Project on #5 and #6

     Below are two drawings of the what the 5th and 6th holes will look like once the work is completed.  The project is scheduled to begin later next week depending on how cooperative the weather wants to be.  The work will be completed by Total Turf Golf Services, a golf course construction company located in Huntingdon Valley, PA.  They've done work on too many courses to list but some of the more famous ones include; Aronimink Country Club, Winged Foot Golf Club, and Westchester Country Club.  Once the work begins both holes will operate with temporary pins so long as play does not interrupt the project.  In the end I think this will be a major upgrade for these two holes and will make playing MGC that much more enjoyable.  I will also be posting this on the board at clubhouse for your convenience. 

# 5 green is smallest green we have on property on our longest hole, so needless to say not many members are consistently hitting this green in regulation.  The green will be cored out to a depth of 16", new drainage will be installed as well as USGA mix for the base.  The green will be sodded using 007 bentgrass.  Robert McNeil, our architect decided it was best to enlarge this green making it more receptive to approach shots by adding roughly 1,000 sq ft of putting surface to the right side of the green.  The green will now be roughly 3,000 sq ft in size.  The bunker on the left will be re-shaped as well as an addition of a back bunker just off the back right of the green. Better Billy Bunker drainage (see below) will be installed in both bunkers as well.  The green and bunker surrounds will be sodded using turf type tall fescue.  A snow mold application will be made and the green will be covered for winter.

The 6th greens complex will also be receiving a makeover.  The fairway will now extend right up to the bunker situated on the right side as a bail out area for tee shots that may have ended up on the mounds on the hill on #6 or under the oak trees at the top of hill. The bunker on the right will be re-shaped with new drainage as well as new turf type tall fescue as the surround.  The bunker on the right will now become two bunkers both of which will be situated closer to the green bringing them more into play.  As for the green itself, the green will stripped of existing turf, Better Billy Bunker drainage (see below) will be added, softened a little bit to allow for more locations for pins, and the center area will be raised up slightly allowing for any water to drain off the side of the complex.  Once the shaping is complete the green will be sodded using 007 bentgrass.  A snow mold application will be made and then the green will be covered for winter.

Bunker Work

We spent the morning redistributing sand and adding new sand where needed.  The bunkers on #1 needed the most attention on the course and they came out great.  We were able to fix where the bunker liner was coming through on #2 and #9 while also adding fresh sand.  While bunkers are supposed to penal we try to make them as consistent and uniform as possible.  We have a little extra sand still in the parking lot which will be distributed to the green side bunker on #4.

FYI

While I appreciate everyone doing their part in filling and replacing their divots , please only use the divot mix on the tees, fairways, and approaches. 

Course Update

This summer has had everything, dry, extreme heat, soaking rains followed by more heat and humidity.  The golf course has held up very well since the beginning of July when we lost our main irrigation pump for two weeks.  As soon as it was replaced someone turned on the rain and hasn't shut it off since.  The course has received over 17" of rain in the past 24 days with temps approaching 90 degrees in between.  The putting has been under water 11 times in these past 24 days.  Needless to say but these aren't optimal growing conditions for the middle summer.  We've raised the height of cut on our greens mowers to try and limit the stress on the turf.  We've backed off on mowing and rolling in the same day, we try to choose one or the other but not both.  The weather going forward looks to be decent and hopefully we will see some recovery.  The greens were dryject aerified yesterday morning using straight sand.  This process is vital as it creates channels for root growth and also drainage while relieving compaction.  The entire process took roughly 4 hours, the greens were then brushed and blown off, the holes will take a few days to heal.  Enjoy the rest of the golf season and lets hope for no more rain!

Monday Maintenance

The rain has stopped for the time being and with the course being closed today I thought it was a good time to try out our ninja coring tines on our 648 aerator. These tines pull cores that are roughly 4 mm which is as small as you can get. They have all the benefits of the larger tines (compaction relief, water infiltration, gas exchange, etc.) but without the disruption to play. The process is simply aerate, blow off the cores, and then roll the green, extremely easy and very effective. We will do this once a month during the summer months going forward.

Course Photos

Looking out over #3 green

These two photos are of the right side of #3 green where we've had good success interseeding Luminary bentgrass into the green.  In the past this area has been quite weak due to it being a high traffic area but we've been able to divert some of that with stakes and this is the result.

The crew has done a great job maintaining the bunkers this year.

Summer Course Update

Summer is definitely in full swing with temps in the 90's to near 100 the past 10 days or so.  The golf course itself has done really well coming through the heat and humidity.  This time of year it is all about water management, too little isn't good and too much can be just as bad.  You've probably seen me or my assistant in the late afternoons syringing the greens.  All we are trying to do is cool down the turf canopy with a light mist.  Last Sunday our main irrigation pump went down due to either a lightning strike or a power surge due to the excessive heat.  Needless to say this isn't an optimal time for this to happen but we are making the best of the situation.  We still have our other pump running on #4 but it just can't keep up with the demand.  So you may notice some areas of the rough that are browning out because it's not getting the necessary irrigation.  Right now our priorities in order are greens, fairways/approaches, tees, and finally rough.  We are hopeful that the new motor will be here in the coming days allowing us to be fully operational once again.  I've received a lot of nice compliments about the course recently which is great.  It just goes to show how hard our team is working on a daily basis to give the membership the best playing conditions possible.  We've been venting the greens every other week as well topdressing them to improve consistency.  Enjoy the rest of your summer and we'll see you out there.

Spring Course Update

     I can’t believe it’s Memorial Day Weekend already, this Spring has just been flying by. The maintenance team has been very busy preparing the course not only for this weekend but also for the Member/Guest next weekend. We received 5” of rain last week and another .75” this past Tuesday afternoon and with the warm temps this past week the turf has been growing like wildfire, the rough especially. Normally, we cut the rough twice a week but this week it was cut three times in an effort to keep up with it. All I can say is, keep it in the fairway or you might not find it.
     The major complaint I received last year was that the bunkers weren’t consistent, so this Spring we made it a priority to fix the problem. We edged the bunkers, moved sand around for more consistent depths, and added sand where needed. The response has been good from you all and the bunkers have definitely been playing more consistently. You may have noticed some areas on the course that are roped off. These areas tend to get beaten up through foot and cart traffic. We’ve scratched these areas up, added seed, and a hydro mulch cover. These areas have really started to bounce back and we will be opening them back up soon. We hope you all enjoy the Memorial Day Weekend but take a minute to remember all the men and women who selflessly gave their lives for this great country of ours.

Pictures from the course

Spring Aeration

We aerated the greens this past Thursday using 5/8” hollow tines at the tightest spacing on our Pro-Core 648. We had originally intended to aerate on Monday but with the forecast calling for 2-3” of rain we decided move it up and we are glad we did. The day went off without a hitch and we were able to get all greens aerated, cleaned up, topdressed, brushed, and rolled by about 3:00 pm. We will use some of the cores collected to fill in our greens nursery and will be seeded using Declaration bentgrass. With any luck the weather will begin to cooperate allowing for the soil temps to come up and close the aeration holes in 10-14 days. On Tuesday we dryjected the greens using Profile. The process is pretty simple but incredibly effective. Basically a machine using our irrigation water shoots  Profile which is a ceramic, porous material into the soil at about 3,000 PSI creating channels up to 5” deep. These channels allow for improved drainage, increases porosity, better nutrient holding capacity, and reduced compaction. After a green is dryjected, we brush and roll it and it’s ready for play again with minimal disruption.

Storm update

I've been hearing that Spring is right around the corner for about the past six weeks and as I write this it looks like we may be getting hit with another storm later this week.  This last storm did quite a bit of damage to mainly our pine trees, so there is quite a bit of clean up that needs to be done.  There is still a lot of snow on the course as well which is slowing the process.  If there's a silver lining it's that the damage is confined to small areas, making for easier cleanup as opposed to it being all over the course.  Hopefully, this storm misses us and we are able to get out there this week and begin the clean up.  We have hired two new guys for the grounds crew who are excited to start the year and will be valuable assets to our team. We are excited to begin the 2018 golf season here at MGC and we look forward to seeing everyone out there this year.  Before you know it it will be 95 degrees out and we'll be complaining about that, begging for the fall to get here.  Enjoy your week and pray for no more snow.  Below are some pics of the storm damage.

Winter Play

I've attached a link below to an article written for the USGA outlining some of the issues courses run into when allowing play during the winter.  It's short, concise article that I think explains the detriments of play very well.  Hope everyone is enjoying the brief warm up this week, Spring is right around the corner.

http://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/course-care/regional-updates/northeast-region/2018/should-we-do-it-.html

Winter Golf

Just a friendly reminder from the greens department that all putting surfaces are closed for the winter and all play should be to the temporary greens. With warmer temps expected the next week or so the greens will begin to thaw and it’s during this time that the greens will be most susceptible to damage. Thank you all in advance for your cooperation and Spring is right around the corner!