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.