Llanerch Golf Course and External Activities

As we enter the last day of 2013, I would like to review the past year of External Operations. Weather continued to be the dominate subject. A mild January, February and mid March had everyone excited about golf.  It was a March 25th 2 inch snow that stop all of us in our tracts! April and May the rough got really thick. We were warm and, for the most part, dry. It was late June, July and most of August were the rains came falling. We had over 20 days were the night temperature was over 70 degrees! In agricultural terms, that is a extremely hot. As many of you know, I am almost more interested (and concerned) about night temperatures than day temperatures. Then came an above average warm September and October. The leaves kept their fall color for longer than average which made the course look just beautiful! A normal temperate November and December with just one surprising 8 inch snow storm on December 8th wrapped up the year.  I would like to personal thank the Ground Maint...

The weather is going to go from cold, ice and snow to wet and warm by this Sunday. So the big question will be......when do you think we can play again? I promise to get everyone out as soon as the snow melts and we have a some dryer conditions. We will probably start off with walking only and then move to allowing carts. The staff and I will need some time to clean off the greens, tees and fairways before we get you out there. I will keep the Golf Shop up to date as to when we can play some golf! Thanks for your patience!

I don't even no where to start since my last post. We just got another 4 inches of snow after Sunday's epic and surprising 8 inch snow storm. The course is currently completely cover by snow and the cold night temperatures are not going to let it melt fast. We are concentrating on snow and ice removal and beginning the process of our annual equipment seasonal maintenance program. I will keep you updated as to when the course will reopen in the future.

I don't nee tell anyone that the weather is just terrible. The course got 3.25 inches of rain from yesterday afternoon until this morning! The course was flooded in many spot around 6am today but is starting to drain with the short lull in rain we are experiencing now. We will open for walking only today once the greens have no standing water. I would also like to extend a Happy Thanksgiving to all the members of Llanerch and all the other readers of this blog.

Yesterday looks to be the last time we will mow green for the foreseeable future. It also marked the last day for most of the Grounds Maintenance staff. As some of you might know, the seasonal staff is made of almost entirely H2B visa employees from Mexico. Ulises, Miguel, Alfredo, Yogi, Chewy, Eduardo, Luis and Tomas have been employees of Llanerch for any where between 3-7 years! They have always appreciated being part of the Llanerch Team. I can not thank them enough for their daily contributions. If there are no changes to the federal H2B visa program, I plan to see all of them next year. Muchas Gracias!

The staff just completed the restoration of the Center Circle area in front of the clubhouse. It has come a long way from when it was being used as a staging area for the restoration of the Clubhouse. Since the day the contractors left, we have been busy removing the old concrete slab that was in the middle and repairing the irrigation system. After preparing the soil for sod and doing some tree work, we have a new inviting entrance! I hope you all like it! 

Yesterday, the manufactures of the keystone green wall, that was install on 18, painted it green. This was done to "soften" the look of the wall until the plants grow in. Dan, Llanerch's horticulturist, planted all the flowers and ground cover inside the wall yesterday. Due to the fact it is almost winter, the plants can't grow until next spring and summer. That being said, we are very excited when the "vertical garden" is completely grown in in the near future!