Golf Course Update

Rain has been a fixture over the past three weeks, with 2 inches coming in the past 24 hours, the grand total is now approaching 14 inches since the day prior to Governors Cup.  A lot of man hours have been spent on repairing bunkers and push mowing rough as we prepare for the Club Championship and Ladies Western Open. 

The greens are holding up strong considering the conditions since the first of June, although they don't meet my standards for firmness and speed, they remain healthy and ready for the heat.  Alterations in our topdressing, fertility and chemical programs has allowed us to bounce back from the anthracnose damage experienced in the spring. 


Please note that the contracted tree work on #6 has been hindered by the weather as well.  The goal by myself and the Greens Committee was to keep the work focused on only Mondays, so the noise would not interfere with play.  Unfortunately,  we are well behind schedule for the completion of the project and in order for the work to be completed before August 1st, the company will work during days of the week that we do not have any scheduled events.  I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause but hope that you understand the necessity of finishing the work in a timely fashion.

Rain, Rain Go Away!

Rain has plagued Western PA over the past six days and with yesterday's storm giving us .8 inches of rain, the grand total has exceeded 7 inches since last Wednesday.  The end result...... A lot of time spent in bunkers and squeegeeing greens.

The staff has worked diligently at producing playable conditions over the past week with restoring bunkers on a daily basis and cleaning up debris from the storms.  This wet stretch has allowed me the opportunity to access the golf course for drainage and here are a couple of observations:

1. XGD Works:  I was amazed at the difference in the greens with XGD compared to the 9 that don't.  Following the 3.5 inches of rain early Wednesday morning, I would have been comfortable with mowing the XGD greens when walking on them in the afternoon.  Pretty amazing actually.
2. Miles of Drainage is needed: The topography of our property does permit a lot of surface drainage during rain events like this, however, the water must have some where to go.  Obviously, when you experience this much rain....the entire property is going to be saturated, but prior to the rain starting on Thursday mid morning, I was very happy with how the place responded to 3.5 inches on Wednesday morning and we were frantically trying to mow as much as possible.  14 fairway will be #1 on the "To-Do" list for in house drainage projects in the near future.
3. Thank You Membership:  With other courses in the area closed, we opened with carts on Friday at noon and experienced very little damage throughout the property over the weekend.  Thank you!

Here are some additional pictures of the course:

As always, I hope to see you on the course soon......just bring the sunshine with you, please!