We were able to use a 1 ton vibratory roller on 10 and 18 greens today. This will smooth out any small bumps that may have appeared form the winter. This was also used on the short game area fairway as well as the new drain lines on 2 and 5. We may need to do this process a few times on the drain lines to get them level with the rest of the fairway.
As of today we have 14 greens open. We are planning on opening 10 and 18 for play next Thursday, weather dependent. As for 13 and 16, they are coming along great form a few weeks ago. I am hoping to have them open the week of men's opening day. Although that could be sooner if the weather starts to warm up. Come back and check to see the progress of the greens. Some great information in this article. This is a link to a USGA report on how trees impact slope ratings of golf courses. Compares slope rating on some championship courses that have removed trees. It shows that the removal of trees was minimal to the slope rating. A question was asked, why does some of the grass on the greens look like it's growing faster than others? Is there something wrong? This is because there are two different types of grass on our greens. That grow in different ways. The picture below will show the difference between the two. Just when we thought it was finished, below freezing temps and an inch of snow. I really hope there is not too much damage to the turf. I don't think we can take any more of this.
The winter was very rough to the course this year. Especially to two greens this year, 13 and 16. They will be closed to play for a while until they heal. Yesterday we spiked, seeded, topdressed and covered both of them. We should see germination in about 2 weeks as long as the weather warms up again. We had great temps starting last week but now they are calling for 20's and possible snow tonight. I really don't think that winter is going to end this year. On a positive note, 10 and 18 are progressing well. They will probably be open before the damaged greens will be. The construction of the surrounds that finished late in the year is still rooting and will take a few more weeks to be safe to walk on. The construction company will be coming back in a week or so to finish any work that needs to be completed. It has been a while since I have added an entry but the project was taking up all of my time. There were a few bumps in the road but we are finally finished. Glen Oak's members now have 18 new green complexes. This includes over 1000 tons of Valley Forge Buff bunker sand, 300,000 sq/ft of new Turf Type Tall Fescue surrounds and an expanded chipping green and upper putting green area. We will be completing the chipping green, in house, in the next few days. The project took around 3 months to complete. Most of the sod has already knitted in on the open 9 and the rest is well on its way for next year.
Along with the project my crew completed the collar and approach replacement with Penn Trio Bentgrass sod. This will get rid of the patchy look that we had on the contaminated collars that we had previously. This process took 4 days to complete and the crew worked very fast. For the rest of the year we will be installing drainage on the golf course and some other small projects that will improve play-ability. Some of the drainage will include the new fairway expansion on #2, #5 fairway on the left side as well as into the fairway and some areas on 14 that need drainage. These projects are along with our normal winter maintenance; dormant fertilizer feed and snow mold protection, installing greens covers, fairway dormant fertilizer feed, preventive maintenance on all equipment and repairing and revamping all course accessories to name a few. By the time we have completed all of those it will be time to start cutting grass again. This is a picture of the side profile of ten green. The top is the motified soil due to years of aerification. The black area is the anaerobic are of the soil that has been causing the green to decline, this is called black layer. This is caused by many years of poor drainage, poor sunlight and poor construction. We took a step in the right direction this week by removing all of the soil to a ten inch depth and installing a new USGA spec mix under the turf. This is another tool that we needed to install to make this green better. The weather has been excellent for our project and we are moving very quickly. We have 4 holes shaped and ready for finishing touches; drains, stone, bunker liner, bunker sand and sod. The next wave of construction workers will be here on Thursday and sod should start sometime by end of next week, depending on the weather. we are rough shaping the next two holes, 15 and 16. We will be working straight through Labor Day weekend and club championship. We need to take every advantage of the weather that we are given because soon the weather will turn and the days will be shorter.
So far the shaping and design of the bunkers is in line with a classical look golf course. Every Thursday Mark Mungeam is in to sign off on each step of the process and to mark out the next two holes. This is an entire team effort and all aspects of the team are working great together. I know it may be hard for everyone to envision what the green complex will look like but when the first hole is sodded everyone will be as excited as the management team is. I think this will make the entire membership excited for 2014 opening day. I know we are already excited to show off the restoration of Glen Oak Country Club. |
Superintendent
Gino Marchetti Assistant Superintendent
Les Lear Assistant Superintendent
Brandon Wisnosky Assistant-in-Training
Melinda Wesley Foreman
Bill Noll Mechanic Jim Saslo Past Employees
Drew White - Superintendent of south course at Westchester Country Club Patrick Moran - Superintendent Berwick Country Club Josh Dixon - LA Country Club Related Links
GCSAA Pocono Turfgrass Association USGA Glen Oak Country Club Penn State Turfgrass Science Penn State Turf Management Mark Mungeam - GOCC Archeitect Total Turf - 10 &18 Tee Project 2013 White Construction - Bunker Project 2013 Maintenance Calender
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May 2015
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