Courses prepare for golfers to hit links
The Masters Tournament in Georgia, which ended Sunday, traditionally signifies the beginning of the golf season.
To get ready, golf courses in the county have been working to prepare the courses for the new season.
Matt Krepp, assistant superintendent of the Cranberry Highlands Golf Course in Cranberry Township, said the main work the maintenance crew does is to get the course in a state that it will be able to sustain for the entire summer.
He said the course generally tries to open around March 1, weather permitting.
The 15-member crew gets started by removing debris. That is mostly larger tree branches that would not be taken care of by mowers.
“It’s not like you’re just picking up every little stick,” Krepp said.
Next, the crew works on landscaping around the clubhouse and parking lot. Then, the crew uses a device called a sand pro to redistribute sand in the bunkers. During the winter and over the course of the season, the sand gets pushed down.
At this time, Krepp said crews do larger projects if they are needed. This year, crews are redoing the drainage in the bunkers, he said.
It was a rough winter for most people, but the constant snow cover acted as a blanket for the grass, keeping it healthy and green.
“We fared well,” Krepp said.
However, he said bright green grass is not essential.
“That’s just an appearance thing,” Krepp said.
To mow the greens, the course uses a triplex mower that does not have hydraulic hoses. Without the hoses, hydraulic fluid cannot leak and get on the green. Other grass surfaces use triplex mowers that do have hoses.
This year, he said the first big mow took place during the last week of March.
Although it is early in the season, golfers already are flocking to the course. Krepp said that 122 people played on Thursday.
Ron Rome, owner of Serene Valley Golf Course in Summit Township, said his crew of four tends to do heavy maintenance in April, before the course gets heavy use.
However, he noted his course does not officially close at any point. If it is a nice winter day and people want to play, he lets them play.
Under ideal conditions, maintenance can take about a week. Less ideally, it takes two to three. Relatively warm and dry are the best conditions, he said.
“The weather has everything to do with it,” Rome said.
For the most part, the maintenance basically is removing sticks and branches. Grass cutting is not a major part of it.
“There’s really nothing growing yet,” Rome said.
Although the winter was colder and more snowy than usual, Rome said it did not hurt the course. Quite the opposite, actually.
“I think it was better this year,” Rome said.
He said the course is green with no brown spots.
“Everything’s all green,” Rome said.
If the course does have brown spots, Rome said that time generally takes care of it. Although, he said, the course has a simple watering system: rain, particularly slow rain, is the best.
“Nothing beats rain,” Rome said.
He said crews are cutting the greens every other day. Eventually, they will do it every day.
