Staff photo 2015

We gave it our best shot!

The hybrid Bermudagrass experience has run it's course after two years. This grass could not tolerate the worst two winter's in recent memory. WVCC's membership has been very patient in the spring of both 2014 and 2015 but the timing of regrowth was not in concert with usage demand.
This spring we even tried to overseed the practice approaches with perennial ryegrass to act as a nursery cover while the Bermudagrass  established again. But as of this date, we decided to move in a different direction. The 30,000 square foot practice tee was sodded with Kentucky Bluegrass and today we are laying 15,000 square feet of Bentgrass to the larger area of the practice approach.
The practice tee is open for play today but the newly sodded area of the approach will have to wait a couple of weeks to open.

Traffic control!

In an effort to reduce the amount of yellow stakes and rope on the golf course, we  instead went with the green and white post placed along the path. As this picture illustrates there may be some spots that "scream out" yellow stakes and rope. We will monitor this situation and adjust as needed. 

Total team effort when aerating fairways.

The process of aerating and then cleaning up the fairways is a very time consuming task. The actual time it takes just to punch the holes into turf is a small part of the job. After the fairway is aerated the cores must dry out.....but not too much. There is a fine line between a core that breaks up easily and one that is as hard as a brick. A tractor with a large steel mat does a great job breaking up the cores. Then a tractor mounted blower will concentrate the organic matter into piles which are then picked up by hand. the area will be blown off again to create additional piles of debris. When these are also picked up, the entire fairway is blown off and rolled with water filled rollers to tighten the turf.

Last fairway aerated for spring of 2015!

This shows the 18th fairway during the aeration process. After the plugs are dragged and blown into piles, they are picked up and removed. When the fairway is clean of organic debris it will then be rolled, watered and ready for play.

Cold morning predicted for Saturday !

Temperatures at or below 30 degrees are predicted for Saturday morning. If the ground is frozen rather than just frost we may decide not to cut greens that day. Being that cold, green speeds may not be effected.

New restroom open!

When you are over 110 years old....you get some special attention.

A tree crew was in to safety prune and even out branching on this Red Oak by the 1st tee. This tree is one of two remaining trees that lined the driveway to the estate home of George C. Thomas jr
that became the original clubhouse for Whitemarsh Valley CC.
With a clubhouse and concrete on one side and the 1st tee on the other, it is a tough balancing act between turf condition and tree health.

WVCC will have a restroom on the golf course in 2015.

This picture shows the base installation of the new restroom facility for the golf course. After the base section is secured, the top section will be attached. This facility is waterless but will provide upscale look and feel for those in need. After installation the surrounding area will be tastefully landscaped to screen the view of the structure.