Grounds

GREENKEEPER’S UPDATE By Tim Kennelly, CGCS, Head Greenkeeper We had beautiful weather this spring with cool temperatures and low humidity. Unfortunately, this comes to an end with the return of high heat and humidity to the Mid-Atlantic area. Traditionally, the high heat arrives around the July 4th holiday, and we move into the “dog days” of summer. With increased soil temperatures, the root systems on the coolseason playing surfaces (bentgrass, ryegrass, tall fescue) naturally reduce. The turf goes under stress rather rapidly under certain weather conditions. When this happens, to ensure our courses are in top condition, our staff will apply light applications of water during the hottest parts of the day (10:00am to 6:00pm) to ensure the survival of the turf under stress. If you encounter staff members on the courses while playing, please do not hit from the tee or to the green until they are completely out of the way. If a staff member is unaware of your presence, please alert them before playing your shot, as the safety of our staff is of utmost importance. We thank you for your patience, courtesy, and consideration of our team. On our larger irrigated areas, one would expect that we would solely use the sprinklers from the automated irrigation systems to water the turf throughout the facility. In 1990, the irrigation system was installed on the West Course, and in 2006, the water management system was installed on the East. Irrigation systems continue to become more sophisticated, with the goal being to precisely manage water for maximum efficiency and create better playing conditions and healthier turf. Despite this, no irrigation system distributes water perfectly, nor can it account for all the surface irregularities, playing area contours (high versus low spots), or localized soil conditions and various microclimates. When it comes to turf under stress and applying the correct amount of water exactly where it is needed, there is no substitute for a trained staff member with a hose. While using sprinklers to water small stressed areas will keep our staff out of harm’s way, much of the area that is watered does not need it, and this only wastes water and creates playability and turf health issues.

Lightning Safety

Our Five Farms campus is equipped with a Total Lightning Detection system that alerts members, guests, and staff of advancing severe weather. As the device senses both in-cloud (intracloud) and cloud-to-ground lightning at a radius of 10 miles of Five Farms, the siren system will activate automatically. After a 15-minute time frame of sensing no further lightning strikes, the system will give an all-clear signal for resumption of activity. There are two different, distinctive tones used in this process: • One long 15-second horn blast means lightning has been detected—seek shelter (in the clubhouse or your vehicle) • Three short five-second horn blast means all clear, it is safe to resume activities Posters detailing this system are located outside the Golf House and in the Gentlemen's and Ladies' Locker Rooms. ◆

MONDAY COURSE CLOSURES

To ensure the courses are in the best possible condition for the fall golfing season, we will be closing both the East and West courses on Mondays beginning Monday, July 19 through Monday, September 6, and reopen for play on the East Course on Tuesday, September 7.

Did You Know?

As you play the East Course, you may have noticed an eight-inch bronze plate on select tee boxes inscribed with A.W.T. These are the initials of course architect A.W. Tillinghast and mark the original yardage of each hole from 1926.

TheFIRST step towards a long-term solution

DRIVING RANGE RENOVATION

On Monday, July 19, our Grounds Team will begin renovating the Practice Facilities as the Club makes strides to meet our membership’s current and long-term needs. While these renovations will significantly improve our current offerings, it is not a permanent solution. A long-term solution will still need to be implemented to resolve the main problem areas: size, safety, and instruction space. However, this is a reasonable approach that serves as a temporary solution. ◆

CLOSURES & RESTRICTIONS

Monday, July 19―Sunday, August 1

• The Front Range tees (near the Golf House) are closed • The Back Range is open from the mats only (250-yard shots maximum)

Monday, August 2―Thursday, August 19

• The Driving Range is closed to repair the Range field and install target greens near Back Range tees

Friday, August 20―Friday, August 27

• Driving Range tees are open on both ends from the grass • Balls will be hand-picked to allow the sod to knit and establish. The Range is closed from 2:00pm-3:00pm and 6:30pm-dusk for hand-picking

Saturday, August 28

• Normal operations to resume

ENHANCEMENTS

• The existing tee by the Golf House will be lowered and the size will be increased by over 40% • We will increase the length of the all-weather teeing surface at the back of the tee from 140 ft to nearly 190 ft. This will allow for an additional five hitting stations • On the Range field, we are repairing the existing field and maximizing the width to create a polo-like field with poles to hit to • On the Back Range tee, we are shifting the practice bunker to the right where current uneven lie area is located and expanding the existing tee further to the right by 47 ft • The teaching tee will be stripped, laser graded, and resodded with Tahoma bermudagrass • On the Back Range, we will be creating an enhanced approach shot experience with the addition of three target greens