Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Zoysiagrass at St. Martins
Yesterday we completed Phase 1 of our St. Martins work by sodding all of our tee-tops to zoysiagrass.
We also installed a small area on #1 fairway, as we believe zoysiagrass is a likely option for a future fairway turf at St. Martins. The prime users of St. Martins will really enjoy the zoysiagrass lie, as the ball sits straight up in the air as if it was on a tee. As a warm-season turf, zoysia looks its best during the middle of the summer, exactly when St. Martins is most heavily used.
Agronomicallly, zoysiagrass makes sense for many reasons. It is extremely heat tolerant, and requires less water, chemical, and fertility requirements. Zoysiagrass will go dormant, which means growth will be very slow in the spring in and in the fall. This is good news as it means that that we will not be spending unnecessary dollars mowing the turf when the golf course is not being heavily used.
From a conditioning standpoint, members will be happy to know that St. Martins can easily become a world-class golf experience, and still remain as a relatively simple and cost-effective golf course to maintain.
We will heavily topdress the tees as soon as they root. This will make them firm and perfectly smooth. Come summer, a time when other grasses begin to struggle with the heat, our tees will be healthy and bright green.
The small trial area on #1 fairway also serves as a driving range tee for our Jr. Camps at St. Martins. This turf will be much more enjoyable for the juniors to learn the game as it will be easier for their shots to get airborn.
We also installed a small area on #1 fairway, as we believe zoysiagrass is a likely option for a future fairway turf at St. Martins. The prime users of St. Martins will really enjoy the zoysiagrass lie, as the ball sits straight up in the air as if it was on a tee. As a warm-season turf, zoysia looks its best during the middle of the summer, exactly when St. Martins is most heavily used.
Agronomicallly, zoysiagrass makes sense for many reasons. It is extremely heat tolerant, and requires less water, chemical, and fertility requirements. Zoysiagrass will go dormant, which means growth will be very slow in the spring in and in the fall. This is good news as it means that that we will not be spending unnecessary dollars mowing the turf when the golf course is not being heavily used.
From a conditioning standpoint, members will be happy to know that St. Martins can easily become a world-class golf experience, and still remain as a relatively simple and cost-effective golf course to maintain.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
St. Martins Restoration
Below are photos of our recent restoration to PCC's original, 9-hole, St. Martins course (which dates back to the 1800's). This restoration was performed with golf course architect,Keith Foster in an in-house method using PCC's staff.
It is wonderful for our members to have this work completed prior to our Wissahickon Restoration. It will also be extra special for our members to have their original US Open course restored prior to the US Open returning to Philadelphia next year!
As we excavated the bunkers, the original perimeters from the 1800's became clearly evident (notice the interior edge of the bunker in the photo). The combination of over 100 years of sand build-up on the faces from bunker shots, and gradual edging, caused the bunkers to eventually become more rounded and bland in shape. As this happened the bunkers gradually became more sand-flashd as the original grass faces were slowly lost. Discovering these origianl features, and restoring their concepts made for very special, heart-felt work.
In order for the St. Martins course work to be executed, it needed to be done in a creative, cost effective manner. The below photo shows that after we lowered fore-ground, the existing sod was re-placed.
#2 complete!
Our staff was so passionate about the work that not even a moderate snowfall slowed us down.
#1 bunker installed with Matrix mix and ready for sand. Also notice how our first green has been expaned over 40%; back to its origianl shape.
#5 roughed out.
#5 ready for sand.
#5 beginning to be buttoned-up.
The green expansions were executed in the most cost-effective manner possible. The process included: 1. Stripping the rough areas where the green would be expanded 2. Aerifying the green multiple times and dragging the aerification cores into the stripped ares. 3. Smoothing and rolling the areas 4. Lightly seeding the areas with bentgrass.
Using aerification cores from each green allows the expansion areas to perfectly match each green's existing surface. Outside of using our existing labor force, the work was virtually cost-free!
Note: With Wissahickon being one of our championship courses, it's greens will be completely rebuilt to have optimum sand-based drainage and to allow for slight green-slope softening.
Notice the poor surface drainage on our old practice green.
The practice green being re-shaped.
Our practice green afterwards. The first tee is back on its original line, and in an old-school method, it is incorporated into our practice green. Also notice how our surface drainage is much improved on the right side as surrounding water is now diverted away from the green.
The view of #9 green with our square green corners restored!
Celebrating a job well done with golf course architect, Keith Foster, club leadership, and our staff! Many thank to PCC members, and we hope you enjoy your new/old St. Martins!
It is wonderful for our members to have this work completed prior to our Wissahickon Restoration. It will also be extra special for our members to have their original US Open course restored prior to the US Open returning to Philadelphia next year!
Using aerification cores from each green allows the expansion areas to perfectly match each green's existing surface. Outside of using our existing labor force, the work was virtually cost-free!
Note: With Wissahickon being one of our championship courses, it's greens will be completely rebuilt to have optimum sand-based drainage and to allow for slight green-slope softening.
Friday, September 9, 2011
Recent Flood
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
PCC's Preferred Divot Pattern
Please click on the below link to view an important video showing PCC’s preferred divot pattern for driving range use.
Adhering to this divot pattern will ensure that all members have good turf to hit from all day long, and will accelerate your turf’s healing time to give you the best year-round turf conditions possible.
After you hit play, please double click to view in full screen.
Adhering to this divot pattern will ensure that all members have good turf to hit from all day long, and will accelerate your turf’s healing time to give you the best year-round turf conditions possible.
After you hit play, please double click to view in full screen.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Annual Staff Trip
On Friday, we made our annual staff trip to visit another club. Last year our grounds staff visited Congressional CC. This year we visited Pine Valley GC.
These visits allow both our staffs to exchange ideas on improving conditions and service to our membership.
They also serve as a way to thank and rejuvenate our staff following an off-season of cold, hard work.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
2011 Grounds Staff Complete
Our employee pipeline is very strong. Between seasonal and full time staff we have eighteen employees who either have, or are in the processes of acquiring college turf degrees.
Our 2011 staff also has wonderful geographic diversity with varied backgrounds and experience. This includes representation from twelve different universities.
Our seasonal programs allow membership to have a very skilled staff present during in-play months. During the off-season these employees are removed from PCC’s payroll and work at reciprocal clubs in the South gaining warm-season grass experience.
Tournament Volunteering
In 2011 PCC staff members will be working at thirteen different tournaments. This includes all three American “Majors” (The Masters, US Open, & PGA Championship), as well as representation of each of U.S. golf’s governing bodies (USGA, PGA Tour, PGA of America). Having employees present at so many events allows us to consistently keep a finger on the pulse of all the best practices implemented at each host club. Many of the lessons learned at these tournaments are then implemented at PCC.
Positive Turnover
In 2011, Wissahickon Superintendent, Steve Babcock will be on the lookout for head superintendent positions of his own. PCC members have always played an integral role in helping our staff members move on to their own positions as they grow professionally. This positive staff turnover allows us to continuously recruit the most motivated employees, which then serves as the backbone for maintaining wonderful turf conditions.
Hitting the Ground Running
This off-season, we have created a thorough, seventy-plus page job task manual which will soon be in the hands of all our employees. This will allow our new employees to learn PCC techniques months before they even arrive for their first day of work.
Our team is committed to serving you better than ever, and making 2011 our best year yet!
See the link below, or to the left, if you would like to learn more about each of our employees.
Our 2011 staff also has wonderful geographic diversity with varied backgrounds and experience. This includes representation from twelve different universities.
Our seasonal programs allow membership to have a very skilled staff present during in-play months. During the off-season these employees are removed from PCC’s payroll and work at reciprocal clubs in the South gaining warm-season grass experience.
Tournament Volunteering
In 2011 PCC staff members will be working at thirteen different tournaments. This includes all three American “Majors” (The Masters, US Open, & PGA Championship), as well as representation of each of U.S. golf’s governing bodies (USGA, PGA Tour, PGA of America). Having employees present at so many events allows us to consistently keep a finger on the pulse of all the best practices implemented at each host club. Many of the lessons learned at these tournaments are then implemented at PCC.
Positive Turnover
In 2011, Wissahickon Superintendent, Steve Babcock will be on the lookout for head superintendent positions of his own. PCC members have always played an integral role in helping our staff members move on to their own positions as they grow professionally. This positive staff turnover allows us to continuously recruit the most motivated employees, which then serves as the backbone for maintaining wonderful turf conditions.
Hitting the Ground Running
This off-season, we have created a thorough, seventy-plus page job task manual which will soon be in the hands of all our employees. This will allow our new employees to learn PCC techniques months before they even arrive for their first day of work.
Our team is committed to serving you better than ever, and making 2011 our best year yet!
See the link below, or to the left, if you would like to learn more about each of our employees.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)