Spring Officially Arrives this Weekend and with it comes Another Weekend With Wet Playing Conditions

 

Storm storms passed through the area Thursday night but it could have been worse.  Tornadic winds were reported in the southern part of the county, so despite all our Irving Park bunkers completely washing we are very grateful we didn't arrive to a course with trees and limbs scattered across the property.  Unfortunately the guys will be working extra hard today trying to get the bunkers playable for the weekend and it looks like with another 1.5 inches of rain carts will be on the path once again, but what's new.

 Speaking of bunkers, the staff devoted a lot of time this winter adding new sand to the bunkers on both courses.  Over 200 tons of new sand was added to bunkers throughout both courses in an effort to get the sand levels back to the proper depth.  Nearly two thirds of the sand was devoted to the Irving Park course where the washing nature of these bunkers has resulted in not only lost sand but a sand that is heavily contaminated with fines that erode off the washed out clay bunker faces. The new sand will greatly improve the playability of these bunkers.

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  #2 IP Fairway Bunker with New Sand

Greens Aerification

The Irving Park greens were aerified on March 1&2.  Our early spring aerification is the slowest one to recover due to the cool soil temperatures that exist for this time of the year.  While we experienced a very nice period of weather last week we are still not expecting the greens to be fully recovered until the last week of March.

Once we get into a prolonged warmer period that results in consistent new warm season grass growth we will also needle tine the Ultradwarf greens on the Farm course in an effort to unseal the surface of these greens after a long winter.  The effects of a needle tine aerification only last a few days and are barely noticeable to the average golfer.  We expect this will occur sometime in early April if weather patterns are near normal for the next few weeks. 

 Bermudagrass Transition

 While the winter has been exceedingly wet the temperatures have been near normal and as such we are currently expecting a good spring transition on all our warm season grasses.  Due to their wet nature and the warm week we experienced last week the Irving Park fairways are already trying to break out of dormancy.  The temperatures are expected to drop below freezing this weekend (31 degrees), so begins the back and forth nature of Bermudagrass transitions in our region.  We do expect tonight's below freezing temperatures to knock the new growth back a little, but ultimately temperatures that hoover right around freezing will not hurt the Bermuda or Zoysia.

 

#1 IP Fairway Breaking Dormancy Mid-March

 

 Irving Park Pool, Clubhouse and Fitness Renovation

As everyone knows by now the IP renovation project is now in motion.  The project will have multiple effects with golf on the IP campus:

• The practice area, including the practice green, will be closed throughout the duration of the project
• Golfers playing 17 and 18 will need to be aware of construction traffic crossing these holes. 

• Golfers finishing on #18 will need to return to the clubhouse by crossing 18 fairway and proceeding to the left of the green.  From there they will need to proceed toward #16 and return to the clubhouse via Granville Rd or #16 tee if play is slow and no one is playing the hole.  The cart path at #16 tee is not wide enough to handle two-way traffic.  We do expect worn, damaged and muddy areas to develop along this avenue over the next year and will work to repair these areas in a timely fashion.

• The staging area for the project encompasses the majority of the range and significant time was spent lowering sprinkler heads, removing sprinkler heads, relocating irrigation controllers to allow for the gravel surface and/or the expansion of the clubhouse footprint.  The board is currently reviewing the extent of changes necessary to restore this area once the project concludes in the spring 2022. 

 

 

July Courses Update

Summer is always a busy season for golf course maintenance and this year is no different.  Between cultural maintenance projects, improvement projects and basic maintenance the staff has a really long list of things to do every day with little time for rest.  Below are a just a few things we've been working on as of late.

Hand Watering Alert!

The full heat of summer is upon us and with that comes daily hand watering of the Bentgrass greens on the Irving Park course.  Bentgrass is a cool season grass that requires a lot of extra TLC throughout the summer months.  The later we get into the summer season the closer attention these delicate putting surfaces require.  On average we use the overhead irrigation system on the greens every 4 or 5 days to allow the greens to dry out in-between cycles.  This process helps to reduce disease pressure associated with hot, wet conditions.  On the days between these watering cycles we hand water certain areas of the green that dry out quicker than others on an almost daily basis in the morning.  The afternoon watering sessions are used to lightly water the surfaces to cool down the plant by aiding the plant's natural respiration defense mechanism.  On most days we are able to do these afternoon cooling cycles in and around play with little disruption to the golfers.  But, there are always those days when the volume of play and the wilt factor are both high and the staff has little choice but to disrupt play with their cool downs.  Golfers are known to be an impatient group of people and conflict can result.  If you find yourself on the course on one of these days please respect the safety of the staff by waiting until they are finish with their cooling down process.  The staff are trained to stay out of the golfers way but sometimes that simply is not possible.  In the end, they are just working hard in an effort to keep the greens alive and healthy and waiting will have little effect on when you finish your round, because if it is busy enough for our staff to interrupt you then most likely you will catch back up to the group in front of you on the very next hole. 

Syringing Bent

14 Spillway Pipe Repair

The spillway pipe repair project is a little over half way through and the high risks part of the project has been completed.  The old pipe has been slip lined with a new pipe.  Grout has been pump in between the old and new pipe to ensure there is no seepage that could result in erosion issues undeath the dam structure.  The new concrete riser structures are currently in the process of being installed and the last part of the project will be the earthwork to repair the damage done to the dam itself from the project and the earlier erosion related to the faulty pipe.  Weather permitting, we hope to conclude this project by July 28 when we will begin pumping water from our wells and hope for natural rainfall to begin to slowly refill the pond.  We do not expect the pond will be completely refilled until sometime late fall-early winter, unless we run into a really wet period.

Excavating down to original pipe

    

Installing Riser

Tee Box Renovation on IP #1

With the large Oak tree no longer shading this area we felt it was a good time to renovate the existing tee and take advantage of the missing tree to add some additional tee space.  The old tee was poorly constructed with a very uneven and shallow layer of mix, so 60 yards of new mix were brought in to increase the depth of the growing media and to help shape out the new teeing area.  The tee was sodded with Zeon Zoysia and should be ready for play next weekend (7/18).

New Soil Brought in for New Teeing Area

New Mix Added to Entire Teeing Area

#1 Sodded

Cultural Maintenance

The Farm course was aerified in late June this year and the recovery period has been going very well despite the drought as of late.  Tees, fairways, greens and closely mown green surrounds were all on the hit list in what is most likely the most grueling week of the year for the staff.  New drainage was recently added to #2 fairway with additional drainage planned for holes 16 and 18.

The Irving Park course fairways were recently vertically mown in an effort to remove some of the surface thatch and the grain that comes with closely mown Bermuda.  We also used this time to solid tine or vent the Bentgrass greens, which are doing well for this time of the year, but the toughest growing season comes over the next 6-8 weeks, so stayed tuned as we continue to work hard to keep them alive and healthy and rolling consistently.

Busting Plugs - By Far the Worst Job Ever

Aerifying Farm Fairways

Verticutting IP Fairways

New French drainage #2 Farm

Farm Hole #11 Dogleg

Brooks and the staff recently completed a nice improvement project on the eleventh hole of the Farm.  The left corner at the dogleg had been in very rough condition for some time now.  Trees, poor soil, erosion and a lack of irrigation all made this area nearly impossible to grow healthy turf.  Last fall several trees were removed from this area to allow for increased sunlight, which was the first important step in renovating this area.  The next steps included adding addition irrigation, storm swales to redirect water and a lot of new topsoil were all added to the area.  The final touch was installing a large amount of Zoysiagrass to the area.  This was one of the last out of the way, but in-play areas, on the course that has been on our list for several years but has now been checked off.

#11 New Soil & Irrigation

#11 Sodded

Hole #14 Farm Pond Drain Pipe Repairs Starting Soon

Lowering the Pond Level on Farm Hole #14 for Repairs

The drain pipe for the pond on hole #14 on the Farm course is in a deteriorated state and has been leaking for a while due to several large holes.  This is the original drain pipe and is in excess of 60 years old with most studies showing the useful life of galvanized steel culvert pipe anywhere from 10-70 years depending on environmental factors.  We were prepared to make these repairs earlier this year but the Covid 19 Pandemic forced us to put this project on hold until the Club had a better understanding of the financial impact of the Pandemic.  We recently received approval to once again move forward with this project and we are only waiting on the contractor to finish his current job in order to get started with our project.

SCOPE OF PROJECT

1) Drain the pond

2) Sleeve (slip line) the existing 330 feet of 12-inch corrugated galvanized pipe

3) Install a New Riser Overflow/Inlet Structure

4) Repair erosion on Dam bank

5) Repair outfall area erosion

Repairs made throughout this project have all been engineered and all necessary permits have been approved by the NC Department of Environmental Quality.  We are expecting this project, from start to finish, to take approximately 6-8 weeks.

The biggest concern for the community will be the potential for fish kill when the pond is lowered below the current outfall drain pipe.  There is a chance that there may be a pocket big enough below this elevation to sustain fish life but until the pond is drained we will not know what to expect.

Erosion around Riser

Camera View of Interior Pipe Deterioration

Example of Slip Lining (not GCC)

RECENT TREE REMOVALS AT GREENSBORO COUNTRY CLUB

As many members are aware, the club embarked on a vigorous tree removal program over the past several years at both courses.  The plan was set in motion in 2015 when the club began to consider making significant changes to each of the two courses.  In 2015 the club retained an Architect, Keith Foster, to complete a Master Plan on the Irving Park course, which laid out a road map for future possible design changes to the course.  Identified in that plan were trees that should be considered for removal.  Trees included in this plan fell into four categories: 1) Tree Management, 2) Turf Enhancement, 3) Design Considerations, and 4) Unsafe trees 

Under the category of tree management trees were identified that were too closely spaced and needed to be thinned in order for the surrounding trees to take on a fuller, stronger and more mature look.  The thinning of Pines between holes 2 and 11, the Pines between holes 9 and 10 and select hardwoods on 14 and 15 are good examples of where trees were removed in an effort to improve the health and look of the existing surrounding trees.

Several trees were also identified as not being crucially significant to the overall strategic design elements of the course but did create burdensome conditions towards the goal of growing healthy grass that would create better playing conditions with their removal.  The clearest examples of these particular trees where the large Oaks on hole 16 and 1.  Both these trees created management problems for the two tee boxes that resulted poor tee box conditions over the past many years and annual repair expenses to replace thin and damaged turf.  The one large remaining tree on this list is the Oak behind 5 green that creates very difficult growing conditions for that green.  The removal of this tree has been taken off the list for removal and the club will seek alternate ways to modify the growing environment in this area most likely in the form of a fan to improve air flow in an effort to reduce disease pressure on the Bentgrass turf that is thin due to shady conditions.

Trees that would affect changes to the existing course due to slight routing changes have not been removed as the final design considerations are still in the early stages and may change over time.

The last categories of trees were trees that were deemed unsafe and could cause harm to people or property.  The Irving Park course had a large number of Virginia Pines that had very strong leans and posed the risk of coming down at any given time.  The majority of these trees have been removed and there are still a few that we are closely monitoring.

In 2016 the Farm course began considering the prospect of converting the greens from Bentgrass to a new Ultra dwarf hybrid.  As part of that planning process numerous trees were identified as needing to be removed to grow the new warm season turf, which mandates a minimum of 6 hours of direct sunlight in order to thrive.  Unlike Bentgrass, fans will not make a difference without the proper amount of sunlight.  The vast majority of these trees were removed during the conversion process but over the last few years several trees that were considered borderline quickly showed us they were not and have been removed post conversion over the past two years.

While the majority of the membership has been very patient and understanding throughout this process the last few large Oaks on our list have caused some concern that has resulted in a moderate amount of negative feedback.  The good news is the tree removals on both courses that were identified as part of the project will be coming to an end at the conclusion of this current winter season.  Going forward our tree removal program will primarily consist of trees that are deemed unsafe, that are damaged during storms, that have died for natural causes or have been deemed necessary for small scale enhancement projects.  Throughout this entire process the golf course management team has communicated and sought approval from the Green Committee, GM and Board, which has supported our efforts to balance the overall playability and aesthetics of the two courses versus those in the membership that have a strong devotion towards trees.  We are grateful for everyone’s support and are confident that our hard work and all the resources put into this project will result in a great number of positive effects on both courses for many years to come.

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