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.

Greens aeration starting today. Golf course will be closed all day.

Ready to "Rock & Roll"

This is the machine we will be using when aerating the greens starting on Monday. It can remove 1\2" diameter cores up to 4" deep. When we remove the cores the holes will be filled with sand to create a better growing environment for turf.

It is August 15th and the temperature is 54 degrees.

It is a beautiful day in Lafayette Hill, PA and a great time to come out and golf. The summer has been kind to us and conditions are at their peak.........You know where I am getting at, it must be that time of year for greens aeration. Monday will be the start of aeration so this weekend will be great for golf with the conditions and the weather in your favor.

A drink with alcohol can "kill" more than brain cells.

This area of turf was wiped out by a alcoholic beverage that spilled. If you are at home having a cookout or playing softball somewhere it is really "no big deal".

But, when it happens on the 3rd green it "IS" a big deal!

Please, do not bring anything but your putter, ball mark repair tool and your ball marker on to the green. All the golfers at WVCC will thank you.