Pond Update and More

IP #13 POND UPDATE

Autumn has finally ushered in cooler temperatures and the late summer - early fall drought has subsided for now.  The dry conditions were extremely helpful and well timed for our pond excavation project.  The contractor couldn't have asked for better conditions for what we were trying to accomplish.  While the project still has a few things that need to be completed before we officially move on it does appear the project will hit it's goal of removing approximately 4,000 cu yds of fill sediment within the approved budget.  The island surrounding the City sewer main is all that is left to deal with as far as sediment removal goes.  We have rented a small mini excavator and will be working today around the pipe to get this area lowered to ~ 2 feet below full water level.  Once that is complete there will be just a few more things to finish. We will need to repair the section of turf on the #13 tee side where the trackhoes and dump trucks damaged the turf.  Also, we were forced to cut a hole in the concrete drain structure and that hole will need to be repaired by installing a new drain valve before we can begin refilling the pond. Lastly, we are looking to install a sub-surface water mixer and circulator to maintain an improved water quality and appearance moving forward.

Other Small Recent Projects

Several things have taken place in recent weeks to prepare the courses for the long winter season:

•  The warm season grasses were treated with a high Potassium fertilizer application to harden them off before dormancy.
•  Warm season grasses received preventative treatments for diseases such as Spring Dead Spot and Zoysia Patch.
•  The two courses both received weed control applications to prevent winter weed germination.
•  Ryegrass was planted on the Farm practice tee area and fescue areas were selected re-seeded throughout each course.

Cart Path Repairs

A large section of root damaged cart path was repaired on hole #2 on Irving Park and the turf that was damaged from the paving process has been repaired.

74th Carolinas Putter Cup 

On October 18-19 the Farm course made a great showing for the 74th Carolinas Putter Cup team matches that slates 24 of the best amateur golfers in the Carolinas against 24 of the best amateurs from Virginia and West Virginia.  The Carolinas team was captained by our very our Lawrence Hicks who must of done an outstanding job because the Carolinas team won in dominant fashion with a final point score of 31-17.  Much like Carolinas Open, which was hosted earlier this summer, the comments on the golf course and service were overwhelmingly positive. 

Pond Dredge Update, Trees & More

Irving Park Pond Excavation Project
The time has finally come to begin excavating the excess sediment from the pond on hole #13 on the Irving Park course.  Next Week (9/23) the contractor will begin mobilizing his equipment that will be required to perform the work.  The first phase will begin by building a construction entrance off of Sunset drive in front of the teeing area on 13 for dump trucks to get close enough to the pond to be loaded with the sediment.  The sediment will then be trucked off site.

What to Expect:

• We do expect some traffic disruptions along Sunset as this work is being conducted with the slow moving trucks entering and exiting this site.  The contractor is responsible for ensuring and maintaining a clean road surface along Sunset Drive while this work is being performed.  
• While the work is being performed we will be playing hole #13 as a temporary par 3 with a large teeing area mowed out on the green side of the pond.  We will attempt to stage equipment in an area out of play, if possible, while work is not being performed to allow for play from the regular teeing areas (weekends).
•  While the work is being performed there could be an anaerobic smell from the waterlogged soil that will dissipate quickly once the work subsides.
•  The project is planned for 4 weeks but is very dependent on dry weather.  If the current dry weather pattern continues we expect to be finished inside the 4 week mark but rainfall throughout the project will only serve to delay the work.
•  The project is budgeted to remove 4,000 cubic yards of sediment, which is a depth of 3 feet of soil for a finished depth that will average somewhere around 4-5 feet below the full water level at the conclusion of the project.

No one more than myself is looking forward to the day we shovel out the last scoop of muck and see the last truck drive away.

Pond Dried Out and Ready for Excavation

2019 Gentleman's Member-Guest
All the summer improvement/cultural projects such as aerification, drainage, sodding, cart path repairs, tee construction, etc., have all been finished and we expect the staff's hard work will show up this fall in the form of two really well conditioned courses. Next week marks the kick off for this year's Gentleman's Member-Guest and the courses should be in excellent shape for members to show off to their guest. The long range weather forecast looks good next week with dry conditions and average temperatures.  We began extending our work schedule this week and we will continue the extended work schedule next week in an effort to make the two courses look and play their very best.

The Difficult Par 3 - #3 Farm

Tree Program
As many members of the club are fully aware we have been on an ambitious tree thinning and removal program for the past decade and actually going back to my first official day on the property, when I was greeted on a Saturday morning in May, 2000 with a straight line wind storm that took down close to a hundred trees.  The formalized program actually began several years prior to the Farm course renovation with a vision to improve its overall aesthetics by balancing trees and turf to produce a course that is both beautiful and delivers high quality turf playing conditions.  A great many trees have been removed due to natural causes or safety concerns but a great many have been sacrificed to reach that perfect balance that exists between trees and turf.  In recent years the primary focus has been to get adequate sunlight on the new Bermuda greens at the Farm. The focus on the Irving Park course began to ramp up several years ago when the club developed an Architect based long term master plan for the course.  That master plan identified a lot of significant issues with the course and the vast majority of those issues are best dealt with during a renovation/restoration process.  But part of that plan also included a large number of trees that need to be removed for this historic course to reach its true potential.  The vast majority of the trees included in that plan, and are not part of design changes, have already been removed in-house or with the assistance of a tree removal contractor.  None of the trees that have been removed to date were strategic to the playability of either course and all the removals have benefited both the playability of the courses and their overall beauty.  The trees on that list that we felt would be the most contentious were placed on the end of the list and we know find ourselves at the end of that list.  The tree that was recently removed on hole #16 on the Irving Park course met with a lot of questionable feedback from the membership, so we have temporarily paused out Live Tree removal program on the Irving Park course until we can re-discuss the issue at the committee/board level and determine how to best move forward with the last few trees that are recommended for removal prior to a large scale renovation/restoration process.

August Course Update

Farm Course Plays Host to the 95th Carolinas Open

The Farm course welcomed the top Club Professionals and many of the top amateurs from the Carolinas to test their skills this past week on the Farm course.  From all the praise that was offered by the players it was clear the club made a great showing.  Positive comments were plentiful in recognition of both the outstanding service and course conditions.  Staff from every department worked long and hard to make a good showing and based on all the comments I believe their efforts more than paid off.  Congratulations to Rick Morton from Rock Creek Golf and CC in Jacksonville, NC for his 11 under par - 3 day final score, which earned him a one shot lead and the Championship Trophy.

                                                                                                   Day Two - Carolinas Open

Recent Course Improvements

Farm Forward Tees - Two new forward tees were constructed this summer on holes #15 and #18 as part of our long term Farm forward tee program.  We now have a total of 10 newly constructed forward tees in play out of a planned total of 13.  Forward tees on all par threes will be played from the current green tees.  The course yardage from the new set of tees will measure somewhere around 4,200.

15 Forward Tee

18 Forward Tee

Farm Drainage - In addition to the large drainage project on #1 fairway, additional drainage was also added to the #11 and #15 fairways.  Similar to other drainage improvements on the Farm course Zoysia fairways each of the areas had extensive new French drainage installed with catch basins added wherever they were needed to get the water off the fairways as quickly as possible.  Drainage improvements are a seemingly never ending necessity, so we already have another long list planned out for next year.

15 New Drainage

11 New Drainage

P. David Brown Bench - A new bench was recently dedicated for long standing member P. David Brown on the #4 hole on the Irving Park course.

P. David Brown #4 Irving Park

Walking Path Farm 2 Green - 3 Tee - The most direct walking path from 2 green to the forward tees on 3 was a very rough and uneven path and was therefore very difficult for golfers to traverse.  Numerous trees were remove, soil and irrigation were added and new sod was installed to make this an easier walk for golfers using this shortcut.

Midway through Walkway Repairs

Numerous Sod Repairs - A total of 5 truckloads of sod was added to the two courses in June and July.  The vast majority of these repairs were tree related.  The largest portion of the sod was to repair areas where trees had been recently removed with the balance going to patching up areas underneath trees where shade had thinned the turf to an unacceptable level.  The blue and white tee on hole #6 at Irving Park was converted to Zeon Zoysia two weeks ago and should be reopening soon.

6 IP New Zeon Sod

15 New Shade Tolerant Zeon Sod

Off to College - A common ritual for mid-August is for kids to begin heading back to school.  We brought in 15 college students this year and by the end of this week nearly everyone will be leaving us to head back to college.  This part of our staff proves to be invaluable to us during what is our busiest season and without them it would not be anywhere close to possible to achieve the course conditions and small improvements we provide throughout the summer growing months.  The next 4-6 weeks are always the toughest time of the year for the full time staff because everything is still growing at a peak rate and we have now effectively lost 1/3 of our staff in one week.  This year was also a little special as I waved goodbye to my daughter as she headed off to her first year at the University of South Carolina.

Lauren Lowe - Freshman Move-In Day USC

June Golf Course Update

Weather

May provided for some really good golfing weather in the fact the winter and spring rains finally decided to take a break.  May was a little warmer than unusual in that we experienced 7 days in a row of 90+ degree temperatures.  The warm temperatures left on the last day of May and brought with it a substantial hail storm.  June thus far has been much wetter and cooler with the last seven days having produced nearly 8 inches of rain and much cooler temperatures.

Hail Damage on the IP Greens

Post Hail Storm

Fallen Tree due to Saturated Conditions

Irving Park Pond Dredging - Still Awaiting Permit Approval

The first stage of our pond dredging project on the #13 pond at Irving Park is still on hold due the permitting approval process.  We had hoped everything would be approved by sometime in May but nothing seems to move very quickly when it comes to permitting.  We are expecting a 6-8 week period for dry down, so we are now realistically looking at sometime in August to begin the dredging part of this project.  Stay tuned....

Farm Forward Tees
We have started construction on a few more forward tees on the Farm course. Our plan is to build new tees on holes 15, 18 and possibly 7.  This is part of the long term plan to build a short course that is more enjoyable beginners, novices and people who simply do not hit the ball far enough to enjoy playing from the standard teeing grounds.  Per a set of guidelines from the PGA of America's Tee It Forward program the forward tees will fall into a range between 4,000 - 4,500 yards long.

New Forward Tee Location #15 Farm

Farm Drainage
Immediately following the Presidents Cup this year the Farm staff began working on a large drainage issue on the #1 fairway.  The turf had thinned severely due to the above normal rainfall over the winter months and the fact Zoysia is very sensitive to wet conditions.  New French drainage was added to area nearly 4,000 sf in size and all the damaged turf was replaced with new Zeon Zoysia.  We have several more drainage projects we hope to work in before the end of summer.

Damaged Turf due to Poor Drainage

Drain Lines Installed and Damaged Turf Removed

Finished Product being Watered

General Items
With June comes a lot of extra seasonal staff and we are very pleased thus far with this year's recruits.  We have brought in approximately 15 school students to help with all the extra workload that comes with the summer growing season.  The greens, tees and fairways were aerified during the first of week of June on the Irving Park course and we couldn't have asked for better weather with bright blue sky's early in the week and significant rainfall coming right towards the very end.  The same large scale aerification will take place on the Farm course the week of July 8-12, so make sure to note that on your golfing calendar.  The two courses shared a truckload of sod in early June and we expect to install another 2-3 to repair thin or damaged areas and to assist in some of our future construction and drainage projects.

May Course Update - Pond Dredging and More

President's Cup

Our Gentleman's President's Cup takes place this weekend and the two courses are off to a much better start than the past few years.  We still have a few issues related to transitioning, tree removals and poor drainage where we still have some work to do, but most of our warm season grasses have come in nicely and it has been a great spring for root growth on the IP Bentgrass greens.  The weather forecast is actually calling for sunshine on a weekend (hard to believe), so we hope this year's participants enjoy the two courses and  the comradery associated with this great event.

Pond Dredging Project - #13 Irving Park

The first phase of the pond dredging project, which will be the draw down phase, is set to begin as soon we receive an OK, in the form of permit approvals, from the Army Corp of Engineers and NC State / Greensboro City Water Quality officials.  As soon as we receive our permits we plan to drain the pond and keep it drained for a period of 6-8 weeks.  Once the pond has drained well enough to truck the materials off site we would begin the dredging phase of the project.  We expect to start dredging/excavation sometime in mid-late July. We project hauling ~ 4,000 yards of sediment materials to an off site location.  While the dredging phase of the project is occurring we will plan to play the #13 hole as a par three.  We expect the dredging/excavation phase will take ~ 4-5 weeks.  This will be a very difficult project to complete and is very dependent of weather, so your understanding and patience with all the negative aspects of performing this process will be greatly appreciated.

#13 Sediment Filled Pond

Farm Swim/Tennis & Maintenance Parking Lot

Throughout the month of April the club undertook an expansive parking lot renovation project at the Farm Swim, Tennis and Maintenance area.  In additional to removing the old and heavily damaged asphalt and curbs and replacing with a new sub-base all new curbing and sidewalks at the pool area were installed.  In addition to replace the old asphalt, curbing and sidewalk twenty three (23) new parking spots were added for golf course maintenance parking and overflow for large event parking needs.  Also included in the project was a new concrete material storage area for golf course maintenance and a new concrete pad for our dumpster storage area.  While weather throughout the project was an issue the project was able to come in on time and slightly under budget thanks to the great work of our contractor, Piedmont Carolina Paving.

Before

After

#14 Farm Pond Spillway Repair

The spillway pipe that serves to maintain and drain the pond on hole #14 has corroded and developed a large hole in the pipe near the edge of the pond.  This hole developed last fall during on the large rain events associated with the two hurricanes or tropical storms that affected our area.  Fortunately the current spillway structure is located at the edge of the pond and has created a natural dam that has prevented the pond from draining entirely.  We have retained the services of an environmental engineering firm to assist us with the necessary design and permit work.  We expect to have a better idea of all the aspects of this repair by sometime in June.

Mark Your Calendars

Aerification - Irving Park June 3-6

Aerification - Farm July 8-12

Golf Course Important Notifications - February 2019

With spring right around the corner, I wanted to update the members on a few important things that we have been working on and a few things we will try to tackle in the near future.

Irving Park Hole #13 Pond Dredging - April - through the Summer Months

The pond on hole #13 has become an unsightly water feature that has been inundated with upstream erosion deposits over the past several decades. We are currently in the final stages of bidding this project out and expect to drain the pond sometime during the month of April. Once the sediment has had ample time to begin to drain out (6-8 weeks) we will bring in large excavators to remove the excess sediment off-site. Depending on a lot of different factors, but mostly weather, we expect the working stage of this project to last 4-8 weeks before the pond is refilled. There are a few things the members should be made aware of prior to commencing work on this project. The first is the pond does not support any large sized fish population, so the smaller sized fish and minnows will be safely drained downstream. There will likely also be an odor from the decaying organic material. We are will be committed to completing this project as quick as possible to minimize both of these aspects. We are designing in new riprap baffle walls to catch future erosion at the two stream inlets in an effort to aid future annual/bi-annual maintenance and removal of incoming sediment and debris.

Sediment and Debris Buildup #13

Irving Park Greens Aerification - March 4-5
We will be conducting our first aerification of the year on the Irving Park Bentgrass greens on the first Monday and Tuesday in March. We will be using small coring tines for this aerification as the greens are slowing to healing with the cool soil temperatures in March. Members should expect about 3 weeks for the greens to fully recover. Our second spring aerification will be conducted on June 3-6.  This aerification will include not only greens but also tees and fairways, thus the two additional days of course closure.

Farm Swim/Tennis/Maintenance Parking Lot Renovation - Month of April
We are in the middle of the planning process to refurbish the entire parking area at the Farm swim/tennis and golf maintenance shop. This area has seriously deteriorated over the past many years and is in much need of new resurfacing. The existing asphalt will be removed and new asphalt will be installed.  We are also planning to add a small amount of extra parking in the swim/maintenance area. The current plan is to begin work as early in April as possible and have the work completed by the end of April depending on contractor scheduling and weather. We are currently in the engineering phase and as soon as that work is completed we will send the project out to bid.  There will be limitations on accessing this area for tennis operations and the Tennis department will communicate those restraints as soon as we know an official and definitive work schedule.  We do not expect this work will conflict with the pool season schedule.

Ultradwarf Greens and Remaining Warm Season Grass - Winter Prognosis
To date we have experienced two moderately cold weather events that caused us concern with the health and survivability of the new Ultradwarf greens. For both of those events the club took the extra measure of applying and additional pine straw insulation blanket. The unseasonably warm weather last week lead to the greens breaking dormancy and unlike last year at this same time there is a uniform emergence of new leaf tissue across the entirety of the greens. The forecast for the next two weeks is for near normal or slightly above normal temperatures.  March can be a very unpredictable month in our area for weather so we are not out the clear yet but it would seem we have made it through the months that produce the harshest weather. As for the remaining parts of the course with warm season grasses, we are currently not expecting anything beyond the normal spring time and early summer repairs due to poorly drained and overly shady areas.

Pine Straw Insulation Prior to Covering

Tree Thinning Program Wrapping Up
The staff along with the help of Bill's Tree Service has been working hard this winter to remove trees that have been identified for removal as part of our on-going tree removal and course beautification program. We expect this work to conclude sometime toward the latter part of February or early March depending on contractor scheduling. Stump removals and grass repair related to these areas will take place later this spring.

Tree Logs Stored for Removal

Spillway Pipe on Farm Pond Hole #14
The pond on hole #14 on the Farm course has not been holding a proper level over the winter months and we experienced a small sink hole around the structure during the two fall hurricane events. The club has retained and engineer and pond specialist to investigate the issue and will do whatever is necessary to restore the functionality of the spillway pipe in a timely and responsible manner. The spillway pipe for this pond is the original galvanized steel pipe structure that was installed during the ponds construction and we estimate it is somewhere in the area of 60 years old and will need to be lined with a new HDPE pipe as well as a new riser and overflow structure designed and installed.

Sloughing Bank around Intake Structure