Frozen Greens

The mild December weather has allowed for the golf course to open on occasion. The decision whether to open the golf course is a day to day decision. Our policy is this: "If the greens are not frozen then we open the golf course." Even though day time temperatures may approach 40 degrees the cold night time temperatures cause the greens to freeze and they do not have an opportunity to thaw during the day. The decision to open or stay closed has nothing to do with frost on the grass blades. Frost is an issue we deal with in October and November. Walking on greens that are partially frozen can cause significant damage to the root system of our putting surfaces. A solid, healthy root system is the foundation to healthy turf and great putting surfaces during the golf season.

December 2011 Tree Report

Tree Report

December 13, 2011

The following trees have been subject to removal as per The Golf Course Master Plan as well as Darin Bevard, our USGA Agronomist.

The White Pines near #11 Tee need to be removed to allow sunlight onto #10 Green and to remove the tree roots from encroaching onto #11 Tee Complex. #10 Green is one of the first to show signs of stress during hot and dry conditions. This is caused by a lack of substantial sunlight. Notice the shadows in the picture that are currently on the green. These trees were marked for removal last winter but time did not permit.

The Ash Trees to the right of #11 Green have been dying for years. We continue to remove the dead trees. Currently 10 more trees in this area are marked for removal. We will continue to clean this area up and plant it with Aurora Gold Fescue.

Several Pines down the left side of #2 are remaining from last year’s work. There are several young deciduous trees planted in this area. The removal of the undesirable species will help promote the growth of the younger Oak Trees. This area will be damaged in the Spring when the Drainage Ditch is installed.

The Pine Trees to the left of #15 have been marked for removal. Several of these came down last year. There are several deciduous trees planted in this area. The removal of the undesirable species will promote development of the Oak Trees. This is also an area that has been marked on the Master Plan for Aurora Gold Fescue planting.

This tree was highly recommended for removal by Tom Marzolf while construction was taking place on #4. A decision was made to see how it played with the tree in place. It has been recommended by the Bunker Project Committee that this tree be removed. It hides the fairway bunker on the left and adds nothing to the golf hole.

The first photo here is a picture of four Scotch Pines left of #4 fairway. These trees are in poor health, poor appearance, and do not impact the playability of the golf course. The photo below is of four Spruce trees to the right of #14 Forward Tee. These trees are of poor species and do not add any aesthetic value or added playability to the golf course.

The four Pines pictured below are to the right of #7 Green. One of the three has been topped and is visually unappealing. These trees cause a shade situation on the seventh green. They also block at potential view of Summit Lake and are of an undesirable species.

The implementation of this tree management plan should concentrate on those trees that are causing a negative impact on turf conditions throughout the property. The trees around #11 Tee are having a direct negative impact on #10 Green. The tree to the left of #4 Fairway will soon begin to impact the quality of turf in the fairway and the newly installed drainage. The Trees to the left of #2 and #16 may sustain root damage when the drainage ditch is installed in the Spring as part of the Bunker Renovation.

The removal recommended above are consistent with the removals that have taken place over the past few years. An effort has been made to remove most Evergreen trees from the property that do not impact the playability of a golf hole. These trees are not native to our area and add no appeal to our property. This report is in conjunction with the Golf Course Master Plan that was approved by the membership. The final page of this report is a copy of Fazio Design’s Long Range Landscape Concepts for The Country Club of Scranton.



Respectfully Submitted,


Gregory L. Boring,
Golf Course Superintendent







LONG RANGE LANDSCAPE CONCEPT

(BASED ON FAZIO TEAM'S BELIEF THAT A GOLF COURSE LANDSCAPING

SHOULD OCCUR WITH INDIGENOUS PLANT MATERIAL)


◊ Adopt long-range landscape plan into club by-laws to maintain

desired planting principals.

◊ Remove diseased or unhealthy trees (potentially hazardous trees).

◊ Future planting on golf course to include native trees.

◊ Avoid Evergreen trees in play areas on any hole.

◊ Reduce amount of decorative plantings currently on

golf course (flowering, ornamental, non-indigenous).

◊ Maintain / increase amount of open space on course.

Avoid over planting course by filling in open spaces with plant

material.

◊ Clean out poor species and replace with indigenous hardwoods.

Remove shrubs and low branching material that hides golf balls.

◊ Reduce amount of trees in roughs. Rough is sufficiently penal

without having to play amongst densely vegetated areas.

◊ Reduce the number of overall trees.

◊ Remove vegetation that does not fulfill specific needs or functions.

◊ Open views from hole to hole.

◊ Enhance / maintain screen along perimeter of course.

◊ Naturalize lake banks by adding aquatic plantings.

◊ Create an environment, in respect to plantings that is believable

and natural, not decorative or ornamental.

◊ Emphasize the golf course and the game by using well-placed vegetation.

◊ The golf ball has the right-of-way to the hole. The game is played

in the air, not through the forest.

Frost Delay Video

This video explains why frost delays are necessary on the golf course. We typically do not play golf this late into the season. Unfortunately, dealing with frost and freeze delays are a part of playing golf into late November. Please remember that just because the frost has lifted the greens may still be frozen. It is our policy to keep the golf course closed when the greens are frozen.

Deep Tine Aerification

On Monday, November 7th the Green Department will be aerifying and topdressing Greens. We realize the the weather looks like it is going to be nice for a few more days but the good weather is important to allow us to complete this process. A delay in this process may risk the chance of being able to complete it. We will be utilizing an outside company to complete the Deep Tine Aerification and this date has been scheduled for six weeks. We have actually pushed the date back from the time we completed this last year. It has been our philosophy to complete a late Fall aerification rather than aerifying in the Spring. When aerifying in the Fall the greens will actually begin to recover under the covers and will cause less disruption in the Spring. A Spring aerification results in a long slow recovery process when golfers are most eager to get out on the golf course. The aerificaiton in November is also beneficial heading into the Winter months. Once the ground freezes the XGD Drainage System does not function properly. Water will not travel through frozen soil. The aerificaiton holes gives water a chance to find the drains that were installed. We realize there is never a perfect time to cause disruption to our putting surfaces. However, we feel our cultivation schedule is timed to provide the turf with the most agronomic benefit as well as causing the least amount of disruption to the membership.

Six More to Go

Our construction company has officially shut down the construction until next Spring. We will have six holes to complete. We have been extremely pleased with the quality of work we have been getting as well as the visual look of the new bunkers. We hope to start the project back up in mid-April but it truly will depend on Mother Nature. We will keep holes 10 and 11 completely closed for the remainder of the year. The sod will not have a chance to establish any roots. Therefore walking on it could cause the sod to shift. We have begun applying heavy topdressing to the fairways which will continue to firm our playing surfaces. We will begin aerifying and topdressing the North Course greens on Monday.

Coming to an End

Winter made an early showing last week that delayed the project a few day. We hope to have the construction company return tomorrow and finish for the season on Friday. We are expecting two truckloads of sod in here tomorrow morning to allow us to finish up some work we have on #10 and #11. This will leave us six holes left to complete in the Spring. Considering the weather that we experienced this Summer I think we are in pretty good shape. The construction company will return next Spring when the weather permits them to get some work done. I have recently posted over 900 photos on the blog. Just click on the link for Golf Course Construction Photos to access them.

Construction Photos Posted

New construction photos have been posted on the Photobucket account. To access the pictures click on the link above.

Weather Finally Turns

The great week of weather has allowed the construction company to be very productive this week. Three truckloads of sod have been laid this week. The fairway bunkers on #14 and #15 are nearly completed. We will be moving on to #10 next week. We will be limiting play on the Willows for the remainder of the year to allow the construction company to work uninterrupted and allow the Green Department to begin our Fall Maintenance. The Willow's greens will be aerified next week and we will begin verticutting the fairways and approaches. We will also begin seeding the newly established Fescue areas. These are the areas that have been roped off in recent weeks. As you can see we still have a great deal to do this Fall. Lets hope for good weather.

Slowed By Rain

The recent rains have obviously slowed down some progress of the project. The Contractor is trying to take appropriate steps to try and get back on track. They have recently subcontracted the installation of the sod on all finished work. We have recently completed the work on hole #4, #3, and #13. We have a little more work to do on #4 and #13 in the way of seeding of turf. The first cut (step cut) or rough on #4 will soon be moved to the new edges of the fairways. The areas of rough where the turf is stripped will then be seeded. With any luck we will have good weather in October and be able to make up some ground before we have to shut the project down for the Winter.

Soft Conditions

The recent weather has made conditions very soft on the golf course. The newly sodded areas are extremely soft and even walking on these areas will cause significant damage. As of Thursday morning 4.5" of rain has fallen. We have also not been able to mow anything since Monday. Obviously Greens, Fairways, and Rough have grown substantially this week and we are not sure when we will be able to get the mowers on the golf course. This rain event has been much different that the rain we received from Hurricane Irene. This rain has lasted for day with minimal run-off. Most of this rain has soaked in thus saturating the already wet soil. It will take some time for us to dry out.

NEW PHOTOS POSTED

Many new photos have been added to the photo bucket site. Click the link above for golf course construction photos.

Weather Not Cooperating

The Fourth hole is nearing completion with just a little sod left to be installed. However, the weather this week will slow production significantly. Extreme wet conditions does not allow the construction company to shape any new bunkers and results in significant damage from equipment.

We have had several questions about the condition of the new bentgrass sod near #7 Green. This sod has performed poorly since it was installed. A representative of the sod company has visited the site and is crediting the club for the sod on #7. We will be replacing the damaged pieces of sod in the very near future.

Divot Repair

Recently there has been a significant amount of damage to the putting surfaces in the way of divots. This has been a chronic problem this year with two diviots taken out of greens in the last week. The pictures to the left shows a divot that was taken out of the 10th green following Labor Day weekend. Frequent damage has also occured to the Putting Green throughout the year. The Green Department asks that you please be more careful on putting surfaces so that this type of damage does not continue.

Hole 12

The twelfth hole is nearing completion. We have a small amount of sod to lay up by the green and it will be completed. The fairway bunkers are large and intimidating. The cross bunker short of the green should make your lay up shot a little more challenging. The greenside bunkers are almost nearly engulfed in bentgrass/fairway turf which will allow balls to easily roll into the bunkers. There is a large amount of new sod that has been installed on #12 throughout the hole. We will remain cart path only until the sod has had a chance to knit.

Surviving Irene

Hurricane Irene rolled into Northeastern PA dumping nearly 4 inches of rain to the golf course. As we surveyed the damage on Monday morning we saw what we expected. The old Bunker were completely washed out and had standing water in almost all the bunkers. A four man crew went out with two machines to repair the bunkers. They were able to push the sand up but the water removal still needs to be performed. As for the new bunkers we had two minor washouts on #7 and #8 that were repaired within minutes. Even after 4 inches of rain and hurricane like conditions the new bunkers performed beautifully and were completely free of water the next morning.

# 8 Completed

#7 Nearing Completion

The seventh hole is nearing completion. We have a little more bent grass sod to lay on Monday and Tuesday. We will begin stripping the sod and the existing bunkers on #4 on Monday.

Ready for Play

Mark Ross, Joseph Cimochowski, Carlon Preate, and James Haggerty were the first to play #5 with all areas open for play. Mark Ross was the first person to "offically" hit out of our new bunkers.

Aerification

Course aerification has begun this morning and should continue through Wednesday. We plan on aerifying all 27 greens and fairways today. We will be working on approaches and tees throughout the week.

2011 Donald T. Nolan Memorial

The 2011 Donald T. Nolan Memorial Tournament will soon be in the books. The Green Department will begin aerifying the golf course tonight beginning on the Pines. We will be aerifying the Greens, Approaches, and Fairways this week. During this process it may be necessary to close holes periodically throughout the day. The faster we finish this process the sooner we can return your golf course to the membership.

Before and After #6

First True Test

We received our first rain event since the beginning of the project yesterday. 1.3" of rain fell yesterday in a very short period of time. With the rain falling at such a rapid rate I did expect a small amount of washout. Much to my surprise not one grain of sand was out of place in any of the three bunkers that have been competed. Even during the rain events the bunkers were shedding water as fast as it was falling. As happy as we have been with the look of the bunkers I was even more pleased with the way they performed under their first true test of inclement weather.

#6 Nearing Completion

The sixth hole is in the final stages of completion. The chipping area around the green will be sodded on Monday. The bluegrass rough was sodded today. The drainage and sand have also been installed. We have roped off the area and are encouraging carts to stay behind the ropes. We will also be placing signs asking golfers to enter and exit the green from the front. The amount of water needed to keep the sod healthy has made the turf very soft.

Short Game Challenge

The new expansive chipping areas were part of Walter Travis's original design at The Country Club of Scranton. This will be a continued theme as the projects moves forward on many of the holes.

Before and After

Progress Update

The liner and sand has been place in the bunker on #5. Sod will be delivered Monday afternoon and if weather cooperates we hope to have #5 completed my noon on Tuesday. The rough shaping of #6 has been completed and the architect will be here early next week to approve the bunker and chipping area. We should begin stripping sod on #7 Monday or Tuesday. To view all the photos of the project please visit my photo site at: http://photobucket.com/gregboring

Off and Running

The project intensity increased yesterday as our architect, Tom Marzolf arrived on site. The construction company was soon shaping Tom's vision for our golf course. We are off to a good start and are finally seeing some nice weather. Work has begun on #5 and #6. We will be moving on to #7 and #8 in the next week or so. We hope to begin laying sod by early next week on #5. Sand has started to arrive and once the drainage and liners have been installed we will begin installing the sand. It is an exciting time to be a member and even more exciting to be the Superintendent at The Country Club of Scranton.

Bunker Project Begins

Hawk Shaw Golf Course Construction arrived on the property today and got right to work. They began removing the sod and sand around the green side bunkers around #5 and #6. Our architect, Tom Marzolf will arrive on site tomorrow to give them specific instructions on the size and shape of the bunker. We plan on using the maintenance blog to keep the membership up to date on the progress of the project.

Building Strong Roots

The long hard winter took its toll on the golf course. Even the greens that came through the winter looking healthy have lost significant root depth and mass over the winter. Now is the time where we are trying to build those roots to prepare us for the upcoming season. For this reason we will be very conservative with our mowing heights for the next few weeks. This will result in noticeably slower green speeds. Our goal for the next few weeks is to improve the health of our greens. A strong root structure will allow us to present our members and guests with excellent putting surfaces throughout the season. As we begin to lower our cutting height you will start to see an increase in green speeds. We will continue to keep you updated on the progress throughout the Spring.

A Slow Start to the Season

The Winter Season has taken its toll on the golf course in many ways. Obviously the most severe was the damage to the greens. The extended long winter season has not allowed the golf course to respond like it currently does in early April. The soil temperatures are about 2 to 3 weeks behind where they should be. The result of that has been a golf course that is extremely slow to green up. The snow fall that stuck around until late March didn't not allow us to get on the golf course and begin our clean-up process. The process actually started on April 4th. Many of you that played this weekend may have noticed that projects that took place during the Winter months were not cleaned up. Currently, we are in the process of addressing these areas. We have a plan in place to present you the golf course you have been accustomed to. We are diligently working to help the greens recover from the damage. We will keep them closed as long as we can to help speed up this process. Green and black sand have been applied to the damaged areas to help increase soil temperatures. And we will continue to apply and remove covers daily to keep the cold temperatures from delaying the recovery process. We will also be watering these areas frequently to encourage seed germination and allow damage turf a chance to recover. The Winter project areas will be seeded this week. We will begin mowing our greens, tees, and fairways throughout the week, which will encourage more growth. With a lot of hard work, and some warmer weather things should begin to turn around quickly.

A Rough Winter

The Winter was a rough one for the Old Course Greens at The Country Club of Scranton. We have sustained ice damage on seven of the greens on the Old Course. The fourteenth green, (pictured to the left) sustained the most damage. These greens have been spiked, seeded, fertilized, and heavily topdressed. The Green Department removed snow and ice on the greens several times throughout the winter to try and prevent this from occurring. We will keep these greens closed for a period of time to allow these areas to recover. We will be able to give the membership 18 holes to play for the foreseeable future. The closing of these greens will allow them to recover more quickly. The covers will remain on these greens to help increase the soil temperatures, which will result in faster recovery. We have battled ice damage in the past. The shapes and undulations on our greens allow water to sit on the surface throughout the winter. The internal drainage is not effective once the soil freezes. The covers are designed to prevent wind and cold temperature kill. Unfortunately they do not help prevent damage from ice accumulation. They will take some time to recover but we will keep the membership up to date with the progress on an ongoing basis. The Green Department is doing everything possible to aide in a quick and thorough recovery.

Spring has Sprung

The very difficult winter has taken its toll on the golf course. We have experienced some ice damage on several of our green. Holes #6, #7, #9, #10, #14, and #18 has experienced some degree of damage. It is still to early to determine the severity and how much will respond to some warmer temperatures. We have recently fertilized these greens and the covers will remain on the Old Course until we start to experience some consistent warmer temperatures. We will keep you updated with the recovery process and let you know when the Old Course will open. We began removing the snow from the greens in early February to try and remove the ice. Keep in mind that the covers do not prevent ice damage. The covers are actually permeable. They allow water and air to pass through. Covers are used to protect the greens from extreme wind and extreme cold termperatures which we are so prone to.