GCSANJ Spring Education Seminar

Our friend Dr. Jim Murphy detailing the new fertilizer law in NJ.

GCSANJ Meeting

Pat Jones speaking at the spring education seminar on the state of the industry. I am speaking right after him. Tough act to follow especially seeing he does this for a living and I grow grass.

Congrats to Patrick Quinlan

I had a great afternoon visiting my former assistant Patrick Quinlan and the new addition to his family Brynlee Grace Quinlan. Pat and I went to the range (buddy you need work) and then a nice lunch together. Patrick is doing a great job as the GCS at Madison Golf Club and he like myself is ready to get going in 2012. Congratulations to you Patrick your daughter is adorable and mom looked great. Great to see another one of the FHFC green department alumni doing well!

David Feherty from the Golf Industry Show

David Feherty from GCSAA TV on Vimeo.

That $%#*& tree is gone!

We recently took down the oak tree about 30 yards left off of the 4th tee. The tree had been pruned back in the past but through the years had become too large for the site it was growing in. The oak forced shots to be played well right of the architects intended target line. We feel that by removing this tree the original line of play has been restored. Let 'er rip boys but beware the absence of the tree brings the water to the left much more in play.

Just in case you forgot!

Drainage Project

 Well it has been a while since I posted last and my apologies. I am happy to say that all of our pipe has been installed on the 10th, 11th, and 1st holes. We still have some minor grading work to be finished but we are waiting for a rain event to confirm all is working properly. Once we have seen that all is working according to plan we will begin the restoration process. For the record the areas that we have addressed are the bottom of the 10th and 11th holes and we also addressed the area to right of the 1st green. The drainage will now send all of the water to our vault between 10 and 11 and be pumped and discharged by our maintenance building. Chris, Paul, Fernando, and Eric all did a great job with this project and their hard work should payoff for years to come.

In some areas we had to go 6' deep to preserve the pitch.

Installing the last of the 6" pipe by #1 bunker

The guys working on the collection basin on 11

Coming across 11 fairway

Drainage work

While we wait on a pipe delivery for the next part of our drainage project on the 11th hole we decided to tackle a relatively small project on the 9th. I am sure you have all seen and had to play around the water that collects in the approach after a heavy rain. We decided to (finally) do something about it. We are installing a surface drainage grate and a small amount of pipe that will channel this standing water away from this high play area. We should have this project completed by the end of the day and with rain in the forecast on Thursday it will not take us long to see if it works successfully. One of the goals we have going forward is to address areas such as this and chip away at our drainage problems. These little projects add up  and will make a big difference in the condition of the course.

First we sod cut the trench line where the drain will be run.

Fernando is working on the area where
the drainage box will be placed.

Drainage

Though not 100% complete the drainage that the green staff installed on the 10th and 11th holes has made a huge difference. In the past with the amount of rain we received yesterday this area would have been a lake. Now we only have a few puddles. These puddles will be addressed when we begin work on the second stage of this project. All in all, the few puddles that were in this area was a welcome sight compared to what we have dealt with in the past.

Vault on 10

Manny and Mike working in the vault on the 10th.

This guy means business!

Newly married Chris De Salvia is all business installing pipe in the vault on 10.

Tamping the trench

Our MVP of the week Manny operating the tamper on the trench going across the 10th hole.0

Drainage on #10

The drainage project on the 10th and 11th holes has begun. We have trenched across the 10th fairway the past few days and are continuing up the hill today. We hope to have the pump on the 10th hole running by the end of next week.

Congratulations are in order

This week marks milestones for my two assistants. First off a big congratulations to Chris De Salvia on his wedding today to Ruth DeGeso. I hope you two both have a great day and great life together. Congratulations Chris! Ruth, I will try to have him home by dinner on most days. The second milestone that has been reached is for Mike Weber. Mike has recently accepted the position of Golf Course Superintendent at the Ashbrook Golf Course in Scotch Plains. Mike has been with FHFC since 2007 and has done a fabulous job for us at FHFC. It seems like only yesterday when Mike started, we were in the middle of our irrigation project and his first day on the job he asked me what to do. I looked at him and said "take care of the golf course because I have a project to run". Well he took getting thrown into the fire quite well since the maintenance of the golf course didn't miss a beat and we got our project finished. Since that first day Mike has continually worked at improving both the golf course and himself in preparation for when it was time to take the next step in his career. I am very happy to say that time has come! Ashbrook Golf Course is getting a first class individual to take over there property and our loss is certainly their gain. Mike has left some big shoes to fill but I am sure Chris will make it a seamless transition into the role of first assistant. I must say that I am extremely proud of the two assistants here at FHFC, they have worked together extremely well and have developed a great friendship. Having them both achieve these milestones in the same week makes yours truly extremely proud. Congratulations guys!

Chris De Salvia & Mike Weber

Storm damage

The storm from the past weekend has wreaked havoc on the Metropolitan area and we at FHFC have not been spared. Nearly every tree on the course has been affected in some way. In some areas only slight debris has fallen in other cases structural damage to trees is quite apparent. The staff has been working all day to try to prepare the course for players as soon as the snow melts but there is much work to be done. Currently the staff is concentrating on clearing cart paths and providing access for equipment. I must say that the course will be messy for a quite awhile but where the snow has melted the turf looks great! We will try to get the course open as soon as possible but there are limitations to what we can get done. I personally want to thank you all for your patience while the crew does theirc best to restore the course.