Winding Down the Season.......

We have finished our late season greens aeration program. All greens have been Verti-drained (9" deep x 3/4"), then solid tined with 3/8" x 3".   We incorporated Mag/sulphate to help our soils fight the "Fairy Ring" issues we faced last summer.

 

 

9-Hole Temporary Greens Course

 

Effective Tuesday December 11, we have converted to a 9 hole temporary greens course for the winter.  The best route for playing this layout is > 17, 18, 1, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15 & 16.

 

PLEASE Do NOT hit any balls onto the regular greens!!!

 

 

 

We do have a limited supply of seasoned firewood available at the maintenance facility.   call the office 757-0555, or stop in between 7a-2p and we will help load some for you.  

 

 

 

 

 

Sandy Video...

 

 

The video above was taken during the Storm at about 2:00pm.  Our Assistant golf pro, CVII, was there as well.  This was close to low tide and the waves were still easily coming over the revetment. My son, Nick, often asked me if he could come to the course when the wind was blowing hard so he could "lean into it without falling"...he got his wish.

 

 

There's a part of the video that I had the presence of mind to let a great Caddyshack line rip...."I don't think the heavy stuff is gonna come for quite a while, if I were you, I'd keep playin'"...but the wind was blowing so hard you can't hear it.  

 

Life is Good!     

Hurricane Sandy's Handiwork on IHCC

 

Hurricane Sandy Hits Indian Hills

On October 29th & 30th IHCC and the rest of the Met area got pummeled by a huge tropical storm, the former Hurricane Sandy.  For 30 hours our Soundside course took a heavy beating from winds up to 94 mph (recorded at nearby Eatons Neck). The damage is substantial, but our Grounds Maintenance Staff has been on the job since early morning on the 31st.  We were able to open 9 holes on November 9th, and hope to have the entire course back up by November 17th.

Special thanks to all members of our Grounds Staff, all of whom worked tirelessly and continue to do so to get IHCC back open so you all can enjoy it again! 

For now... a few pictures of just how bad it was.  We'll see you back on the course soon!

#12 During the Storm, waves were Oceanlike.
(The Sea was angry that day, my friends.......)
this photo taken at LOW tide, during the storm



12 after, lots of earth taken out to the Sound.

exposed irrigation lines, massive loss 



Clubhouse

Clubhouse



Halfway House....no major damage, no broken windows - pretty lucky.



Tree on #1 tee, caused a lot of issues as cars often attempted to drive under it.

One of many uprooted trees, this maple landed on an irrigation satellite and the chipping green
 



working on the massive Oaks that flipped over on 18.



Huge uprooted Oak near 17 green



Assistant Superintendent Phil, spent the last 13 days with a chainsaw attached to his arms.



17' drop from the tee surface to the beach below on #12

Lots of blowers and lots of help.  Here my son Nick and wife Roxanne cleaning 15 green with summerhelper Ryan. 



The staff meticulously walked every inch of every fairway handpicking branches and sticks.
If this was not done, our mowers would have been damaged.



Our undersized chipper has been going for two weeks straight



hauling tons of logs with bucketloader



Phil was everywhere...chainsaw in hand

10 tee...other fallen maple



blowers, blowers, blowers....Rox and Nick helped out every day!
Thanks to no school and no power at home!

big Oaks on 18...downed

continuous blowing of fairways

Roxanne & Nick mowing fairways....regular maintenance had to continue as well.



Our resident foxes on #6 were a bit out of sorts....

took advantage of predicted post hurricane storm to fertilize greens as power was still out and no water available

So what's next.... a Nor'easter ??? 

Naah, that couldn't happen...
 

 

 

uh...oh, it did!

Hoping to See you on the Course Soon!!!!!!
 

 

Just a quick note on some of the results of winter work.....

Root Pruning.....Was it worth the time and effort?

I'd say absolutely.  We have done nothing more to these areas other than the root pruning.  Now that the turf is under summer stress it is very obvious that the tree roots were really negatively affecting our turf.  Dark green and healthy where the roots were pruned, suffering to survive where the roots remain.   No Brainer.


Carts on Path = Better quality Turf

Along with massive root pruning on the left side of the first fairway, the fact that we have reduced cart traffic and damage has improved this fairway dramatically.  We will continue to keep the carts off the fairway throughout the summer in an effort to keep quality up.  Please help by keeping carts off this fairway at all times.

And...How are we doing with Protecting the Environment???  We are very careful to use only the safest products in our battle against turf diseases & weeds.  We use IPM (integrated pest management) whenever possible.  Treating only when necessary.   If we were not as careful as we are our ponds would not be loaded with bullfrogs, which are highly sensitive.  We would not have the large amount of Foxes that we do. We would not have wildlife, to feed our ravenous red tail Hawks.

And we certainly would not have this Monster Snapping Turtle here for an estimated 60+ years according to NYS DEC officals that visited our course last year.


Thanks for checking in........
John

(Oh, by the way our Assistant Superintendent's name is PHIL not Tim.  not sure where the Tim came from....but, he is definately PHIL - Thanks)

Just an example of a bad tee shot?  Notice how far from the  tee the divot is....... and yes, there is another divot on the left.

            Wait a minute....this picture was taken where???

       Say it ain't so.......# 13 GREEN. 
     Divot heading towards the Sound.

         Saturday 6/16 late afternoon.

                             Very Sad.

Responsibilities ???

We are clearly responsible for working as hard as we can to provide these beautiful conditions as in the photos above.   But, what about these photos below......???  who?

The Marlboro Light Person.....Oh, they are EVERYWHERE!!!

The Ball Mark Person?  PLEASE REPAIR YOURS !!!

The Garbage Person...?

The Run Over the Sign (instead of following the message) Person ???

Please Help us to Keep IHCC looking and playing it's best!!!

Sorry for the lack of updates...we've been very busy.

Our latest project has brought a nice bit of color to a bit of an eyesore.  The "Triangle" as we call it, the area between 9 & 16.

The area had failed a few times over the years mainly due to lack of irrigation.   This time we just geared up and got it all done in a matter of hours.  New irrigation and a new landscape, hopefully this will now be an area that we all enjoy when we pass it....instead of cringing.  The tree in the center is a Red Canadian Cherry, surrounded by yellow knockout roses.

 
                                                       MUCH BETTER NOW !!!

Thanks for tuning in....JohnnyP

It's been a while since I have been in the office long enough to update my blog...been on the course working with all this great weather.

Our Greens Drainage program started right on time yesterday.  Golf Preservations from Kentucky is currnetly wrapping up work on #1.  To say their work is meticulous is not giving them enough credit.

The greens are first surveyed to be certain of the flow of water.  Sod is stipped off the green, carefully laid to the side to be replaced exactly where it came from.  The material is then trenched out of the green onto plywood and removed from the site.  New, clean properly draining material or greensmix is then added to the 15" trench after a 2" diameter pipe has been installed in the bottom of the trench.  The material is packed, the sod re-installed and tamped.  Green will be open again once all trenches are completed and the green is clean and ready for play. 

 Another project completed this week was a newly landscaped entrance way to the course from the road between the practice greens.  Looks good from the road, the clubhouse and as you head over to start your round.

We also did a new planting by the clubhouse cart area.  Massed in with Native ornamental grasses as well as the pro shop entrance area with many new plants including the popular "Knockout Roses".

 Another project this week...
"Spaghetti mat" - a slip free walkway is the new surface covering the bridge to the 14th green.  Our mechanic, Pat, lead the way with this one by first jacking up, leveling and then securing the bridge.  The mat was then installed and secured with siderails.  Rain is coming tonight so we will paint the support rails and siderails next week.

Yet another project....

The Leyland Cypress trees were installed near the chipping/practice area.  These trees can grow up to 3 feet per year and will provide an excellent screening of Breeze Hill Road and give the practice area a much more private feel.













The weather has been exceptional and we are about 3 weeks ahead of normal out on the course, everything is coming together very nicely for the early season.  Hope you enjoy some of the changes out there.    Stump grinder just arrrived so next week we will be knocking that off the list as well.

See you on the course soon!   JohnnyP


Had to add this too....of course, very proud.

Nick Paquette receiving MVP award from SWHS Basketball Coach McKillop