Status of bridge at #6.

Bridge work started on hole #6.

With Monday being the only forecasted non-rainy day, work was started on the bridge. The old matting, deck boards, and sub-boards with hardware will be removed.
Replacement wood will be used in it's place with new wood fencing also installed.
Please remember, the bridge will be completely closed to all traffic (carts & walking) until project is completed. 

Due to soft conditions and new sod, holes 6,7,8 and 9 will be closed temporarily.

      With the large amounts of soil moved and all the new sod in place holes 6,7,8 and 9 will be close temporarily. This will give the new sod in these areas time to root and the soil time to settle. Also, there will be temporary pin on the 10th hole to keep traffic off the sod at the green and approach.

     We have made every attempt to maintain a balance of keeping the holes open and allowing the turf to heal in but we have noticed many areas with footprint depressions. These areas of depressions will be very difficult to repair in the spring and that would put me in a state of depression.

     Once the turf is rooted  the areas will be topdressed with sand and rolled to start the road to turf smoothness.

     Come spring everyone will notice the improvements done on these holes and will be in agreement that the work was an asset to the golf course.

Bridge at #6 to be closed for repair!

We will be doing repairs to the bridge at the 6th tee. This work will include all new decking boards and new fencing. When completed it will look very nice and will compliment all the other improvements done to the golf course.

Only at Whitemarsh!

This time of year we usually winterize the irrigation system. This work has to be done every year to prevent the underground pipes from freezing and breaking. We would reserve a large industrial compressor for a mild day (above 50 degrees) so it would not be too uncomfortable when we are out there getting wet by the mist. The goal is to move all the water in the pipes and sprinklers out by using lower pressure, high volume air. This process takes a full day and a half but it could save many days of digging and replacing pipe and sprinklers. I guess the weather prediction changed.......so today was the day and we spent all day getting all the water out of the irrigation pipes and as you can see in the picture mist is being blown out of the sprinkler head. A warmer day makes it less of a headache but the procedure is now done. 

Trying to work between the weather.

The wet weather over the last week has caused some headaches with the project work on the eighth hole. We would get a full day of rain which would halt all activities, followed by a couple days of cloudy weather that does not dry anything out. Unfortunately with (25) four foot wide rolls of sod sitting on the ground we have to pull the trigger. The forecast for tomorrow is rain so today is the day..... We use thick plastic boards for the tractor to prevent rutting along with a lot of muscle from the staff.

Happy Thanksgiving !

Firewood still available.

Attention all WVCC members.......Free Firewood!

With the removal of a Cherry tree behind the 7th green, we have split some of this wood for WVCC members to use for firewood. This is a fresh take down and the wood is un-seasoned. Please feel free to help yourself and as the infomercials at 2:00 a.m. always say
"You must call in the next 5 minutes to get this deal"......Sorry, wrong infomercial.
"Limited quantities, when the supply is gone there may not be any more" 

Joint effort!

Staff from Whitemarsh Valley CC installing sod around the right greenside bunker on #7 while the crew from McDonald and Sons staple in the protective fabric. The drainage pipe and stone will be installed next, right before placement of new sand. 

Frost delay this morning, Happy Halloween!

Bunkers at #6 ready to play.

Fairway topdressing today.

We have 200 tons of topdressing sand in the parking lot to apply on the fairways. This material will be applied to 1,13,14,15,3, 2 and 5 in that order until the sand runs out. You would think that 200 tons is a lot, but at 15 to 20 tons an acre it goes out fast!

Before, during and after bunker construction on the left side fairway bunker at #6.

A bunker just isn't a hole in the ground filled with sand.

View from the 6th tee during edging.

Drainage trenches installed, ready for pipe and stone.

Fabric stapled and glued on the steep banks, this will help prevent washouts and contamination.

Thank you!

Work begins on fairway bunkers on the 6th hole.

The crew from McDonald & Sons pulled in on Tuesday and started to work right away. They are in the process of demolishing the old bunkers and shaping the new ones. And just how it has happened the last three years, the day they show up to work ......it is guaranteed to rain! And it rained Tuesday through Wednesday which halted construction on Thursday.

It's October 15th, time to start on the bunkers again.

These are the right side fairway bunkers on the 6th hole. These two bunkers will be rebuilt in place with new drainage, sand and sod. We will start on 6, move to number 7 and finish up on the 8th hole.

Turf cover installed on the front of the practice tee.

With the cooler temperatures of fall upon us, we are making preparations to put the practice tee to bed for the winter. The turf on the practice tee is a hybrid Bermudagrass called "Latitude 36", and has provided excellent turf conditions during our busy summer months. The draw back of this type of turf is it's lack of recovery when the temperatures turn cool. Areas of use will have to be almost fully recovered before the onset of winter. With this said, the tee may be closed towards the end of October. This will help ensure a vibrant turf when the weather warms up next spring.  

Bunker damage from "Hill climbers".

This is the right greenside bunker on the 2nd hole, you can see some turf damage at the bottom 1\3 of the picture.

This is a close up of that same damage. As we try to figure out what has caused this, a few causes come to mind. Please pick which one you think.

1) bad construction.
 2) Poor maintenance
                                    3) Golfers using this steep bank as a shorter exit out of the bunker and this is the spot for their 1st step.

If you picked #3 as the culprit, you are correct. This is a steep bank that is a challenge to maintain let alone an area to climb out of the bunker. Even though it is the shortest point in the bunker to get back to a golf cart, It is not the correct exit point.
The proper point of exit would be back towards the fairway where the grade is at it's most level.

New cart path's and a new tee at WVCC.

Senior Asst. supt. Jerry Stockmal leveling the mix for the new tee on the 18th hole. The majority of this tee came from the soil generated from the new cart path.

Santos Lopez making sure the grade next to the path at #10 is proper.

A final rolling by asst. supt. Jim Dennison to make sure the tee is tabletop smooth.

A different method for ensuring a level tee. Dave Joyce and Jerry Stockmal using an ladder section to knock down any high points on the tee.

Paving Day!

As part of the master plan, certain cart paths are being extended and resurfaced. The path leading to the bridge on the 3rd hole has been shifted away from the fairway by 12 feet.  The path at the 10th green has been extended and resurfaced. And the path from #18 tee has been extended past the forward tee and paved.

Cart path work being done on holes 3, 10 and 18.

On the 18th hole 250 linear feet of path was added from the tee to the left side of the fairway. The soil that  was removed was used to create an additional tee on the hole.

This is a view of the 3rd hole looking at the green. The path next to the green end of the fairway was pulled away 12 feet. An additional path was added to connect the path at #3 to the path at#14.

Fairway aeration process.

Fairway aeration has come a long way in the last 15 years. The machines we now use are very similar to the machines used on greens and tees. Hole spacing used to be 4" apart both width and length where now our spacing is 2 1\2" by 3" with a depth up to 4" . This will remove more thatch and open up channels for root growth.

John Fleming shown aerating the 10th fairway at WVCC.

Jerry Stockmal is supplementing the process by using a walk behind unit to aerate the approach and fairway edges.

When the plugs are partially dried out, this large steel mat will break them up into smaller particles of soil. This process may go on 4 or 5 times to separate the soil from the thatch and help move the smaller particles back into the 5\8" wide holes.

As organic matter and soil that is too hard to break up accumulates, we use snow shovels to congregate the material into piles.

A smaller more maneuverable blower aides in this process by creating condensed piles for pick up.

Piles getting condensed even tighter.

Doug Miller and Joseph Steele manually shoveling thatch into carts for removal. If you wonder why we just don't blow the material into the rough. The accumulation of soil and organic matter would cause the rough areas to thin out.

After the fairway is blown off again and rolled with heavy rollers, water is applied as quickly as possible to prevent the grass from wilting. When fairways are aerated in the summer months, we tend to over apply moisture to prevent turf loss. It would be difficult to explain why we went through a summer with good looking fairways only to lose turf during the aeration process. 

Tee aeration today!

This is the 9th tee after aeration. Plugs will be raked off and picked up, after that the tee will be blown off , rolled then watered.

Ever wonder why they call it "Whitemarsh"?

Early Saturday morning, the sun is rising and the blanket of fog visits the low hole fairways.

This normally causes delays, but it is nice to look at.

 

Greens aeration started and completed this week.

Gary Farrer show here aerating the 13 green and approach,

Asst. supt. Jim Dennison aerating the 15th green. After the plugs dry, we use a steel mat to separate the soil from the thatch. The organic matter is then removed. 

This is the 16th green after sand topdressing. The sand is left to dry then it is brushed in, filling all the holes with 100% sand. This improvement in soil profile will allow the green to drain quicker and aide in the establishment of a good root system.