Course Update

          With the Falls now open it has given us an opportunity to tend to the rest of the property.  We started yesterday preparing the Pines for play.  The bunkers were detailed and raked to repair the washouts.  The covers have remained on the five greens that sustained injury from our harsh winter.  These greens will remain covered as long as the below average temperatures continue.  We anticipate having an 18 hole course open for the weekend.  This course will be made up of the Falls,  seven holes from the Pines and two holes from the Willows.  We realize that this is an inconvenience but it is necessary to restrict play on these greens to allow them time to recover and allow the covers to help raise the soil temperatures which will promote recovery.

        A forecasted warm up later this week should allow us to begin cutting some seed into the green.  We continue to believe that most of the damaged areas will recover with the assistance of warmer temperatures.  Please be reassured we are doing everything we can to promote the recovery of these greens.  Just keep thinking warm temperatures.

      We have had many inquiries about the driving range.  The mats are in place and ready to go.  The problem is we need to allow the range to dry up so we can pick up the balls.  At this point a majority of the balls would plug if we opened the range.   The forecast is looking better toward the end of the week.  We will keep you posted.

Gregory Boring,
Golf Course Superintendent

Rain on the Way

This is the radar of what is headed our way for tonight into tomorrow.  We are waiting to see exactly how much rain we receive to determine the status of the golf course for the weekend.  Some forecasts are calling for an inch of rain which could cause a substantial delay in opening the golf course.  We will keep you posted.

Sticking Around

Yesterday snow fall of 3.5" in Clarks Summit is sticking around.  Last night's temperatures dipped back into the mid 20's and unfortunately froze most of the snow that melted during the day yesterday.  The warm up today should melt the remaining snow throughout the property.  The opening of the course will be delayed this week due to yesterday's storm.  We hope to have Falls opened by late this week however they are calling for more rain later in the week.  Once the ground has thawed and the soil dries out enough to open the greens we will open the Falls for play.  We will keep you posted.

The snow from yesterday is sticking around this morning.

An Unexpected Surprise

We woke up this morning to an expected surprise.  A potential dusting of snow ended up being 3.5"of snow on the golf course.  This will definitely delay the opening of the golf course this week.  The warm up that is expected today and tomorrow will quickly melt most of this snow.  However, it will cause the ground to be very saturated thus delaying the opening of the golf course.  We will continue to update the membership on this site as well as frequent emails until we have everything up and running.

Winter-Weary Golfers Need to be Patient

Winter-Weary Golfers Need to be Patient

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.