GROUNDS | JON URBANSKI, DIRECTOR OF GOLF COURSES AND GROUNDS
The previous month was stellar in terms of the amount of work accomplished by the grounds staff. While some aspects were buttoned up, a couple tasks that began towards the end of the month will be finalized during the first few days of April.
A major winter season objective crossed off the list was the aerification of all South Course rough areas. This is the first time ever that all 100+/- acres were treated for this coring in the history of the Club at our present location. When the course opens on April 8 , some remnants of this process will linger and will be chopped up by our mowers over the first few weeks of the month. A winter goal for us that was unable to be accomplished due to frozen conditions was raising the sprinklers in the South Course fairways. We did manage to raise the sprinklers on holes 1, 2, 7, 8, 9, and about half of the fairway on number 3. This is a very laborious process and all-in-all, this was a great start to this improvement. th During the month of March, we deep tined the South Course greens and began vertically mowing the fairways to reduce thatch accumulation. A similar process will occur on the tees, and we will not core any surfaces prior to the opening of the course as our fall aerifications continue to provide great results with more aggressive techniques and less abrasive measures needed each spring. The same can be said for the North Course programming for aeration. By all accounts, when we perform the North Course aerification, our techniques will be less invasive, which will speed healing time on the back-end. The North Course is scheduled for aerification from April 14 through 16 , with 9 holes to open on the 17 . th th th The bullet points below reflect a few of the activities that will occur during the month of April: The clay tennis courts will undergo their annual spring remediation of the surfaces, and we hope to have the courts playable by tax day, April 15 . th Mulch will be added to all landscape beds. Training, training, and more training. We will have an influx of new faces to begin the month and most of our new seasonal hires have never worked in a club setting. Getting them to know the property, along with policies procedures will take some time. But we fully expect a quick learning curve. We spoke of last month the need to diagnose numerous irrigation issues. Most of these occurrences are on the South Course, namely #1 green complex, 6 tee and green complexes, and 16 green complex. Upon inspection, our findings required the use of a wire puller or plow to direct bury irrigation wires for each inoperable sprinkler. These fixes have been taken care of, and we are back up and running. In addition, we are fully online with our pumping capabilities at Adams Dam. We have been flowing water for about a week into the pond on 13 and 18 North. Again, with the help of Mother Nature to keep irrigation requirements to a minimum, it will take about two months to fill the lower reservoir to the left of 12 North. We have some staffing changes to make you aware of as we begin the growing season. Braden Thomas, assistant superintendent on the South Course, is departing for Kennett Square Golf & Country Club. He will be taking on the lead assistant superintendent role at Kennett and has been with our staff since 2021, starting as an intern. Braden has been a part of many important aspects of our operation and will be missed, but we wish him, his wife Breck and young son Everett well! With Braden’s departure, we are promoting José Garduno-Arcos to Assistant Superintendent. José is a recent graduate of the Rutgers University’s Turfgrass Management Program and was an intern with us last year. Additionally, Andres Rebollo will now take on the role of Racquet Court Supervisor. You may know or recognize Andres where he has traditionally conducted North Course Set-Up, cutting the hole locations and setting tee markers on a daily basis. As we begin our playing season on the golf courses, it is important to scatter your golf cart traffic throughout the property. Please remain diligent in helping to keep our putting surfaces smooth by fixing your pitch mark, plus one other. This will help our greens heel faster and keep them in optimal playing condition throughout the entire season. We look forward to seeing you at the Club! Jon Urbanski
16
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs