Course Restrooms

The course restrooms will need to remain closed through the middle of next week.  They do not have insulation in the walls or ceilings and were never designed for year-round use.  Unfortunately, the 7-day weather forecast calls for lows in the 20's a few nights, which would lead to frozen and broken pipes.  We apologize for the inconvenience and will open them as soon as possible.

Course Update 3/29/18

I'm fortunate to work with such a friendly and talented group, who always make the best of every situation.  Well, this week has been one of those times.  We had planned to finish course cleanup then get the bunkers ready for the holiday weekend.  That didn't happen thanks to the awful weather.  We still have a little cleanup to finish on Grove, then we can start repairing the bunkers.  With all the rain, bunker work is pointless until the sand has a chance to dry out.  We've tried pushing water-logged sand up the faces and it just slides back down.  So the plan now is to let the bunkers dry out on Friday and start working in them over the weekend.  We have the staff scheduled both days to maximize our efforts.  We also plan to roll greens on Friday, then mow them for the first time on Saturday.  Setting up the driving range accessories and changing hole locations is also on our to-do list.

Tree Work...Grove 3

The 5" of snow yesterday slowed our progress, but it didn't stop us from getting closer to our goal.  Like you, the staff is looking forward to the weather improving and getting back on the course for regular maintenance.  However, we're pushing to get the last few areas done for this year and are currently working between 2 green and 3 tee.  On Tuesday, we finished clearing the overgrown bank to the right of 3 green.  Similar to other areas, the dense vegetation just off the green made it very difficult to grow healthy turf, both on and off the green.  Without adequate sunlight and airflow, the collection areas between the mounds remained wet and playability was poor.  Now that the vegetation is gone that area will be considerably drier and have better turf.

Starting to clean up the right of Grove 3 green.

Right side of 3 green looking back towards the fairway...before

Right side of 3 green...after

We suspect this tree was damaged when it was young by a burrowing animal based on the cavity in the stump.

Notice the trees to the right of the cart path near the bridge.  They heavily shade the tees and restrict play from the right side.

The trees behind Grove 2 green don't look bad now, but during the summer the back third of the green doesn't receive any morning sunlight.

Work in progress between Grove 2 green and 3 tees.

Bryan Morgan, Assistant Superintendent, getting ready to drop a dead maple behind 2 green.

Tree Work...Grove 6

It required 5 full days and 200 man hours, but we finished the tree work on Grove 6 and the change is remarkable.  However, it turned out to be a larger project than we originally thought due to the poor condition of most of the trees.  Similar to all the other areas we've worked in, the trees we removed had external damage to the trunks and a significant amount of dead branches.  We suspect the damage to the trunks was originally caused by heavy equipment during course construction, but a falling limb can also cause similar damage.  A minor scrape or gouge that exposes the conductive tissue when a tree is young is sometimes overlooked, but can be devastating over a couple decades.  Some of the dead trees were so covered in vines it gave the appearance that the tree was alive.

Once the trees were on the ground we observed varying levels of wood decay and insect damage as you'll see in the pictures below.  Only three trees were deemed healthy and structurally sound to keep, but they still identify the location of the lateral hazard for golfers to reference.  The final steps for this area are to grind all the stumps, clean up the piles of aerification plugs and wood chips, and prep the area for seed.  Seeding will occur once soil temps are consistently above 55 degrees and the likelihood of a hard freeze has passed.

View from the tees...before

View from the tees...after

Beginning of the fairway...before

Beginning of the fairway...after

Looking back towards the tees...before

Looking back towards the tees...after

This dead locust tree was hollow and unexpectedly broke after cutting a notch 

Decaying wood is the preferred choice of a carpenter ant colony

Another example of wood decay

Tree Work...Lakes 4 & 6, Grove 6

Last week we finished up on Lakes 6 with some removals near the tees, and got rid of the brush piles that had accumulated in the woods on the 7 tee side of the pond.  We then moved to the fairway bunkers on Lakes 4 to remove four trees that cast heavy shade onto the turf, which created a muddy mess in the fall due to the lower angle of the sun.  Once the trees were on the ground we observed varying stages of trunk decay, most likely caused by their proximity to the cart path.  We also spent some time removing the volunteer growth in the left hazard at the beginning of the fairway.  The brush was blocking the view down the left side of the fairway, especially from the silver tee.

Next, we turned our attention to the overgrown area on Grove 6 before the pond on the left side of the fairway.  It's a tangled mess of black cherries, native elms, dead ash trees, honeysuckle and jagger bushes.  All the vegetation is native to western pennsylvania, and grows quickly in areas that are not maintained.  The trees appear to be around 25 years old, which dates back to the time of course construction.  In case you're wondering, we're working in this area to remove the dead trees, but also to allow more sunlight and airflow to reach the fairway and left rough.  Anyone who has played from the left rough will attest how wet it always is, and the fairway isn't much better.  The turf only receives a couple hours of sunlight each day, which isn't nearly enough for healthy growth.  The first step in an area such as this, is to remove the brush and have a clear path of access to the trees.  It required five hours to clear the brush with five employees and our usual mix of equipment.  Once the brush was gone, we started removing trees by the pond and working our way back up the hill.  We're removing trees on the left side of the drainage ditch first, then we'll move to the trees near the fairway and have them fall into the clearing.  This helps keep the branches and debris concentrated in one area and it takes less time to do a final cleanup.  We anticipate three or four days to complete everything.

Trees removed on Lakes 4 near the fairway bunkers.  Notice the thin turf  between the bunker and cart path.

Thin turf in the drive-off area on Lakes 4 before the fairway bunkers.  Notice the shade from the trees even without leaves.  This area usually turns to mud in the fall from lack of sunlight.

This black cherry tree was dead and we believe the holes are from woodpeckers.

Lakes 4 fairway from the silver tee...before

Lakes 4 fairway from the silver tee...after

Making progress on Grove 6

Starting to remove trees near the pond on Grove 6.  The green enclosure on the left is the control panel for the three aerators in the pond.

One of many dead trees on Grove 6 that need to be removed

Wood decay in a black cherry stump

Course Update 3/1/18

Even though the calendar says it's March 1st, the recent weather feels more like May.  Grass is breaking dormancy and starting to green up.  Sap is flowing in the Maple trees and the leaf buds are turning red.  All signs point to an early spring, but I anticipate a few more snow/cold weather events.  With that in mind, we're finishing up our tree work in the next two weeks so we can start getting the courses ready for the season.  Tuesday and Wednesday of this week were rain-free, so we took the opportunity to roll greens and change cups.  Greens are traditionally rolled two or three times before the first mowing to smooth imperfections created during winter freeze/thaw cycles.  If we didn't roll, the bumpy putting surface would cause the mowers to scalp the plants and possibly lead to turf loss.  While the rollers were out, the staff smoothed tire tracks in several fairways created during our snow mold fungicide application in December.

As for the tree work this week, we removed two more large cherry trees overhanging the back of the gold/blue tee on Lakes 7.  Both trees had a significant amount of dead wood high in the canopies that were safety concerns should the dead limbs break off.  We then moved to the wooded area right of the green on Lakes 6 to remove several trees that were blocking full view of the green.  A large area of brush was removed in this same area last year during the tee renovation to improve sightlines, but more work was needed.  With the trees and brush removed, players on the blue and gold tees can now see the right side of the putting surface along with the short-grass collection area.

Blue tee renovation on Lakes 6.  Notice the cleared area on the far side of the pond
that used to be thick brush.

 

Current view of 6 green from the gold tee