THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: Reaction mixed to 5A, 4A golf moving to fall in 2022

High school golf is moving to the fall in 2022, at least in 5A and 4A, whether many of the schools in Idaho wanted it or not.

Reaction was mixed to Tuesday's vote by the Idaho High School Activities Association board of control to approve the move, which was attempted once before, but finally passed this time.

A coach's view ...

"We don’t know if it’s going to be good or bad for the kids and for the programs, until we experience it," Coeur d'Alene boys golf coach Chase Bennett said. "The tee charts for pros and cons are pretty well balanced. Is it going to be an issue getting on the course when it’s 85, 90 degrees (in the summer and fall)? In the spring we don’t have that issue — they love us out there."

AN ADMINISTRATOR'S VIEW ...

"I think it's a bad move," said Post Falls High athletic director Craig Christensen, who said the big Boise-area schools and eastern Idaho schools pushed for the move, saying they were in danger of no longer being able to get on their courses in the spring, because of the demand for golf in those areas at that time. "I guess that was enough to get it passed."

From a golf professional ...

"I think it’s better (in the fall), in that all my members and the public really are antsy to get out and golf (in the spring)," said Dan Porter, head pro at Avondale Golf Club in Hayden Lake, which hosted the state 5A high school boys and girls golf tournaments in May. "And you’re also going to get kids playing a little better golf — they’ve been playing all through the summer through all the junior programs.

"For me, I’d rather have the spring open for my members. They've all had a winter, and they want to get out."

From another administrator ...

"We were fine either way," Lake City athletic director Jim Winger said, "but when I heard it passed I was kinda stunned, to be honest with you. I didn’t hear a lot of support from much of anyone."

APPARENTLY THE support from the Boise area and eastern Idaho was enough.

Yes, the golf should be better, as many of the players will be coming off a season of junior golf tournaments in the summer. Nowadays, they're coming off a winter of maybe hitting some balls indoors.

With the fall season starting in August, the weather will be better at the beginning of the season, compared to the late-February start to the spring season.

But by the end of the season — sometime in October — the weather would be worse. In the spring, the weather (usually) gets better as the season goes on.

The available competition for the 5A and 4A teams in North Idaho will get smaller. Coeur d'Alene annually hosts the popular Kraus Invitational at Avondale, drawing more than 20 teams, many from Washington.

With Washington schools still planning to play in the spring, and the 3As and smaller schools in Idaho still playing in the spring, the field for the Kraus (and other tournaments in the North) will be drastically smaller.

Christensen said he let everyone who would listen know he was against it.

"I feel bad for the 2As and 3As; they can't get into tournaments with the 4As and 5As and get that good competition," he said. "Now they're stuck in tournaments with other 2As and 3As."

ANOTHER THING — after a summer of wear and tear on the course, workers punch (aerate) their courses before the weather turns in the fall and winter, because that summer of wear and tear reduces oxygen levels in the soil and can inhibit water getting to turf roots. Aerification allows water, fertilizer, etc., to get to where it needs to in the soil.

"We just finished our punching two weeks ago, and the greens are just now coming out of it," Porter said. "Greens gotta heal."

Porter said if Avondale were to host a state tournament in the fall, and he "punched" the greens (and tees) in mid-September, the earliest the course would be in proper condition to host a state tournament would be mid- to late-October.

And who knows what the weather would be like then.

"You could get just about anything in North Idaho in the middle of October," Bennett said.

Still to be worked out is how early the fall golf season would start — and if this is a one- or two-year experiment. Other sports get going around the second week of August, and games are played before school begins. Would golf start sooner, because theoretically it would need to end soon?

Winger said his golf coaches were OK with the move to fall, noting the better weather (at least at the beginning of the season) and the kids still sharp after a summer of playing golf.

In addition to Avondale, The Highlands and The Links in Post Falls, and Twin Lakes Village have hosted state golf tourneys in recent years, and Circling Raven in Worley did a few years ago.

Bennett said golf is especially popular at Coeur d'Alene High. He said a recent signup sheet for boys and girls students interested in playing golf in the spring included 51 names — far more players than he could ever keep in the program.

State tournament sites rotate around the state, and North Idaho courses gladly host every few years when they are given the opportunity.

Just like Coeur d'Alene did just a few months ago at Avondale for the state 5A boys and girls tournaments.

"It’s a lot of extra work, but I would be willing to do it every time," Bennett said.

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter @CdAPressSports.