Bluegrass Sod

While out on the course the last few days you may have noticed our staff prepping some areas for sod.  A few areas were damaged during the micro-burst that occurred on July 7th.  The area pictured was damaged due to the heavy crane that was brought in to removed the uprooted pines by the driving range.  We also plan on placing some sod at the pool and by the 7th tee where we saw significant storm damage.  Also we hope to address a few other areas with any additional sod that we may have.

New Plantings on 7 Hill

When the club was given permission by the town to remove pine trees located on the hillside on 7 it was with the stipulation that new plants had to be added to the general area.  We selected some bushes and other plants from local nurseries and have begun the process of planting them on the hillside.  The plants will be located further up the hillside where they will not be detrimental to the quality of turf but rather add a nice visual when playing the hole.  These plants are all native species which will also have a positive impact on the wildlife of the course.

Storm Damage

The club received significant storm damage yesterday from  a tornado / micro burst that hit the area around 5:30 p.m.. There are dozens of trees down all along the storms path and significant damage to the course and clubhouse. The course is currently closed and will reopen after it can be assessed for safety of golfers and guests. Check with the pro shop for availability for the golf course and clubhouse facilities.

Arthur comes to Concord CC

Tropical storm Arthur made landfall in Concord yesterday.  In total the course has received an inch and a half of rain since yesterday.  While some areas of the course are a bit soggy, the greens have been mowed and are ready for what looks to be a great remainder of the weekend.  We hope everyone is enjoying their holiday weekend, we look forward to seeing you around the course.

4th of July

The golf course is in great shape heading into the summer.  The weather thus far has been good with a tough stretch of high heat and humidity coming in on Monday.  I hope to see all of you around the club; if not please have a safe and Happy 4th of July weekend!

Bunker Work

The past few days the staff has been moving or adding sand to the bunkers where needed. Once and is moved around or added it helps provide a consistent depth throughout.  The plate compactor is used to compact the bunker faces and floors. This will help keep bunkers firm in an effort to minimize a 'fried egg' lie. This process is fairly labor intensive so we are only able to get to it a few times per season.

Irrigation

Leveling heads on the golf course is important for a couple of different reasons. Usually it takes anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes to level ahead. Yesterday the staff went to level ahead on the 8th fairway and uncovered this lovely mess as seen in the picture. All of these wires supply power to the fairway and for some reason we're piled up in the ground next to this head. It is amazing that everything was still in working!  To clean up all of these wires, each wire has to be cut and spliced back together in a neat fashion. This involves cutting every wire and figuring out which wires power each station.

Shaping Up

The golf course is coming into shape as the warm weather arrives.  All of the greens are almost fully recovered and healed in from aerification.  Over the next few weeks the staff will be working hard on keeping all the roughs, and fine turf areas cut on a routine basis.  We hope to see you out on the course with sunny days ahead!

Aerification Complete

Greens, collars and expansion areas have been aerified, topdressed, and seeded.  The staff started on Sunday and we finished yesterday.  The course will open tomorrow morning and as soon as all ropes and signage is up, carts will be allowed.  The forecasted next few nights are going to be cold, therefore there will be a few areas on the course which will be covered.

New Cooler Stands

The new cooler stands are almost complete. We will be installing 10 new cooler stands out on the golf course to take the place of the previous style with the green cages.  The club's handyman Andy has led the grounds crew in constructing these cedar houses.  We look forward to putting them out on the course and we are sure that the membership is going to love them.

Winter Restoration

A lot of people ask what we do over the winter.  While it is not the busy season we still do keep very busy, with snow removal, tree work and refurbishing of equipment.  Our crew has been busy at work over the past few weeks stripping down the benches and then staining them.  They look great and we look forward to putting them back out for the 2014 season.

Irrigation Blowout

We have begun blowing out the irrigation system today.  In the northern part of the country it is necessary to remove any water from within an irrigation system as the ground typically freezes in the winter months.  The process will take a few days to remove any water inside the pipes.

Driving Range Tee Construction

Pictured above is the base for the new driving range mat.  Upon the completion of the new range tee and mat, the grass tee will remain closed for the season but the mat will be open for play.  The new mat is one long continuous piece that is made of a high quality material.

The new range tee has been graded and expanded in size.  The range tee will extend a little farther to the front and back of the previous tee surface.  The new tee surface will be opened in the spring of 2014.

Fairway Irrigation

Our crew adds irrigation to achieve proper coverage on the expanded section of the first fairway.

Drainage on 14

Before we could complete the expanded collar behind 14 green there were drainage issues that had to be addressed.  New drainage was added along with tying into existing drainage.  The water that builds up behind the green will now have adequate passage out of the new expanded area.

5 Tee Construction

As part of the renovation this fall, the contractor also expanded and resodded the black tee on hole 5.  The tee area was too small and was not able to handle the amount of play that it received over the course of the year.  The new larger tee will hopefully be able to handle more golfers with no problems.

18 fairway under fog

The start of a nice fall day begins with fog over the 18th fairway.

Bird Boxes

Our staff erects a bird nesting box between the 2nd and 16th hole.  This is just one step toward becoming Audubon certified.

Irrigation at chipping green

 In preparation for the chipping green expansion we have made some alterations to the chipping green irrigation.  Pictured below is a saddle joint to a line that will feed a quick coupler.

Shade on 7 Fairway

At this time of year the course is doing great.  The seventh fairway looks in good shape as you look up to the green.  We hope next year with the removal of some trees from the left hillside the fairway will look and play even better.