Resodding of Lower Practice Tee

It's that time of the year again when we shut down our grass practice tees at the range and move to mats. Fortunately, it gives us a chance to re-sod our entire lower practice tee with sod grown from the nursery on Militia Hill. This move will provide our membership a brand new, divot free, 100% bentgrass tee for next year's golf season without the waiting time of seeding.

Once stripped, we begin regrading using our laser leveling box blade 

Meanwhile, the crew begins harvesting our sod from the nursery on Militia Hill

Halfway there!

Sod ready to go!

The crew begins laying the sod

Once laid, we top-dress seams to keep edges from drying out, then tarp it to ensure quick root establishment in the colder weather

Tarps are periodically removed for mowing which helps the turf 'knit' its seams faster

All the spoils stripped off the lower practice are recycled and used as a medium for the next year's grow in

Thanks for a Great Season

Hope to see you on The Range in 2018!

Wissahickon #9 Hole Adjustment

During our closed period for aerification on Wissahickon, we worked on the changes on 9 Wissahickon. The dead elm was cut down and removed. The new layout to 9 would consist of native fine fescue along the right side of 9 fairway and tying into the fairway bunkers. Rather than waste the rough sod on the right side of 9 we flopped it over to the left of 6 fairway.

The view from 9 tee with the fescue native as it will look next year

The view of 9 from the fairway with the fescue native as it will look next year

View from behind 6 green of aerification processes continuing while sod work is under way

Sod from 9 being laid on 6 in the foreground along with fairway mowers.  In the background, is our crew cutting the rough sod for 6 as well as a crew laying fescue native sod at the same time

Once stripped we began sod swapping 9 rough to the left of 6

The fine fescue will tie into the right side of the fairway bunkers for a natural look

Fine fescue installed

St. Martins #1 Fairway Adjustment & Bunker Addition

At St Martins we shifted the fairway to the left and added a fairway bunker on the right side of the fairway.  Below are some photos of the work being done.

Removing Zoysia sod from the right side which will be moved to the left side in order to shift the fairway.  Bunker being constructed at the same time.

Zoysia Sod laid on the left side where there used to be rough.

Rough sod going in on the right side and drainage being added to the new bunker.

Bunker Matrix being added to the bunker.

Bunker sand being added to the new bunker and compacted.

Finished Bunker

New view from the 1st tee with the fairway shifted to the left and newly added bunker.

The First Green at Philadelphia Cricket Club!

Yesterday we were excited to work alongside The First Green in hosting Whitemarsh Elementary 3rd graders to discover the wonderful game of golf and the behind the scenes science that goes into making a golf course. The field trip was successful due to our collaboration of local environmental groups including Temple University, Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association, Morris Arboretum, USGA, GCSAA, The First Tee of Greater Philadelphia, Philadelphia Section of the PGA, Montgomery County Conservation District, The Golf Association of Philadelphia, and PAGCS.

Dr. Vergare welcoming the students of White Marsh Elementary to PCC!

The children were assigned into groups that visited 5 different labs which included

Turfgrass

 Explanation of cutting heights, mowers, use of moisture meters, stimps, and cutting cups.

Soils    

  Learning the different soil types that go into making a golf course and how we build USGA sand based greens.

Golf Lab

 Many of the children walked away with a new love for the game, some who had never touched a golf club before!  They got to chip at Bullseyes, "Golfzilla", and Skeeball targets while they learned how to swing a golf club.

Water Lab

They learned how testing and monitoring our local water ways is important to the environment. Students checked pH levels of water, tested conductivity.  They also learned about watersheds and how to preserve our waterways to protect the wild life that lives in our local streams.  They had to chance to study and look at some of the wild life from our creek.

Tree Lab

The children enjoyed examining and passing around different branches and leaves of the various species of trees we enjoy on our property with the help of Jason Lubar from Morris Arboretum and our landscape superintendent  Alexander Reynolds.

Putting Lab

Kids learned how to putt and participated in putting contests with their partners to see who could make the longest putt.  They also putted toward SNAG golf bullseyes.

Militia Hill Fairway Nursery Grow In

We hope you're all enjoying the new bentgrass lower practice range so far this year. We're glad to announce our 2017 Nursery Fairway on Militia Hill is growing in nicely and ahead of schedule. As you know, we stripped the lower range tee as it was a mix of rye and bentgrass which differed from our bentgrass fairways.  The lower range sod and nutrient rich soil that was removed did not go to waste either as it was used as a base for the nursery for this years grow in.

 6/1/2017

 Nursery Green looking very healthy

Grown from 007 bentgrass seed, the same as Wissahickon fairways

 Sod removed from lower range tee and used as a healthy soil base for seeding (November 2016)

The PCC Sod Farm!

Tree Transplanting on Wissahickon Course

Over the off season we transplanted a 50 foot Sweetgum tree from the right of 18 rough and moved it to the left side of 18 tee where it replaced a smaller tree which was also transplanted forward 25 yards.

The process involved excavating the tree and maintaining a 25 foot root-ball so the tree has the best possible chance of survival. To accomplish such a task of moving it over 250 yards involved some very innovative tools including propping the tree up using a series of long airbags to lift the tree up out of the ground and pulling it with a large excavator.

 Excavating tree to maintain healthy root ball

 Tree rigged with burlap and wire mesh for stability

 Steel pipes hammered under tree to create a base plate

 Airbags being used to hoist tree into air

 Making our way toward 18 tee

Moving the tree

The view from 18 tee