Llanerch Golf Course and External Activities

We have just finished another improvement to the Midway. We removed the slate walkways and concrete with astro-turf and replaced it with pavers. As you can see when you click on the photo, it is a big improvement to the area. The pavers match the other pavers we installed last year over by the tennis area. We will also be adding some new plants and flowers in the near future. 

This was the way the course looked just a few days ago but how things have change! The course is open today for play with carts starting at 10:30. There be some minor patches of snow but no enough to stop "winter golf". If you have any questions, please contact the Golf Shop. Enjoy!

Last week, we worked on the left side fairway bunker on #16. Many players felt the bunker was a little "hidden" or was a "blind" bunker. That led us to raise the back side of the bunker by 4 feet. That gave use the ability to flash the sand an addition 3 feet. New sand has been added and compacted. Now players can easily see the bunker after their tee shot.

With all this warm weather, we decided to start doing some addition spring tasks now. This is a picture of an area that we are preparing for sod. The sod we will use for the intermediate cut is a low cut bluegrass. This part of the intermediate cut on #1 was remove due to some invasion of  bentgrass and poa annua . The sod will proved a better playing surface and be more aesthetically appealing. As for the rest of the golf course, we continue to trim trees and removed some dead trees. We are planning to replant trees in late March and/or early April. 

Today's post marks the first one of the 2012 season. We have spent the new year cleaning up tree stump grindings, applying sand on 18 green, 18 approach and the 1st tee putting green. We also continue to trim trees and remove dead and/or decaying trees. We plan to plant some new trees on property in the late winter early spring. I also would like to thank everyone who has visited the blog over last year. I hope it has become a good source of information about the happenings on the course. With that said, I wish everyone has Happy and Health New Year.

We have started our Winter Tree Management Program. This is the process where we identify trees that need to be either trimmed or removed. The tree pictured here was an Eastern White Pine that had to be removed because of extensive insect damage. The winter is continues to be the best time to perform this type of work. 

Today we verticut 11,13 and 6 fairways. Verticutting is a process where we use a machine with spinning circular blades (the attachment on the tractor in the picture) and run it across the fairway bentgrass. This reduces the thatch layer, improves air movement in the turf canopy, make the bentgrass "stand up" for a better lie and assists in drying the surface out faster. We have done all the fairways on the Clubhouse side of the course and hope to get the remaining fairways done next week.