Llanerch Golf Course and External Activities

Last week, before the ever present rains, we spent the day spreading sand on fairways. This helps with drainage and smooths the surface. With more rain in the forecast, we are aerifying tees and select approaches. The staff will than spread more sand on those areas for the same reason. We are hoping to finish by later tomorrow.

Another day, another measurable amount of rain. We can in this morning to find that the course recieved another 0.05 inches of rain. It doesn't sound like much but it is when the soil is already wet. That being said we do have carts today but please be careful when stopping. Skid marks from the tires on the fairways takes a long time to recover. Enjoy the course today!

  Looks like another week of scorching sun. We will skip rolling greens for the week. It just creates too much damage to the turf after a long season combined with high heat. We will start rolling again next week. Thanks for your patience.

Last week saw some incredible amounts of rain in the area. We missed a good deal of it but still are a bit wet today. With the forecast set for even more rain, we felt it was a good time to topdress sand on the greens and approaches. As you can see in the above picture, we are only using a light amount. This will help to give the greens more firmness and ensure a smooth roll.

Last week we dusted off the old canoe and installed two subsurface bubblers in # 8 pond. The are designed to increase the amount of oxygen in the water column. It directly reduces algae build up and helps the fish breath better. Our plan is to install  2 more in #18 pond next year. As for the soil piles behind the pond, they need a few more months to dry out before we can reshape the area.

After the coldest April since 1985, we went through one of the wettest Mays. With all that behind us, we are focusing on daily play and the Finsterwald Cup. We are really focusing on maintaining the rough. Rest assured that we doing all we can to keep it at reasonable height. We just could use some dry weather and sunny skies!

Today, we are aerifying greens. The holes are small and it was done with a solid tine. We will roll and topdress the greens today and tomorrow. There should be little to no difference in speed and/or smoothness by Friday.  Our newest staff member Jazz,  was captured here checking on the quality of the aerification! 

We were greeted with fog this morning at #8 pond. We prepared and laid out 3,000 square feet of tall fescue. There will be more sod coming in the next couple weeks. Our contractor Toth Brothers is beginning the process of removing their equipment from the site. Once they do, we will reopen the tees. Thanks for your patience. 

As you can see in this picture, we are almost done place the new rip-rap edge on the pond. We are planning to finish by Tuesday April 3rd. This will mark the reopening of the tee boxes on #8. In the next couple weeks, we will seed and sod the disturbed areas.

As the weather improves slightly, the dredging of #8 pond continues. The pond looks to be about 7 feet deeper than when we first started. Once the dredging is completed, the stone work along the pond edge will begin.

The course was damaged mainly by the high winds and wet snow on Friday. So far, I have counted 6 trees down and varying leaves of damage of other tree branches. We have about 7-10 eight foot sections of fence that will need to be replaced. Aradar tree service is coming today to start removing the felled trees. We will purchase and plant trees and arborvitaes if it is required in the near future.  The 8th pond is filled with water again and will need to be pumped out for at least a few days. The exact date as to when the dredging will restart again will be dictated by when the snow melts off and the ground dries up again. The staff will concentrate on continuing the course clean up. Thanks for your patience. 

We are moving forward with the restoration of the 8th pond or should I say, downward! Over the past 3 decades over 7 feet of debris has collected in the bottom of the pond. They are removing the material and placing it in the newly built "basins" on the hill side to filter out the water. The dredging will continue until we reach the  "original" base of the pond.  

Today, the contractor removed most of the water in #8 pond. The actual dredging will start early next week after some more prep work of the site. More updates to follow.

The 2017-2018 winter season has been marked by some minor and major projects on the course. We spent the first part of the off season removing debris, English ivy and dead branches along the fence lines across the property. The second part of the season saw the removals of most of the trees that bordered the creek that separates the 18th and 1st holes. We also removed three groups of trees on the left and right of the 2nd fairway. On 6 tee, we removed 7 trees and cleaned the area along the fence. In the third part of the off season, we will be starting the restoration of #8 pond and installation of additional irrigation on #2. This will conclude the tree removes for the off season with the exception of three trees on the back nine. In March/April, we will replant a combination of shrubs and trees on some of the fence lines and on the golf course. The tree removals will improve turf grass health, promote air movement and widen sight lines for the golfer.  I will have more informatio

We are starting the process of restoring #8 pond. Toth Brothers Inc is removing the sediment that has collected in the pond over the last 25 years. This will require us to close the tees for the next few weeks. The new tee location is in the beginning of the 8th fairway.

The first post of the new year revolves around the winter storm today. As you can see in this picture across #18 and #1, we are experiencing nearly "white out" conditions. We have a couple inches of snow on the ground now and increasing winds. It has stopped the tree work we had planned for today but we are going to try to get started again tomorrow, weather dependent.