Project Coming to a End

COURSE UPDATE

Many of you have asked the question, “What did we do to the greens?  And why did we do it now.”  The process we performed is called DryJect.  This process involves punching a hole with high pressure water and filling that hole with sand.  This process incorporates a large amount of sand into the root zone of our soil based greens.  The reason we decide to perform this now is due to the quick recovery time while the turf is actively growing.  We decided years ago to change our aerification schedule.  Most golfers are very anxious to get out in the Spring and enjoy a round of golf.  The last thing they want to encounter is aerified greens.  Aerificaiton recovery times can be very lengthy in the Spring due to the cold nighttime temperatures that we encounter in Northeast PA.  For these reasons we have altered our typical aerification schedule.  We have utilized the following schedule the past few years as our aerificaiton schedule for our putting surfaces.

Early June:   Small Hole Aerificaiton
Late July : Large Hole Aerification
Late October: Large Hole Aerification
Mid November: Small Hole Aerificaiton

We realize that the aerificaiton process is not popular one.  We probably dislike it more than anyone.  It is extremely labor intensive and takes many hours to complete.  However, it is a necessary process to allow us to provide quality putting surfaces.  We resumed mowing the greens yesterday and will continue to do so through the weekend.  The sand on the surfaces if very difficult on our mowers and we will struggle to get a quality cut on the greens over the next few days.  The greens should be back to normal speed by the middle of next week and the holes should be a distant memory.

The construction project is progressing well.  We painted out the last hole yesterday and Hawk Shaw should begin working on #2 sometime late next week.  We expect #1 to be completed early next week and #16 and #17 will follow quickly behind #1.  Most of the new sod has been roped off.  Please continue to pay attention to cart signs and cart restriction and take care of the bunkers by raking them once you have played out of them.   The new bunkers and sod will be open for play beginning this weekend.  We will open #18 in approximately a week or two.

As always it is a pleasure to be your Golf Course Superintendent.  We are extremely excited as the project begins to come to a close.  We are continuing to tend to scaring that has taken place during the process by seeding and fertilize these areas.  They will continue to improve over time.

Hope to see you out on the golf course.

Gregory Boring,
Golf Course Superintendent  

New Cart Signs

The Green Department recently installed cart directional signs throughout the golf course.  The intent of these signs is to direct cart traffic to the cart path before they get too close to the green.  When you approach one of these signs please proceed to the cart path.  Our goal is to protect the investment that has been made on the golf course. 

Construction Update

Our contractor has begun working on two of the remaining six holes.  They will soon be adding sand to the greenside bunkers on #9.  The chipping area behind #9 Green should be approved by
Mr. Marzolf (our architect) on Wednesday and we will begin sodding it soon after we receive approval.  We also hope to have approval of the bunkers on # 18 by late next week.

A "Rough" time of year.

This time a year can be very challenging for both playing golf and trying to keep up mowing the turf.  Once soil temperatures reach a certain temperature in the Spring the growth of the grass is accellerated.  This time of year is also challenging with the seedheads that is produced by the Poa.  We currently have three rough mowers running eight to nine hours a day to keep the rough under control.  Sometimes this is not even enough.  We have a huge piece of propery with over 150 acres of rough that we mow on a weekly basis.  We are currently throwing our entire arsenal of mowing equipment at the rough at this time.  This typically lasts for a couple of weeks and the rough will return to a more normal growth pattern.  We appreciate your patience at this time.

Walking a fine line - TurfNet.com

Walking a fine line - TurfNet.com

Construction Has Resumed

The construction company has resumed the Bunker Renovation Project.  We started working on #9 Pines today and will continue to work on #9 and #18 for the next two weeks.  We will be working in the following order to finish the project.  #9, #18, #17, #16, #2, #1. 

Fall's Bunkers Project Continues

The installation of the new sand continued today on the Falls.  We nearly have all the Greenside Bunkers completed.  We have three remaining but we have to install drainage in the remaining three.  Once we finish all the Greenside Bunkers we will begin the Fairway Bunkers.

Landscaping The New Ladies Locker Room

Today we received over two hundred plants that we installed outside of the Ladies Locker Room.  We should finish this landscaping project tomorrow once we receive the sod to put the finishing touches on the project. 

Bunker Care

We continue to observe the lack of care for the new bunkers on the Old Course.  Many of them are not being raked after being played out of.  We are also observing golfers walking down the faces of the bunkers instead of waking into them from the low end of the bunker.  Walking down the face not only could potentially cause damage to the bunker but could also be very dangerous. 

Seeding Delayed Due to Weather

The inclement weather today cancelled the Hydroseeding that was scheduled to take place today.  We have received nearly 3" of rain since Saturday and we may have to reschedule next week.  All the areas that have been disturbed over the Winter will be seeded in the near future.  Most of these areas will be seeded with Aurora Gold Fescue.

Upgrade to the Fall's Bunkers

Today we began adding sand to the Fall's Bunkers.  We are using the same sand that was installed in the Old Course bunkers.  We began today on #9 Falls.  We will continue to work backwards while addressing the Greenside bunkers first.  If any of the bunkers require an upgrade in drainage we will skip those and come back to them.  This process will be very time consuming a may take up to several weeks to complete but should improve the playability of the bunkers on the Falls.

Fescue Conversion Has Begun

Today we began spraying out areas that will be seeded with Fescue/Native Grasses.  These areas were carefully marked in strategic locations.  The conversion of these areas is part of the Master Plan developed by Fazio Design.  Typically Fescue grasses struggle to become established the first season but tend to thrive after the first year.  These areas will remain roped off due to the Herbicide that was sprayed to kill the unwanted grasses. 

Willows to Open Friday, April 6th

The Willows will open this Friday for the 2012 season.  The remainder of our staff will be joining us on Monday and we will begin prepping the Willows.  The Bunkers and new sod on the 11th hole will be roped off and we will be asking everyone to take a drop if their ball comes to rest in the bunker or new sod.  The sod on this hole was laid in early November and needs a few more weeks to properly root.  We will keep you posted on when the bunker will be playable.  Please do not walk down any of the steep faces of the bunker to recover your ball.  Please enter the bunkers from the lower side of the bunker.  

Great Spring Photos

New Chipping area around #6 Green

Green Expansions

 Many of you may have noticed some blue paint around some of the greens.  We are in the process of expanding several of our greens.  We have begun the expansion process on #1, #6, #7, #12, #13, #14.  We will take these areas down slowly.  You may notice some extra topdressing and aerification in these areas as well. 

We took the opportunity today to aerify the approaches and the newly added chipping areas around the greens.  We will continue to aerify all the holes where we have completed the renovation project on.  We still may need to strip turf on the remaining holes and the aerification holes make if very difficult to move the sod.  These aggressive aerification procedures on the newly sodded areas will result in excellent rooting as well as making these surfaces much firmer and smoother.   

Several question have been brought to my attention on the condition of the new rough sod around the new bunkers.  This type of Bluegrass is know for a late Spring green up, but performs outstanding when holding up to the stresses of summer.  The sod has just recently started to grow and is starting to green up throughout the property. 

Along the bunker banks we topdressed with a material that
contains organic materiial to help hold some moisture in
the soil. We topressed the remainder of the approaches
and chipping areas with
straight sand to keep these areas firm. 

A Year of Firsts

The crazy weather this Spring continues with some cooler temperatures and extremely dry conditions.  Today we had to pressurize the irrigation system.  This is a first for the month of March.  The greens were becoming very dry and some of the newly laid sod was in need of water.  With no substantial rain in the extended forecast we felt it necessary to charge the irrigation system. 



Venting Greens

Today we took advantage of the good Spring weather to do some solid tine aerification to the greens.  Spring is the ideal time to promote root developement and this process allows oxygen into the soil which will help promote root growth.  This process is perfomed many times throughout the year without any disruption to the putting surfaces.  The process was actually performed at Oakmont Country Club five days before the USGA held the Women's Open there in 2010.

Ball Marks

Unrepaired ball marks continue to be a problem early in the season. With the lack of growth so far this season it is critical the we take some extra time repairing pitch marks. The topdressing that was applied before Winter is working its way into the canopy of the turf and we will soon be mowing greens on regular basis. The greens are not growing at this point like the rest of the golf course.

Course Update

The Green Department has had a very busy March preparing the golf course for the season. We are still operating with about a fourth of our normal peak staff. We should begin to have more people coming on board over the next few weeks. Once we are up to our normal staff size we will open the Willows. I would anticipate opening the Willows sometime during the first week of April. Next week we will begin setting the tee markers in their normal location. We will be mowing greens for the first time this afternoon. The Greens usually take a little longer to start growing as compared to the rest of the golf course. The sand that remains on the greens is making it difficult for us to roll or mow the greens during the early morning. The dew collects on the rollers and mowers and brings the sand to the surface of the greens. We apologize that there may be some mornings with dew on the greens but this should only be the case for another week. Our construction company, Hawk Shaw, should be returning by April 15th to complete the project. They are currently finishing another project in New York and will be moving equipment in as soon as that project is completed. As our staff begins to grow we will start setting most of the accessories on the golf course. Ball washers, benches, hazard stakes, and water coolers will be placed on the golf course sometime in early April. We anticipate opening the driving range the week of April 2nd. We will once again be utilizing the area in front of the tees during the early part of the season. We would like to take the chance to remind everyone to spend some extra time repairing ball marks and replacing divots. Divot mix will not be placed on the carts until soil temperatures warm up a little. Please remember to keep your carts on the paths when you are around a green or tee complex. This is a policy we are placing a high emphasis on this year. Also new this year we are asking that all bunker rakes remain in the bunkers. Our hope is to make the rakes more visible so members can find them easier. The USGA has no official policy on where to place the rakes and leaves it up to each individual club to make their own decision.

It has been a tremendous month of March and we hope this great weather continues. Rounds are up and we are getting a early jump on the season.

Course Update

The covers have been removed from the Old Course and the greens look to be in great shape. We plan on opening the North Course on Friday March 16th. We have also started to allow carts to cross the fairways. However, we ask for your cooperation in keeping the carts on the paths around greens and tee complexes. This is a policy that we will be asking for your cooperation with this season. The easy way of remembering this is if you are standing on a green or tee your cart should be on the path. We have invested a great deal of time and resources improvi ng the golf course and our goal is to protect your investment.
We would also like to take this chance to remind you to repair your ball marks and replace your divots. Unrepaired ball marks have been plentiful this week and we encourage you to take some extra time and repair them properly. Please keep in mind that we continue to operate with a very limited crew. Our goal is to keep the course playable and continue cleaning up from Winter. We will keep you updated on our progress throughout the month of March and early April. As more staff comes on board we will be able to get into a regular routine of maintaining the golf course.

Covers are Coming Off

The covers were removed today from the Old Course and I am happy to say the it looks like we made it through the Winter without any injury. The warmer temperatures this week should start to increase soil temperatures to initiate growth. As soon as the turf begins to actively grow we will be able to allow carts off the paths.

Course Update

The Green Department is currently monitoring the forecast and soil conditions to make a decision on when to open the golf course. Based off today’s forecast I feel we should be able to open the Fall’s nine on Thursday. We do anticipate a delayed start on Thursday. We estimate that we should be able to open the golf course between 11:00-12:00. We should have a better feel for an exact opening tomorrow afternoon. The extreme cold temperatures last night caused the soil to freeze solid. Once those soils have thawed on Thursday we should be able to open the course. The decision on whether to open or not will be a day to day decision. We should have no problem staying open Thursday and Friday. However, weekend temperatures are expected to drop with nighttime lows in the teens. Night time lows that extreme will not allow us to open the following day. We will monitor the situation daily and try to get the word out to the membership as early as possible. Please keep in mind this is not a situation like we have in the Fall with Frost Delays. Our concern with temperatures this low is frozen soil conditions. We monitor the entire soil profile. Not just the top inch or two. If the entire soil profile is thawed then we make the decision to open the golf course. If any part of that profile is frozen then we make the decision at that point to keep the course closed. The reason for this decision is to protect the root structure of our putting surfaces.

There are several things to keep in mind when playing this early in the season.

• The grass is not growing. Therefore ball marks and divots will not recover. We need to take extra effort in repairing ball marks and replacing divots.

• Cart wear areas and cart damage will not recover very quickly. Please obey all posted cart restrictions.

• The tee markers will be placed to set up the golf course very short. We will attempt to save the tee space where the majority of the membership plays from during the season. Please do not play the golf course any longer than where the tee markers are placed. You are free to play the course shorter if you choose. We will only be placing one set of tee markers at this time.

Look forward to seeing you out there,

Gregory Boring
Golf Course Superintendent

Drainage, Drainage, and More Drainage

This time of year we always try to identify our poorest drainage areas on the golf course. This past summer definitely gave us an opportunity to identify our problem areas. We have recently begun working to the left of #9 Falls green. This area has been a problem for years. We are currently waiting for the ground to thaw a little to complete this project.