It's starting to rain!

Well the irrigation system is finally taking shape.  The system is fully installed, pump houses up and running and fine tuning starting to take place.  In the coming weeks you will see heads that weep, sprinklers popping up from time to time and many of our staff on our hands and knees adjusting and documenting the settings we have made.  This part of the process is very time consuming, but necessary to begin to take advantage of all the benefits of our new system.

Because we did not have access to water during the installation we have a lot of flushing of old debris that has been sitting in pipes for the past 6 months.  This all takes time to work itself out and develop a good seal on all the sprinklers.  If you see anything odd please find myself or notify anyone on my staff and we will look at it immediately.

This photo demonstrates some of our capability and the excitment we have when we see 10 sprinklers running at the same time and they are all only watering the rough!  We can't wait to tweak this system to match the golf course.  In the meantime please excuse us while we try to learn the system and I apologize if we surprise you with a random sprinkler turning on near you.

Sometimes a good day of rain helps in many ways.  This year is at least starting with some weather that might help in the long term, to slow down the drought conditions we have experienced the last several years.  Of course this does not change what happens week to week as we prepare the golf course, but knowing that we are not starting out dry keep our hopes that temperatures will be mild early and the course will respond well once we finish the irrigation project.

I took this chance with the rain to attend the annual USGA seminar at Woodholme Country Club.  This annual meeting is not only a great way to catch up with local superintendents and share some time, but to learn from those who have seen conditions from US Opens to local courses.

It's amazing with all the technology available, that there still is not enough time to pull all the resources together to be fully informed, but days like today and the National Conference every year, just emphasize how complex the maintenance of a golf course has become, and how important it is to stay involved and most importantly open minded.

A few thoughts to share from today:

Bradley Klein, who chairs the Top 100 rankings, discussed the importance to renew your sense of place at your course.  What are the roots of your course, the history and design and how best to showcase that and bring out the greatness of what was once an architects dream.  Some great examples from not only the best courses of the world, but those here and there that have lost there way and now returned to their roots.  Very interesting and I know it will shape the way I continue to look and view our course from all angles.

Matt Shaffer,  Superintendent from Merion on how he is preparing for the US Open and his thoughts on how golf should be played.  He has been very experimental in his approach to conditioning, many practices that have failed, but many lessons learned in the process.  I'm not sure many here would be fans of his approach to rough and bunkers, but thats why all the courses are different.  If you get the chance, a trip to this years Open is worth the time.

David Staebler,  USGA rules education director on why the rules are so complicated.  I wanted to share a link to the USGA web site concerning rules.  This is one of most confusing areas for so many, mostly because we all know a little, which in many cases is very dangerous.  The USGA has done a video series discussing common rules and their impact.  A great series to see before you start your season.

USGA: Rules

It's a great time to the year, new ideas, fresh starts and a sense of getting underway.  I once again appreciate the chance to work on our beautiful course and I look forward to any and all feedback on how we can improve.  This great game is played on a field that has only one absolute, the hole is 4.25 inches wide, other than that it is what tests us every time we step onto the first tee.  Go Golf!

One Step Closer

We are getting there one step at a time.  Today was the beginning of the installation of the new pump system into the new pump house.  A crane lifted the pump from one of our trucks on Military Road and placed it inside the shell, which now can be roofed and we are almost there!

Lets hope the snow holds off a little bit and we will be ready for some not so cold water to fire the system up.

A little fine tuning and we should be able to start the long process of punch list items to repair.  We are still looking at being complete before opening day.  Plenty of work will need to be done, touching up low spots and getting yardage plates on all the heads, which by the way will have 3 yardages now.

In all nearly 650 yardages will be around the course, so be patient, it takes time to sort those out to make sure we  get them on the correct location.  An example is shown below.

Watch your step!

Many times over the winter the attraction of golf balls in the creeks is a force that some can't resist.  As the foliage dies back and we on the staff clear the banks the temptation to chase old Titelists is too strong to ignore.  We want to warn the members of the perils that surround these areas,  they are very steep and have some gullies that look safe but are very deep.   Covered in vines to invite you to make the  perilous first step.  This picture shows the kind of dangers involved and the cautious tale to make sure you play in groups.  This could have ended in disaster, but with the help of fellow playing partners, thankfully no one was injured.  Winter golf can be enjoyable, please make it a safe round as well.

WGCC the beautiful

This picture was recently taken by one our long term staff members, Ronald Alvarez.  Not only does it highlight the beauty found around our course, but to me demonstrates how much our staff appreciate and enjoy the natural grandeur of our club.  This photo really exemplifies what we love about this property and the amazing beauty we get a chance to experience in the early hours of the day.

I'll let you guess where it was taken!

The irrigation project continues a slow march towards completion.  We still have around 24 working days left, but February typically has only around 10-13 good working days.  Holes 16-18 have yet to be completed along with some sporadic areas to finish, mostly outer rough we left for poor weather days.

We will start the ordering of sprinkler head yardages in the next few weeks.  The process of installing these is quite slow so expect that they all get installed before opening day.

Whats happening at 11?

The hillside above the 11th green has deteriorated over the years.  The trees have health issues and the azaleas are contaminated by weeds, vines and disease.  In addition, the slopes are very severe which coupled with the density of the growth, has become almost impossible to combat the problems.  We are taking this winter to remove the dead and dying shrubs and trees, relocate some of the healthy specimens, and start the long process of revitalizing the area.

The picture below shows what you may see next time you visit.

We have drawn up what we would like to create.  This process will take some time and be performed in stages.  The amount of invasive species will requires us to keep the area relatively bare this season while we eradicate the problems.  We hope to plant several new trees this spring, but wait on most of the shrubs and flowers until fall once a summer of clearing has helped prepare the area for planting.  This is a very challenging spot to not only keep nice, but even to grade and clear the area is proving to be difficult as well.  We have high hopes this areas can provide a nice backdrop to the hole once finished and allow some nice views of the large white oak (Kirchner Tree) at 14 tee as well.

As we search for the elusive methods to improve the playing conditions, we will always move forward with small improvements projects that enhance the playing experience.

Priceless

Our course has some of the best vistas anywhere, as the commercial goes...  Priceless, but all things have a cost so, I thought I would list a few of the items we use every year.

22,000,000   The number of gallons of water we use during the year

30,000          The square feet of sod we installed last year

600               The tons of sand we used on the course for topdressing and bunkers

10,000          Gallons of fuel consumed in maintaining the course

6,000            Pounds of seed put in to the ground

300              gallons of oil changed for fleet maintenance

45                number of flags lost due to vandalism

200              feet of chain for the chainsaws

300              the average number of steps a foursome takes on every green

365              the number of days spent worrying about the course!


Enjoy the new year and everyone have a great golf season......



In later posts I will begin a several part series on our greens;  the history, construction and challenges we face.   This primer may help some have a better understanding of the costliest and most critical aspect of the course.