No response from the club

For more than a month several residents located near the #5 green have been attempting to learn what the club's long term plans are for installation and operation of the fans. On July 22 I wrote an e-mail to Steffie Safrit that ended with the following plea:

"Steffie, I strongly encourage you to push the club to come up with some creative proposals ASAP. So far we know little about the golf course management's plans for long term use of the fans and mitigation of the noise. All we know is that the present noise level and fan schedule is intolerable. The ball is in your court."

Since then I've had not one word of response from Steffie, in spite of additional requests for information and invitations for dialog. When others have called, the reply has been to deny that there's any problem with the fans and to claim the noise levels are in some sense "normal."

It's worth reading what the USGA Turf Grass web site has to say about noise. At that site, the paragraph on fan noise reads as follows:

The auditory effects of fans are also a consideration. Most courses have home sites near some of their greens today, and some residents may be close enough to hear the fan motor noise. Educating your neighbors about the importance of the fans is essential for the superintendent. Letters sent to these homeowners each spring discussing the agronomic value and fan operational hours may help reduce complaints.

Noise being "close enough to hear" is hardly an apt description for noise that inhibits conversation and drives neighborhood residents to retreat from their back porches. This paragraph strongly suggests that what the USGA considers the norm is noise levels considerably lower than what many are experienceing in MacGregor Downs.