five and six are common and I encountered groups of seven on many occasions. It can take six hours to play eighteen holes behind some of these people who were ahead of me every time I played. They never let you play through -- sometimes, it seemed like they were unaware that anyone else was on the course. During two separate incidents in my last season, I had a senior player (golfing with his wife) and a middle aged father golfing with his wife and kids, steal my golf ball from the fairway, right in front of me and the people I was with. Unbelievable! What a role model this Cloquet father was for his children. The Club House is old, dirty, unattractive, and cheap looking with a breitling replica sale of white waterproofing material on the roof. The menu is limited and the hours of operation are inconsistent. One Friday afternoon around 5:00 p.m., the staff did not know whether the kitchen was open or not. Great customer service. One of my biggest complaints about the Cloquet Country Club is the thoughtless behavior of several of the maintenance workers. They think nothing of driving around, behind, beside, or in front of you while you are playing. They run their machines no matter what you are trying to do or where. They laugh, yell, and scream at one another whenever they wan't. I had to wait ten minutes on the 5th hole one day while two of them wrestled in the middle of the fairway until they spotted me. One of the worst offenders is an employee who is also a Board member and Chair of the Club's Membership Committee. Is it a conflict of interest for an employee to sit on the Board? I only ask the question. | 
