Getting Ahead!

Hello and welcome to "The Greenkeeper"!  Today is Thursday, June 1st and much has happened since my last update.  In the past month we've hosted two major club tournaments, aerated greens, I've welcomed a new assistant, and started Jedi training of a new intern.  Let's get caught up and along the way I may share a few more items of interest.

Last time I mentioned how April was the warmest ever in Charlotte history and it was a wet month with well over 6 inches rain (LAST POST).  Would you believe May was even wetter!  That's right we had just over 7 inches (7.07") rainfall at Carolina Golf Club in May.  With meteorological spring in the books it's refreshing to know soil moisture levels are not at a deficit and the irrigation lake is at full pond as summer officially begins.  Also, with that much rain last month it's amazing we completed both the Member-Guest and Member-Member events without any negative weather related impacts. We definitely dodged a few bullets those two weekends.

I hope each of you will welcome the newest addition to the greenkeeping team, Assistant Superintendent Matt Claunch.  Matt was born in Baltimore and his family relocated to Charlotte when he was very young.  He's a graduate of Charlotte Catholic High School and earned a Turfgrass Management Certificate from Penn State University in 2015.  

Matt Claunch

His previous golf course experience includes both Providence Country Club and TPC Piper Glen locally.  The past two years Matt has been working in South Florida with a brief stop at The Floridian before most recently becoming 2nd Assistant Superintendent at Pine Tree Golf Club in Boynton Beach.  For those of you that enjoy the course related information provided on Twitter you can find Matt @MCClaunch where he has a great eye for detail and promoting the course and team in a positive manner.

Solid Tuesday. Short cut mowed out, greens aerified, bunker flymow/detail, and a light bulk fertility just to name a few. What a crew! pic.twitter.com/CcbMsXhDcG

— Matt Claunch (@MCClaunch) May 30, 2017

Matt joins Sr. Assistant Ben Albrecht, Equipment Manager Bob Hall and Assistant in Training Eric Sosnowski as my senior staff.  Welcome home!

Also new to the team in Zac McMurry.  Zac is from Kings Mountain, NC and just completed his first two semesters at Catawba Valley Community College where he studies Turfgrass Management. Please help us welcome Zac to the Carolina Golf Club family!

Zac McMurry

If you were paying attention then you already read a glimpse of everything the team accomplished this past Tuesday.  Greens were core aerated (quad tines) with cores removed and rolled for smoothness.  This pre-summer aeration has always been critical to determining the level of success we experience each summer.  Why you may ask?  Simple, oxygen is critical to life and these holes alleviate a lot of stress we impart on the greens during the last few weeks of May with all our tournament preparation (mowing, double mowing, rolling, etc.).  And as you can see, after just 48 hours the greens are well on their way to a speedy recovery.

Shared view from above & RT of No. 15 countless times, but you've never seen it like this before @CGC1929. Tuesday Maintenance Day update. pic.twitter.com/7WG4yx7M7Y

— Matthew Wharton (@CGCGreenkeeper) May 30, 2017

First post aeration greens mowing @CGC1929 this AM, rolled only yesterday. Looking good & ready for summer. 👍🏻 #breathe #oxygen #cgcturf pic.twitter.com/BM6EiNKTpG

— Matthew Wharton (@CGCGreenkeeper) June 1, 2017

So what's next you ask?  In the next 15 days we will be converting the area immediately adjacent to number 13 green to bermudagrass with sod.  At the same time we will sod other places such as cart path edges and other high traffic areas where the bermudagrass turf doesn't meet our standards.  Of course with this being the beginning of summer the fans will be installed very shortly.  There will be new ones this year at both the Putting Green and Chipping Green along with hole Number 2.  We will be converting the area immediately right of the tee complexes at hole Number 9 to fescue.  We will start by treating the existing bermudagrass with non-selective herbicide so don't be surprised when this area turns brown.  

Men's Guest Day is 15 days away (June 16th) and then immediately following the U.S. Open at Erin Hills we will be closed for two days for fairway aeration (June 19th and 20th).  It's a busy time but the mood is upbeat and positive in Golf Course Maintenance with fresh blood and projects to keep things exciting.

See you on the course,

Matthew Wharton, CGCS, MG