COURSE UPDATE

           

            We are getting to that time of year where we are starting to prepare the golf course for Winter.  Nighttime temperatures are getting into the upper teens and lower twenty’s which cause the soil to freeze almost every night.  With those nighttime temperatures it takes a while for greens to thaw out during the day, which has resulted in many delayed starts in the last few weeks.  Sunday’s high is calling for Mid 20’s, which should cause the ground to freeze even more.  It has always been our policy that we will continue to open the course only if the greens are thawed completely.  Unfortunately, this time of year it is tough to determine whether the ground will thaw.  We have to keep monitoring the situation throughout the day to determine whether we will open the course.  It’s a tough call to make at 8:00 in the morning. 

            The Green Department has been out this week applying products to the golf course in preparation for the winter weather.  Snow Mold Sprays have been made on Greens, Tees, and Fairway.  Fertilizer has been applied to the Fairways.   We will be Winterizing the Irrigation System on Monday and Tuesday as well as applying fertilizer and sand to the greens.  We are monitoring the weather daily to determine when to install the covers.  We will keep you posted to when this will take place. 

Thank you,

Gregory Boring, GCS

Course Update

The recent weather has been a bonus for not only the members of The Country Club of Scranton but also to the Green Department.  Due to the exceptional weather we have decided to delay the cultivation of the Old Course greens.  The new schedule is listed below:

November 7&8:  Drill and Fill of Old Course Greens  (Very Large Holes)

November 11&12:  Core Aerification of Old Course Greens (Large Holes)

Holes may be closed periodically to complete this procedure in a timely manner.

Week of October 14:  Aggressive Verticutting of Old Course Fairways
                                 
                          This is a very lengthy process that must be completed during dry conditions.  This process will take several weeks to complete.  We will be topdressing fairways once the debris has been cleaned from the fairways.  We are currently installing drainage on #4 along the left side of the fairway.     This should take about two days to complete.  We will also be planting 300 plants this week along Country Club Road to help screen the property.  This screen will give the course some privacy as well as keep vehicle and from being able to access the property and help prevent vandalism.  The plan is to install these plants for the next three years to be able screen the entire roadway.

Course Update

A lot has been done over the past couple of weeks.  Many of you may have noticed the grooves cut into the rough. Over the past week we have cut 5000lbs of seed into the rough.  You may also notice the rough being a little damp.  This is a result of us trying to keep the seed moist so it has an opportunity to germinate.  We have also begun removing the poor conditioned turf around seventh green.  We will be sodding this area early next week.  This area has struggled for years due to the extreme slope around the green complex.  We have been solid tining approaches on the Old Course.  We are continuing to try and improve the new chipping areas around the green complexes.  This process is just one tool we use to accomplish this.  All the Fescue have been mowed and sprayed with herbicides to help with the weed population in these area.  These areas flourished until about mid-August when the weeds began to take over in a lot of these areas. The rough behind #15 Green has been aerified and seeded.  This area experienced some turf loss during a stressful period during the summer.  It is currently marked Ground Under Repair.

We are expanding the back right portion of #9 Green.  This area will take about a full season to get to the same texture and consistency as the rest of the putting surface.  Monday we will be verticutting, topdressing, and needle tining greens.  Our goal this time of year is to reduce organic material (thatch) and promote root development.

This area on #9 will be mown regularly, aerified and topdressed frequently to allow it to perform like the existing putting surface.

Important Dates:

October 8th:  Aerificaiton of Falls Greens.  Rotation becomes Old Course for all scheduled Tee Times.  Falls is available for play but will not be prepared daily.

October 14th:  Dethatching (aggressive verticutting) of Old Course Fairways. Fairways will be heavily topdressed after clean-up of the fairways has been completed.   This process will take several weeks.

October 23 & 24:  Drill and Fill Old Course Greens

Green's Recovery

Well we have been able to get a decent cut on the greens for the first time since aerification.  Yesterdays rain has helped with recovery.  We will be mowing and rolling greens over the weekend and hope to have things back to normal by the middle of next week.

Aerification complete

Today we completed the aerification process.  All greens were fertilized and will be mowed tomorrow afternoon.  375 ton of sand was applied this week to the fairways.  

Aerification Begins

On Sunday evening the Green Department will begin our aerification process.  We will begin greens on Sunday night and will finish them on Monday.  A contractor will be here to complete the fairways on Monday morning.  We will also be sand topdressing our fairways.  The entire process should take about three to four days to complete and there may be some temporary hole closures to allow us to complete the process as quickly as possible.  We have increased the amount of fertilizer on the greens and reduced the amount of growth regulator this week to aide in a quick recovery.  This will result in slower than normal green speeds this weekend.

HOT! HOT! HOT!

The forecast this week is calling for the hottest temperatures so far this year.  This is not a good combination for our nearly 100% Poa Annua greens.  With these 90 plus degree temperatures we will be altering our normal mowing and rolling schedule.  We will be alternating mowing and rolling daily all this week.  This is quite a difference from out normal mowing schedule in which we double cut and roll daily. Obviously we will see a drastic decrease in green speeds.  Once the weather breaks on Saturday we will begin our normal mowing schedule.  You will also see us out this week with hoses on the greens, tees, fairway, and bunker banks.  There may be an occasion where you may be approaching a  green that is being watered.  It is extremely important this week that our employees get water on the greens quickly and often.  So you may see them out there on several occasions.   They will only be on the green a minute or two but it is very important they lower the surface temperature of the putting surfaces by applying a mist of water on the greens several times a day.  Soaking the greens with water at night would cause significant problems during these extremely high temperatures.  Please be patient and allow them to proceed with the watering process.  This should allow us to get through this weather pattern without any turf injury.

USGA: Our Experts Explain

USGA: Our Experts Explain

Aerifying Tees

Due to some recent scalping and puffiness on the Tees the Green Department will be aerifying and topdressing tees this week.   The process should take about 2.5 days weather permitting.

Fescue Seeding

We began seeding the left of #5 Pines today with Hard Fescues.  This area will take some time to establish but should only add to the beauty of the property once it is mature.

USGA to lose $10M on U.S. Open | Golf Inc. Magazine

USGA to lose $10M on U.S. Open | Golf Inc. Magazine

A Saturday Morning Surprise

Unfortunately we came in this morning to a big surprise waiting for us on #3 Pines Green.  It appears an ATV was used to drive through the green-side bunkers and proceeded to drive across the green.  We are currently working on repairing the damage enough to open the hole for play but it will take some time before the hole is free of any blemishes.  We are still trying to decide the extent of the structural damage to the bunker but we should be able to repair the cosmetic damage quickly.

 The police department has been here twice this morning and are looking into the situation.  We will keep you posted to new events and we appreciate your patience while we start the repair process of the damage.

Course Update

As many of you know that have played recently, the rough is very challenging.  I have been asked several times a day, "When are you going to cut the rough?"  The answer is we have been cutting the rough 10+ hours a day for well over a week.  The problem is our three rough mower can't mow fast enough for the way it's growing currently.  Areas were cut on 9,10,18 and 1 yesterday that were cut on Thursday.    They looked as if we hadn't cut them for a week.  Every Spring we see a 2-3 week period where the rough grows out of control and we see an abundance of seed heads.  We are currently experiencing that.  Our rough mowers are currently set at 2.5" which is our normal height of cut.  Our rough is very thick this year, which is a good problem to have but it will begin to thin out as we continue to heat up and dry out.  I am sure many of you are having to mow your home lawn at least twice a week during this period.  The only difference is we have a 250+ acre lawn here.  We realize this is a very frustrating time but please be assured we are mowing as fast as we can.

Several question were also asked about green speeds this weekend.  The heat last week forced us to take a more conservative approach to preparing the greens for the weekend.  When temperatures are pushing 90 degrees our Poa Annua greens go under a significant amount of stress.  If we add to that stress by double and triple cutting it could lead to a substantial amount of turf injury.  We were also trying to encourage the greens to grow because of the aerification that is taking place today.  This should allow the greens to recover quicker.  The heat has broken and aerification is taking place as I write this.  The greens will slow down significantly temporarily following aerification.  Once we are able to get back to a normal mowing schedule things should return to normal.

Thank you,

Greg Boring, GCS

Course Update

The heat is forcing us to be conservative with the preparation of our greens.  The greens were mowed once this morning but were not rolled.  We plan on single cutting tomorrow followed by a single roll.  This should give us a little more green speed but nothing like our normal speed.  We have also cut back on growth regulators this week so the greens will recover quickly from Monday's scheduled aerification.

Just a reminder will will be aerifying all 27 greens on Monday with very small tines.  The greens are starting to grow more aggressively so they should recover quickly.

A Very Wet Memorial Day Weekend

The past two days has seen its share of cold and wet weather.  The golf course has received approximately 1.6" of rain in the past 36 hours.  This rain has been a slow soaking rain.  Due to the excessive rain we have not been able to mow and roll like normal.  As a result the greens are significantly slower than normal.  It has also kept us from mowing rough as frequent as we would like.  As soon as things begin to dry up we should be able to return to our normal mowing schedule.

A "Rough" May

Every Spring we have a 2-3 weeks span where the rough seems to grow faster than we can cut it.  We are currently experiencing this at this time.  We currently have three rough mowers working 8-10 hours a day just to try and keep up with the rough.  With the amount of rain we received last night we currently are unable to cut the rough today.  It is going to get very difficult until it dries up enough to allow us to get the mowers out there.  We are doing the best we can and we will keep you posted with any updates.

A Day of Sand

Sand top dressing is being applied to the fairways, greens, and approaches. 250 ton of sand will be applied to the fairways by the end of the day tomorrow.

Hydraulic Leak #1 Falls Fairway

This morning we experienced a hydraulic leak on one of our fairway mowers. The area will soon begin to experience turf loss. Once we evaluate the significance of the turf loss we will determine how we address the area. This is unfortunate but these things are tough to prevent.

Rough Update

The Green Department is working frantically to get the rough back down to normal height of 2.5" following the US Open Qualifier.  All the rough has been mowed at 3" and we should start begin mowing at 2.5" later this afternoon.  Keep in mind it will take us a about two and a half day to get around the golf course.  We appreciate your patience at this time.

Country Club of Scranton ready to show off changes for U.S. Open qualifier - Sports - The Times-Tribune

Country Club of Scranton ready to show off changes for U.S. Open qualifier - Sports - The Times-Tribune

Busy Week Ahead

         This is going to be a very busy week for the Green Department.  We are still continuing to get the course prepped for the season.  We still have a few bare spots out there that need out attention.  This is the height of the Spring weed infestation.  We will be out spot spraying dandelions and clover for much of the week.  The entire rough on the Old Course was mowed and fertilized yesterday in preparation for the US Open Qualifier next week.  The opportunity to be a qualifying site for our National Championship is an honor.  It is our goal to challenge the best players in the area on our beautifully renovated championship golf course.  The rough this week will be allowed to grow more than our normal heights of cut because of this.  We will begin cutting the rough immediately following the completion of the qualifier.
       The condition of our fairway have never been better.  The fairway topdressing program that was started a few years ago has had a tremendous impact on the quality of the turf.  For this reason we are encouraging everyone to keep the carts in the fairways at all times while playing the golf course.  You should enter the fairways soon after leaving the tee area and return to the cartpath when you reach the cart signs instructing you to do so.  Our rough is still a work in progress.  We have continued to seed it to better varieties of grasses but this will take time.  At this point the fairways could handle the cart traffic much better than the rough.  I know this goes against the 90 degree rule that we all of been taught.  However, it is our goal to improve the quality of our rough and one of the best ways of doing this is by reducing cart traffic.

Now On Twitter

Not only can we use the blog to keep you up to date the Green Department now has a Twitter account. Daily updates will be that much easier to get out to the membership.  Check it out at @CCSGreensDept

Morning Chill

As I pulled into the club this morning the thermometer in the truck read 24 degrees.  The greens are slightly frozen and the bunkers are frozen to the point we can't even rake them.  We are trying to get the golf course prepared to the best of our ability without delaying tee times too long.

Wet Conditions Today

Due to the heavy thunderstorms that came through the areas last night the golf course is extremely saturated.  For this reason we will remain on Cart Paths for today.  We hope to relax this policy tomorrow on most holes due to the expected winds today that will help dry out the golf course.  Please remember when we do relax the cart restrictions to keep carts on paths around greens and tees.

Warmer Temperatures Needed

I've had a few inquiries about what is wrong with all the sod that was installed for the bunker project.  The simple answer is: It is still asleep.  The Kentucky Bluegrass variety that was installed has many great characteristics.  The one negative characteristic of it and most Bluegrasses is that it takes a while for them to emerge from dormancy.  The extreme cold winter has kept soil temperatures well below where they should be for this time a year.  These areas are starting to green up but it will take some time.  There is no reason to be concerned.  All the sod is perfectly healthy.  We are just waiting for Mother Nature to give us some warmer temperatures and you will see a quick turnaround.  

First Mowing of the Year

The Greens were mowed on the Pines yesterday for the first time this season.  We will be out mowing the Willows and Falls later this afternoon.  Greens are being mowed much higher than normal at this point in the season but will will begin lowering the heights over the next few weeks.  We anticipate opening the Pines on Thursday.  We have concentrated the full complement of our staff on getting all three nines cleanup up and prepared for the season.  Preparing all 27 holes on a daily basis would only inhibit our ability to concentrate on the clean-up process.  We thank you for your patience during the clean-up process.  

Why Do We Aerify

The illustration above shows a great example of the benefits of the aerification process.  We do not perform a conventional Spring Aerification.  The greens were aerated in early November and should recover quickly once warmer temperatures arrive.  The 2013 Aerification Schedule will consist of the Following:

June 3rd:  1/4" hollow tines (Minimal Disruption/Quick Recovery time)
August 12th: 1/2" hollow tines (Significant Disruption/Longer Recovery Time)
October 23rd 24th: Drill & Fill followed by Aerification (Significant Disruption)

Drainage Project

A new drainage project between #10 and #18 was started today.  This project is intended to keep water off of #18 that is coming across #9 and #10.  This is a notorious wet area on the golf course and should be finished up by Thursday.  We are currently working on the bunkers on the Willows and should have them completed by Wednesday.  We will then begin the clean up process of the Pines.  We anticipate the Pines opening by the middle of next week.

Possible Saturday Frost Delay

Tonights night time low is expected to reach 25 degrees.  The soil temperatures are still rather cold and the expected cold night may freeze the greens once again.  The greens will thaw throughout the morning but it is possible that we may have an extended frost/freeze delay tomorrow morning.

Covers Removed

We were finally able to remove the covers on the Old Course today and I am happy to report the we sustained no winter injury.  Heading into winter we applied a heavy application of topdressing that we will be working into the canopy and blowing off the greens.  The purpose of this sand was to protect the crown of our Poa Annua putting surfaces.  Once these greens are blown off they will look more playable.

Course Opening Update

The Falls will open this afternoon approximately between 12:00-1:00.  We are just waiting on the Greens to thaw.  The Falls should open tomorrow at 10:00.  The Driving Range will also be available tomorrow for Mats Only Use.  We are pulling covers this morning and as long as we don't run into any damage on the greens we anticipate opening the South Course for the weekend.  We are currently working with limited staff so we will be lacking the conveniences  of Water Coolers, rakes in bunkers, and etc.  But as we continue with preparation we will begin the process of adding these accessories to the course.  The course is fairly dry so we will only have a select holes that we will have to keep you on the paths.  We are looking forward to seeing you out here this weekend.

Progress on Driving Range Tee

We were able to get a mower on the Driving Range Tee yesterday.  The drier conditions has allowed us to aerify and topdress the tee this afternoon.  This is a key part in root development for the tee.  We will open the Driving Range for "Mat Use Only" when we are able to pick the range balls.  The grass part of the tee is expected to open in early May.  We will continue to work on the parking areas through the month of April as conditions continue to dry up.

Opening Update

Looking at the forecast this week the tentative schedule is to open the Falls or Friday with a possibility of a Thursday opening.  Wednesday's night time temperatures are calling for low 20's or upper teens.  These cold temperatures may keep us from opening on Thursday.  We do plan on removing the covers from the Old Course on Thursday afternoon.  The schedule for opening a nine on the Old Course will depend on how the greens look once the covers are removed.  There is a chance of having the South Course open for the weekend.  We will keep you updated throughout the week with the status of the golf course.

New Range Addition

The new Turfhound Driving Range Mat System is being installed today.  These mats will be utilized during early and late season as well as outside events.    As soon as we can use the ball picker to collects balls we will open the mats for the season.

No Warm-up in Sight

The cold temperatures and snowfall continue to plague the region.  We had 3-4 inches of snow fall on Sunday night and the cold temperatures this week will keep the snow around for most of the week.  We will continue to monitor things on the golf course and keep you posted on a potential opening.

Winter is not quite over yet

This morning we woke up to several inches of snow that fell on the golf course.  The Green Department is currently busy with clean up of the property.  We had hoped to set out some temporary greens out for the weekend but that is not likely to happen due to the recent snow fall.  

New Look on #2 Pines

The plant material along the right side of #2 Pines has been removed to open up the hole and allow golfers to locate the golf ball if hit into this area.  The Out of Bounds stakes will be more visible which should help speed up play.  The plant material that was removed is being placed along side Country Club Rd to help screen the 14th hole from the Road.

Ready for 2013

I am pleased to announce we have started off the 2013 season on a positive note.  Golfweek Magazine has just released their 2013 Top 100 Classical Golf Course in America, where the Country Club of Scranton was ranked #92 and even had a picture displayed in the magazine.  The past two years has been very hectic for both the Green Department and the Membership with all the construction that took place.  I am looking forward to giving the membership back their golf course this season with very minimal interruption. With warmer temperatures around the corner we are going to be able to get out and evaluate how we made it through the Winter.  The warmer temperatures this weekend may allow us to open the Falls to Temporary Greens Only.  The ground is completely frozen from recent cold temperatures and will take some time to thaw.  In order for us to open the greens we need to have the root zone of the putting surface completely thawed.  Opening up putting greens with frozen soil will result in root damage to the putting surfaces.  We will keep you posted.