Happy Birthday Donald J. Ross!

Hello and welcome to The Greenkeeper!  Today is Wednesday, November 23, 2022 and the 150th birthday of our favorite golf course architect, Donald Ross. I will have a little more about Mr. Ross to share before we conclude, but I would like to start with an announcement, followed by a project update, and of course mention a few particulars about tomorrow.

On Monday I was joined by Dr. Jordan Booth, USGA Green Section Agronomist for the Southeast Region. Dr. Booth was here to conduct a course consulting service visit per my request. During our visit we were also joined by General Manager Billy Cleveland and Green Committee and Board of Governors member Jon Jarrett. Although we focused a great deal of time on our putting surfaces, Dr. Booth and I also discussed fairway composition, topdressing, and drainage, and he witnessed the ongoing bunker renovations.

Dr. Booth Hole 1

Mr. Cleveland Looks On

Mr. Jarrett and Mr. Cleveland Observing

The CCS is essentially a house call where turfgrass checkups are conducted. When we were under contract with the USGA as the 2018 U.S. MidAm Co-host we were the recipient of annual complimentary half-day visits for a number of years leading up to the event. Since that time the Green Section has undergone changes with tenured agronomists retiring or relocating to other regions. This was Dr. Booth's first visit to Carolina Golf Club and we look forward to his report in the coming weeks, as well as future visits.

Another thing that took place Monday was our friends from Arborguard were on hand to trim and prune back overhanging and protruding branches from several trees growing along the left side of Hole 9 and right side of Hole 10. This work was first mentioned in the Ross Report distributed October 7th but our busy calendar of events pushed the work into November. Special thanks to Mrs. Greenkeeper for snapping this pic as I was busy with Dr. Booth. I think the next opportunity you have to play these two holes you will be pleased with the final results as they maintained a natural appearance of the trees while creating extra space for you to work or shape the ball.

Arborguard Hole 9

As for our bunker renovations, Golf Course Services continue to progress through the golf course in reverse order currently working on Hole 13. When Hole 13 is finished, most likely early next week, 39 of the 71 bunkers scheduled for renovation this year will be complete. In other words we will have passed the halfway mark! For that we are thankful.

Installing Capillary Concrete Liner Hole 13

Speaking of thankful, tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day and once again all club facilities are closed with no staff on hand as we celebrate with our families. Those turkey junkies wishing to get their golf fix before, or after dinner are welcome to walk the course with their family and friends, including four-legged ones. The forecast for tomorrow morning is a low of 38 degrees so I do not anticipate any frost to form on putting surfaces, so feel free to come early if you wish. And if I do not see you, Happy Thanksgiving!

Now back to Mr. Ross, 150 years ago Donald J. Ross was born in the town of Dornoch, Scotland. Donald was only five years old when Old Tom Morris improved the links at Royal Dornoch Golf Club in 1877. We do not know if that particular visit by Old Tom made a lasting impression on young Donald, but we do know years later Donald would apprentice under Old Tom at St. Andrews before returning to Royal Dornoch to hone his skills as a player, club maker, and greenkeeper.

Young Donald Ross, Courtesy Links Museum, Dornoch

In 1889 Donald emigrated to the United States and embarked on the most prevalent career as a golf course architect. He is credited with the design or redesign of over 400 golf courses before his death in 1948, including our very own Carolina Golf Club ninety-three years ago in 1929. We owe what we have and much of who we are at CGC to Mr. Ross, so it brings me great pride to extend birthday wishes to the G.O.A.T. of golf course architects. Click here to read about how Royal Dornoch and Pinehurst are coming together today to celebrate our architect's legacy. 

And if you're interested in hearing and learning more about Donald Ross I have included the links to two past episodes of The Talking Golf History podcast. They were recorded in January 2020 with Bradley Klein, friend of CGC and author of Discovering Donald Ross. Hope you enjoy History of Donald Ross Part 1 and History of Donald Ross Part 2. 

Happy Thanksgiving,

Matthew Wharton, CGCS, MG

Where Does That Go?

Hello and welcome to The Greenkeeper!  Today is Thursday, November 10th and I want to share something with everyone that came from a conversation yesterday afternoon. A foursome was playing the 14th hole just as I was inspecting the renovation work in the back greenside bunker. The internal drainage had been exposed, which piqued their curiosity.

Firstly, all 81 bunkers and all putting greens on property have an internal network of drain pipe and gravel installed during the 2008 restoration. Our contract on this bunker renovation calls for the removal of all drain pipe and gravel, pipe is then inspected, cleaned, and reinstalled with new gravel. 

Their question was where does the water go because they could not see the pipe exiting the bunker. I explained how the outfall from the back bunker is tied into the drainage of the front bunker, then is piped underground across the fairway, and eventually makes its way underground to the stream channel in front of 17 tee. I could tell from their reaction that was slightly mind blowing so I thought it would be a good idea to take a few photos from our existing Drainage As-Built and share with you the detail.

Photo A

Photo B

Photo A above depicts 14 green with its three greenside bunkers. The first red arrow depicts the pipe connecting the back bunker to the front bunker as mentioned above. The second and third red arrows highlights the pipe making its way across the fairway and rough towards a drainage basin behind the 4th green. You will also notice pipes coming from 14 green and the left greenside bunker appear. Photo B then shows the pipe connections as the network traverses behind the back of the 4th green.

Photo C

Photo D

The red arrows in Photo C pick up the pipe as it makes its way parallel to the golf car path between Holes 4 and 17. Photo D highlights the pipe as it finally terminates in the stream channel fronting the teeing areas for Hole 17. That's right, excess water on Hole 14 travels through an underground network of pipes across three holes to reach one of our three ponds on the golf course. 

As you examined each photo hopefully you noticed how the internal drainage for the 4th green and other bunkers eventually connect to this same "highway" carrying water away from the playing surfaces to our retention ponds. 

Another great benefit to the Capillary Bunker system we are installing is how it expands the drainage capacity. Before, water had to pass through the sand then enter into the pipes. Now the entire bunker floor acts like a drain as the two-inch layer of capillary concrete carries water away making the entire floor space of the bunker part of the drainage system. 

View from behind 17 Right Greenside 

The photo above shows the view of the capillary concrete going in the right, greenside bunker on Hole 17 yesterday with the internal drainage network visible in the background. Now the entire bunker floor is part of the drainage network. 

So, there you have it. Just a little something in case you ever wondered. Feel free to reach out or ask any questions you may have. In the meantime be cautious as the remnants of Nicole make their way to the Queen City. We are expecting several inches rain between tonight and tomorrow along with some gusty winds, so please be weather aware.

See you on the course,

Matthew Wharton, CGCS, MG