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.