Llanerch Golf Course and External Activities

Well, to everyone's surprise (including me), the course is open for play today. After some early afternoon rains yesterday, it became very windy. The wind continued through the night and helped dry the ground out. We still have some snow patches and tree debris on the course. The Greens Staff will work diligently to clean up as soon as possible. Because the ground has not totally dried out, we will refrain from carts today. Hopefully this is the start of warmer and dryer weather!

If you drive down Steel Road today, you will notice the installation of black aluminum fence on the Clubhouse side. It is the same type of fence we have used in the past along West Chester Pike and Manoa. The fence gives the course not just a better appearance but helps to reduce potential vandalism. Depending on weather, it should be done by the middle of next week.

Just when it looked like all the snow was melted, we received another 3.5 inches. The forecast later in the week is for warmer temperatures and rain. I am hoping that will melt most of the snow. We will send an email out when the course is snow free and dry enough for play.

After a long and snowy winter, we can once again start to begin our annual winter cleanup of the course. This winter was very destructive to many of the trees, especially our white pine trees. The wet snow became too heavy for the branches and made them split right off the trunk. We are in the process of removing them and rake up the remaining pine needles. We will also be mulching up any remaining leaves from the fall once the course drys out. I am hoping the snow will continue to disappear over the next few day. We will look to get the course open as soon as the ground drains out.

Depending on the weather and the golf schedule, we aerify the greens, tees and fairways in late March and in late September. The whole process takes us roughly three to four days. The aerification holes require about 14 days to heal. The enclosed video goes into much more depth on "why" aerification is needed.

Welcome to the Llanerch Golf Course and Grounds blog! As most of you know, my name is Brendan Byrne and I am your Golf Course Superintendent and COO of External Activities. After years of trying to find better ways to communicate with the Membership, I thought it was time to post a blog that will provide even more information regarding the golf course and external activities. My plan is to use this forum to answer questions, update conditions on the golf course and detail upcoming projects. I hope you will enjoy the blog. This is my first time blogging so there will be some "hiccups" in the beginning but I hope that some day it will be something that all the Members will find informative.

Frost delays are necessary to protect the health of the turf and some times an inconvenience for golfers. This video from the USGA and explains the reasoning behind "why" there is such a thing as a frost delay.