Fore The Golfer: Frost Delays and Turfgrass Health

4 Valley Reconstruction

This past week the club had an outside contractor come in to address some problems with the valley in front of the green on the forth hole.  There were several factors which made this area not very playable and also caused balls that caromed off the hillside to roll all the way into the woods.  The primary factors being poor soil, abundant tree roots, and insufficient drainage and irrigation.

The area was excavated and a great deal of fill and top soil was brought in order to adjust the pitch of the valley.  We also extended the drainage to the edge of the woods and relocated irrigation.  The entire area has been hydro-seeded with a rough mix.  We anticipate with extra care in the future this area should have a good stand of turf which will allow golfers to have a fair chance at a difficult shot up onto the green.

5 Green Improvement

Some of you may have noticed that there is an area of the 5th green, at the base of the hill on the left of the green, that often has problems making it through hard winters healthy.  Our staff worked today on mitigating this issue in the future.  We believe the primary problem of this area is that there is poor soil and also there is a bowl that collects water and freezes during the winter.

We hope we fixed these issues by replacing 6 plus inches of soil and by lowering the collar and bank to allow water to roll off of the green, rather than collect on it.  This area will most likely stay roped off for the remainder of the season, but we anticipate that it will make it through winter better than previous years, and be ready early next season.



In the picture above the high bank makes it difficult for water to drain off of the green.  Below the turf has been replaced and the collar and bank have been lowered allowing water to move off of the green during thaws in the winter and during heavy rains.

12 Green Expansion

Today our crew worked on improving the green expansion on the front right of the 12th green.  This area was previously expanded, however do to poor soil quality and a high amount of traffic the turf was very thinned out.

We improved the area by removing the existing turf and digging down approximately 8 inches to replace the rootzone mix with a better quality material.  Once the soil was replaced we laid sod from our green nursery and topdressed and rolled the turf.

When the new turf roots over the course of the fall we anticipate that it will be able to handle the stress of the summer in the future.

Irrigation - Main Line Repair

Over the weekend a section of main line irrigation, located near the walking bridge on 1, sprung a leak.  We were able to identify where the break was and isolate that section of irrigation.

Our crew worked hard along side an outside contractor to fix the repair in a timely manner.  We were forced to shut down the irrigation system in order to make the repair, fortunately the weather was favorable.  In total locating, exposing, repairing and back filling the break took our staff less than a day.  Now this section of main line shouldn't give us problems any time soon.

NEPGA Championship

It was 364 days in the making, but Rich Berberian’s encore performance lived up to the original, as he captured the 2015 New England PGA Section Championship by three shots over Jeff Martin, PGA of Norton Country Club, capping off a wire-to-wire victory which featured lead margins of three, one and finally three, the same winning margin from his 2014 victory at Golf Club of New England.  Berberian was in command from the start of the tournament, posting an opening round 6-under par 66 by Noon on Monday and never looked back over his final two rounds at Concord Country Club.

As he did a year ago, Berberian found himself locked in a dogfight early in the round, as his few mistakes were capitalized on by his fellow competitors.  After matching birdies at the par-5 first hole, Martin and Berberian stepped up to the challenging par-4 second hole where the golf tournament took an interesting turn.  Berberian ran his birdie putt by about two feet, and went to tap it in but missed.  He putted the next one and just missed again, finally tapping in for a double bogey six and a major unforced error thanks to this four-putt early on in the final round of the tournament.  Martin salvaged a bogey, and like that Berberian’s lead was gone.  A costly bogey on the par-4 fourth by Berberian gave Martin another opportunity which he capitalized on with a par, and just like that he was leading the championship and that much closer to his elusive first Section Championship. 

Audubon Certification

Over the past few years Concord Country Club has been working along side Audubon International to become a certified member of their Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for golf courses.  This process includes a site assessment, action plan, and documenting and improving stewardship in several important areas.  These areas are wildlife and habitat management, chemical use reduction and safety, water conservation, water quality management, and outreach and education.

It is our goal to continue to meet and exceed the recommendations set forth by the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program.  We will continue to improve upon our relationship with our environment by documenting our practices and by taking on projects that makes us a destination for wildlife and the community.

ACSP Website

Scorecard Boxes

New Scorecard boxes constructed by the staff this week.  They are a new and welcomed addition to the course; made of the same material as the cooler boxes which were constructed last winter.  You will find them located on the 2nd and 10th tees.

More Snow...

Over the past month most of Massachusetts has seen record snowfall.  With just a few more inches Boston will have set the record for the most snow in a single season, and all in just about 1 months time.

Our crew has been very busy clearing the driveways and walkways, while also moving piles of snow in anticipation of more snow.  When not outside we have been working out refurbishing benches and other equipment.  Also this is a great time of year to clean and organize the shop and finalize office work.

Blizzard Juno

One of the first snows of the season was one for the record books.  Blizzard Juno hit the Northeast hard and by the time it moved on Concord CC had received about 32" of snow.  Just when we think it is going to be a short Winter, mother nature reminds us who is in charge.

Our staff has been hard at work clearing all of the snow, keeping the club accessible to staff and members throughout the Winter.  We look forward to the warmer months to come, hopefully this blizzard is not just the tip of the iceberg.

Fairway Nursery

The fairway nursery is already growing in quite well as we head further into Winter.  By the Spring we will be able to start mowing the turf and getting it ready for use as sod as needed throughout the year.

Winter Topdressing

Topdressing the greens as we head into winter is vitally important.  The heavy layer of topdressing sand acts as insulation for the turf in the cold winter months.  While there are no guarantees against winter injury the topdressing greatly improves the chances of the turf to make it through the winter unscathed.  Within the next few days we will also be covering some of the greens as an added measure to prevent winter damage.

6 Fairway

We recently made some adjustments to the sixth fairway in order to improve play-ability and to help keep a consistent design throughout the course.  Most of the fairways on the course flare our on the sides where there are bunkers in order to bring the bunkers more into play and also to allow shorter shots to find the fairway instead of the rough.  On the sixth hole we transplanted some turf from the beginning of the fairway where few shots would land and moved it to the left and right side of the fairway by the bunkers.

Tree Plantings

This past week we have been working on planting some new trees around the course.  These trees are replacements for the trees that were lost during the micro-burst in July.  We are planting a maples, oaks, 3 pines and 3 arborvitaes.  2 oaks and the arborvitaes are being planted on the right of the 8th hole near the pump house.  3 pines are being planted on the left side of 13 to serve as a screen from errant shots heading toward the range tee.  The other trees are being planted around the perimeter of the driving range in a continuing effort to replace the diseased scotch pines that currently surround the range.

Nursery Expansion

We have recently begun the expansion of our nursery area.  The new section will extend from the current nursery toward 17 fairway.  The new area will be specifically for fairway turf.  By having both a green nursery and a fairway nursery we will be capable of handling some sod projects in house and we will have a supply of ready to use turf in case of an emergency.  When the expansion is complete we anticipate the fairway turf to be approximately 6,000 sq. feet and the green height will be 9,000 sq. feet.

Fall Member Guest

The Fall Member Guest traditionally marks the end of the busy season at the country club.  We hope that the tournament goes off without a hitch and that the players enjoy the conditions we have tried to achieve.  We have been very busy getting the course ready to meet the expectation of play and also to look like the top quality course that it is.

Massachusetts Women's Golf Amateur

Concord Country Club is proud to host the Massachusetts Women's Golf Amateur.  The tournament is set to start today and conclude on Thursday.  Today will be a qualifying round where the 32 women will advance to the Amateur Championship while 32 others will qualify for the President's Cup.  Tuesday through Thursday will see individual match play with a champion emerging from each group.  We have been working diligently to prepare the course and we hope the weather will cooperate with us.  Below is a picture of the 5th hole with the fairway cut in the half and half pattern.

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.