Llanerch Golf Course and External Activities

When I look back at the 2014 season, I am thankful for many things. One of them is the staff for the Grounds Department! Without their hard work and dedication, the course would never play and look as good as it did this year. In this picture, you can see the 2nd Annual end of season Pig Roast! Once again, I realize they are not just good greenkeepers but great eaters! Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!

With all this usually warm weather, we spent some time rebuilding the bunker face on the practice hole. In the two years since the last time we did it, the face had accumulated close to 1 foot of sand! The sand comes from all the practice swings. So, we remove the grass and sand buildup to return the bunker back to it's original shape and height. We are also adding some fine fescue to the edge of the fairway bunkers on #5.

Today, we experienced the first hard frost of the year. I had to keep the course closed to play until 10:00am. As for golf course maintenance, we have been bust edging the bunkers on 5, 14, 11, 13, 15 and 4. We have also been aerifying the rough between the tees and fairways. Next week we are planning to do some sodding in the rough and continue leaf clean up. I hope everyone enjoys Halloween!

After 1.3 inches of rain over the last 36 hours, the sun has returned! We are still wet in lower areas but carts are allowed today. I would ask that you please stay on the high side of the hole where you can. In the mean time, we are busy prepping the course for today and for tomorrow's Oktoberfest tournament. Hopefully we will see you either today or tomorrow.

After almost 3 months, the new bermuda grass on one half of the range tee is still holding up well. As some of you might know, bermuda goes dormant when the temperature get colder.  When it stops growing, it can not recover from divots. I think this will happen within in the next few weeks. To help get a few more time out of the tee, we are overseeding the tee with ryegrass. If all goes well, as the bermuda goes dormant, the ryegrass will germinate. In the spring, the ryegrass will die off and the bermuda will take over. I will post more updates in the near future regarding our overseeding project.

It has been a busy couple weeks since my last post. We have spent the the time aerifying tees and approaches again, establishing more fescue in the native areas, planting trees and seeding the rough. We also just trimmed some pine trees along West Chester Pike, the two sycamore by the putting green and center circle and spruces by 2 tee. The next few weeks will feature some bunker edging, more tree trimming and topdressing tees and approaches. It seems we might seeing the trees drop their leaves about ten day earlier than normal. I hope to see you on the course!

As most of you know, we have been very busy with tournaments over the last 7 days. We were able to have a successful Member-Member Championship last Friday and Saturday despite the rain. We had to get right back at prepping the course for the PGA Section Championship that started with a Pro-Amateur on Monday followed by three days of stroke play. Today marks the final round. I very happy to say that many participates have told me how much they love the course and the new clubhouse. It has been just a great event and Llanerch members should be very proud of their club!