Overbrook Golf Club

Letter on Course Architecture

2024-08-29T19:54:24Z

To the Membership-

Those of you who know me well, know that I am passionate about all aspects of the game of golf. When I am not at Overbrook, I enjoy visiting other golf courses, sometimes to play, but often just to tour and learn about the facilities. Most nights, I read at least a few chapters of a book about golf. This could range from anything to the evolution of groundskeeping to a biography on a specific player or an account of a certain championship. When I moved here to take this job, one of the first things I did was read Mr. James Finegan’s—whom many of you knew—Centennial Tribute to Golf in Philadelphia to familiarize myself with the area. However, my favorite subject by far is golf course architecture.

As we approach our bunker renovation this fall, there will undoubtably be talks about the changes and the new architecture on the course. Many of you will love it, some of you will not, and a lot of you won’t care that much. Regardless of where you fall on that scale, you will be affected by it. So, before these conversations start (most happen without me present), I do want the membership to be aware that a great deal of thought was given to each change on the golf course.

My good friend Eric Kennedy once said to me, “The great thing about golf course architecture is that no matter what your feelings are, no one is right, and no one is wrong”. People all have different opinions about what makes a golf course great. For some it is difficulty, for others it is variation, and for still others it is playability. Some people would prefer that the architecture dictates the shot while others would prefer to have options.

Our architect, Andrew Green, as well as I, are heavily influenced by the “Golden Age” of golf course architecture—the period of golf design and construction that took place in the early 1900’s until the Great Depression. This is when architects such as William Flynn, Donald Ross, CB McDonald, Alister MacKenzie, George Thomas, Seth Raynor, and H.S. Colt were designing and building golf courses at a blistering pace. In 1916, there were around 750 courses in America and that number grew to nearly 6,000 by 1930. Not only were there a lot of courses being built, but the quality and timelessness of these golf courses is staggering. Currently, nine of the top 10 golf courses in the U.S., and 62 of the top 100, are from the Golden Age.

This year’s major season provided a great example of the longevity of these men’s work. Xander Schauffle won the Open Championship with a score of -9 at Royal Troon, a course that was laid out in nearly its current state by James Braid in 1923. Bryson DeChambeau, won at Pinehurst with a score of -6, the home of Donald Ross from 1900-1948 that was expertly restored by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw in 2011. On the contrary, Valhalla, design by Jack Nicklaus in 1986, yielded a score of -21 to Schauffle in what was the lowest score ever in a major championship.

When one reads the writings of both the men that designed in the Golden Age, as well as the people that have studied their work, they are some commonalities in their ideas about golf and their design philosophies. When the new plan for Overbrook was being authored, Andrew and our construction committee were very intentional about incorporating these principles into our golf course. Some of are as follows:

1. Variation in the green surrounds- Our green complexes are currently a collection of rounded putting surfaces (some of this is by design but other areas have shrunken over time) with a bunker on either side. During the design phase, a major emphasis was placed on creating more variety and more setup options.

2. Short grass around putting surfaces- Tall rough around putting greens limits player’s options and favors players who are better chippers of the golf ball. Adding more short grass around greens allows players to make a choice in how to play the shot (ie-putt, bump and run, low check, high flop, etc.). This design principle gives the advantage to the golfer who is more skilled and can play a wider array of shots.

3. Width and angles- More width will be given to several fairways which will accomplish multiple goals. The first, and most obvious, is it gives a high handicap player a better chance of hitting the fairway. However, it also adds an element of strategy that we do not currently have. In general, a tee shot played to the correct side of the fairway, if executed well, will give a golfer a more advantageous approach to the green.

4. Proportional hazards- Due to the rapid advancement of equipment technology, some of our most penalizing hazards are only affecting higher handicap golfers. More penal bunkers will be pushed farther down the hole, bringing them in play for the more skilled, longer players. Replacing these will be less penal hazards, such as flatter bunkers and ground features like hummocks and ditches. They will still punish a wayward shot, however, not nearly as severely.

5. The ground game- Someone once pointed out to me that golf is more fun the longer the ball stays in motion on the ground. Some of the most exhilarating moments in golf history are a product of the ground game. Using just the Masters as an example, think about Larry Mize’s chip-in on 11 to beat Greg Norman, Louis Oosthuizen’s albatross on 2, or Tiger’s iconic shot on 16. Each of these moments was borne not from the ball flying directly at the hole and stopping, but rather players using the contours of the ground to execute their shots. Wherever possible, we will be looking for opportunities to add areas like this that our members can use to make golf more interesting and enjoyable.

It is important to note that the principles above were guidelines for the project and not steadfast rules. To stay true to our goal of variation, there will still be greens surrounded in deep rough, some narrow fairways (especially in longer landing areas), a few penal short hazards, and holes where the best play is still to fly the ball directly to the hole. The best golf courses in the world consist of a mix of all these elements in the correct proportions. The goal of this project has ultimately been to find that right recipe for Overbrook.

I realize that everyone who reads this will not share my passion for course architecture and the game it can produce but I’m sure a few of you will. In the event you would like to dive deeper into the subject, here are few books that you may enjoy:

Anatomy of Golf Course-Tom Doak (this was written very early in his career and is a great modern take on classical architecture)
Golf Architecture in America-George C Thomas (my personal favorite)
The Links-Robert Hunter
Golf Architecture-Dr. Alistair MacKenzie
The Architectural Side of Golf-H.N. Wethered and Tom Simpson

These five books provide a look into what can be accomplished with proper course design and construction as well as the challenges that Golf Course Architects face. It is amazing to read how the men that shaped golf over 100 years ago faced similar issues that we do today!

In closing, I cannot overstate my enthusiasm and excitement for the opportunity to execute this project. I appreciate the trust that you put in myself and my team as the stewards of your golf course and I am confident that we are going to produce a product that you will be proud to call your golfing home for decades to come.

Fairways and Greens,

Brandon Collins
Golf Course Superintendent

Bermuda Grass Eradication

2024-07-28T22:10:40Z

To the membership-

In preparation for the course work this fall, we are eradicating common bermudagrass around bunkers and in green surrounds.

Common bermudagrass—you might know it as wire grass—is an extremely difficult-to-control grassy weed in our area. We have a great deal of it in our roughs and in some areas, it has started to encroach on our tees and fairways. If you have noticed grass pop up several inches or even feet into a bunker, this is probably common bermudagrass.

There is currently no selective herbicide (a herbicide that will kill bermudagrass but will not harm the desirable turf) that can be used to effectively control this weed. As such, it is necessary to use non-selective herbicides (herbicides that kill both the weeds and the desirable turf) to control it. You may remember a couple of seasons ago when we killed square areas in 14 fairway and then sodded it out. These areas were large, dead squares for several months before we installed the new turf. This is because a single application of herbicide is not enough to kill this invasive weed. It must be done repeatedly, and each application must be done several weeks apart.

Because of the measures involved in the treatment of this plant, as well as a lack of negative member feedback about its presence on the course, I have never placed a large emphasis on controlling it in the roughs. I believe there would be far more member dissatisfaction with the control method and re-grassing process than there is with current conditions of these areas. We have an old property that is not “pure” as some new golf courses are referred to. I have embraced that, and our team's focus is far more on how the course plays rather than how it looks.

That being said, I also believe that we need to do everything we can to make our off-season bunker project a success. We have many areas where the surface is being converted (ie-rough to approach, rough to bunker, bunker to rough). The bermudagrass has deep vegetative plant material (stems) that if not properly controlled, will contaminate our new work within just a few seasons. This includes encroaching into the new bunkers as well as popping up in new bentgrass green surrounds.

I realize that this is not a universally popular decision. We will have dead grass on select bunkers and in some green surrounds from the beginning of August until they are sodded in the fall and winter. The Green Committee weighed their options and decided that this short-term reduction in the aesthetics of the golf course was worth giving us the best chance at a great long-term product. This process will not affect the playability of the course at all, as these areas will be considered ground under repair and players are granted free relief.

We thank you for your patience and support while continue to improve the golf course.

Fairways and Greens,

Brandon Collins
Golf Course Superintendent

Spring Aerification

2024-03-19T20:13:25Z

Spring aerification starts next week and I wanted to give the membership an idea of what to expect.

I do not want this note to be a dissertation on the benefits of aerification but this is your annual reminder that it is good for the golf course. As anyone who has read my ramblings over the years has heard before, the process relieves compaction, promotes root growth, provides holes in which to apply soil amendments and fertilizer, removes thatch, allows for gas exchange, and that’s just scratching the surface. Blah, blah, blah…Sounds like a Superintendent trying to justify closing the course and negatively impact conditions, right? I get it. I promise that I don’t like aerification either, not only as the Superintendent, but also as someone who plays golf.

Now what’s interesting and what you might not realize, is that all the benefits described above usually can’t be accomplished, at least to their full potential, at once. A wider, shallower hole made with a solid tine allows more fertilizer and sand to be worked in to the surface than a hole poked with a tine that is made to pull a core. But a coring tine removes more thatch than a deep-tine hole displaces. But the deep-tine hole promotes greater root depth than either of the two aforementioned practices. As a member, you do not need to understand any of this, only that we have several different methods at our disposal to accomplish different goals.

It might surprise you that in my seven years here, we have never performed the exact same aerification process twice. There is a very good reason for this. Before each aerification, we do an in-depth analysis of each playing surface. This includes testing the physical traits of each surface profile to check organic matter levels at different depths, root density, air and water porosity, infiltration rates, and water holding capacity. We also perform soil tests that check the pH, cation exchange capacity, and specific nutrient content and availability. Think of all of this as a doctor reading a blood panel and reviewing imagery before coming up with a treatment plan for a patient. These data points are then combined with good old-fashioned gut feeling and experience and a unique plan is made for each aerification period.

I am happy to report that based on the metrics and our observations, the doctor has concluded that our processes have been extremely successful. Over the years, we have shown consistent improvement in every category that I believe is necessary to provide great playing conditions. This is a testament not only to work that my team has done, but the support of this membership.

The good news is that based on our observations from last season and over the winter, we do not believe there is a necessity to pull a core across the board on any playing surface this spring. Greens, tees, and fairways will all be deep-tined to a depth of six inches and solid tined to a depth of two and half inches. This is not to say that you will not see a cored area on the golf course. Rather instead of concentrating our efforts on getting every surface cored, cleaned, and ready for play, this allows us to put an increased focus on difficult to manage areas. For example:

High cart traffic areas in the rough will be core aerified two times over to relieve compaction and given extra fertility to improve their recuperative capability.
Fertilizer and soil amendments that would normally be directed at greens and tees, can now be used to improve difficult to manage areas in fairways and rough.
The “one-pass” of short rough that encircles the green will be core aerified and rolled to make it more level and playable.

These are all programs that have been on mind for years but until this point, they were at the bottom of the priority list, and we did not have the resources to address them. Being able to shift our focus from major, course-wide cultural practices to more specific areas is a great sign of progress. It is too soon to say whether this will be possible each spring, but we are incredibly encouraged about where the golf course is at this point.

The Robots Are Here!

2023-11-17T20:55:15Z

If you’ve been around the club at all since the summer or fall, you have probably noticed our small robotic mower. We affectionately refer to this machine as “Bender” and it has tirelessly taken care of the rough around the first tee, behind the pool, and the large field in the front entrance since the middle of June. It even changes height on its own has mowed the dew walk from the first tee to the first fairway over this period as well.

Bender represents the club’s foray into the world of autonomous turf care. A small initial investment was made to see if there was any value into incorporating the use of these types of machines into our everyday maintenance practices. After four months of testing, the results have been outstanding, and the decision was made to move into a second phase of product testing.

Two weeks ago, seven more units were installed. These units will mow a good portion of the rough on the front nine. This area is roughly (pun intended) from the main tee on two over to the forward tee on eight.

If you have played in the last week, you have seen these mowers out doing their work. This will not be a regular occurrence. Our intention next season is to run the mowers in the evening and overnight. However, like any new technology, the machines are not without their glitches. We are running them during the daytime right now to troubleshoot any issues so that they can be deployed smoothly next spring. Some examples of problems that we encounter are steep slopes, high roots, deep basins, or poor satellite reception. Every time a unit encounters one of these scenarios, an error code is sent to our phones. We can then modify the map or the area to avoid this problem again. If you see a unit not running on the golf course, please do not move it. It is probably in an error state that we need to see so that we can correct it.

Each mower is responsible for an individual section that we map out via GPS. We set these areas up with the expectation that the unit could cut its section completely once every two days. Additionally, because they are being mowed so often, there should not be any clippings.

This technology is still fairly new but based on our observations so far, the potential seems incredible. Imagine a world where you play the golf course with rough that is completely consistent because it is being mowed once every 48 hours! This consistency will not only occur from hole-to-hole, but also day-to-day, all while not using not using any manpower or fuel and having zero noise pollution. The future is here!

Driving Range Tee Management

2023-09-22T18:40:32Z

I am writing this on the last day of summer, and it certainly feels like fall is in the air. The temperatures have dipped into the high 40’s over the last several nights and the summer seems to be officially behind us. The course came through this season very well and is set up for another great fall golf season.

However, one area that takes a step back this time of year is the driving range tee. The tee is warm season bermudagrass. The recovery that this turf demonstrates during the summer is perfect for the busy, undersized tee we have. The trade-off is that when the soil temperatures get below 60 degrees, the grass stops growing and eventually goes dormant.

This past spring, our range conditions were less than ideal. We had some early warm weather, and I made a gamble on that trend continuing and opened the tee, believing that we would get the temperatures we needed for recovery. What happened instead, was that we had one of the coldest, driest May’s in recent history. So, between fall of 2022 and early spring 2023 we had essentially used all the grass and were getting little to no healing. To top it all off, our range mats, which had been ordered in June 2022, were still on backorder.

To avoid the same scenario next spring, we will be managing the tee differently this fall. First, the new range mats were installed in June. They have two heights of cut and a slot to put a tee in. Because the growth rate of the tee is slowing and will soon be stopping, there will be more days when the range will be “mats only”. To prevent people from going on the grass, which wears the turf down to the dirt, as well as poses a safety issue, you will see the back area of the range covered in screening this fall. You may have seen something similar to protect tees and landing areas before a professional golf tournament.

Additionally, we will be heavily overseeding the tee this year as well as covering it this offseason. This will give us a better surface next spring and ensure that at least some play can take place on the grass when the weather starts to warm-up.

I am aware that most people prefer practicing and warming up on grass as opposed to mats—I do as well. Unfortunately, the size of the tee that we have cannot accommodate this on a daily basis even when the grass is growing vigorously, much less when the weather cools down. It is necessary to get more conservative with our management during the shoulder seasons to avoid the situation that we faced last spring. I can assure you that every decision we make is centered around providing the most positive experience we can to the largest number of members possible and this is no different.

We thank you in advance for your patience and understanding. Looking forward to seeing you out here soon!

Here Come the Robots!

2023-07-11T22:09:06Z

Meet Bender, our new robotic mower. For decades, golf course superintendents have been looking forward to the day when autonomous mowers become a normal part of our operation. Over the last ten years, I have been fortunate enough to see several prototypes but until now, none of them have ever made it to market. They were either too unreliable, cost prohibitive, or simply lacked the necessary functionality.

Husqvarna has been working on this series of machines for years, but it was just introduced into the US market last February. Our team was able to view it firsthand at the Golf Industry Show over the winter and then we had a one-day demo in late April. After seeing promise in the machine, we purchased one unit to see how it functioned over an extended period.

This version of the “automower” can mow two acres of turf in 24 hours. It cuts for approximately three hours and then returns to its charger for 30-45 minutes. It then goes back to where it left off and continues to mow.

We dictate where and when it mows using GPS mapping. We simply map areas we want it to go and areas we want to stay out of, along with the transport paths that we want it to use to get to these spots. We can set a schedule so it will cut in-play areas at night and work the perimeters during the day. Currently it is set up to mow around the first tee every night. It will mow the other secondary areas 3-4 times per week. These areas include the front entrance field, a small section of the rough in front of one fairway, the lawn between the pool and the fourth green and fifth tee. Perhaps one of the best features on these machines is their ability to change heights on their own. To test this, we are also having it mow the walk path from the first tee complex down to the fairway each night as well.

GPS map illustrating the robot's work area

When we purchased the machine, our sales rep was extremely transparent with us with the fact that there are still glitches in the software and that Husqvarna is actively working through those. You may the see the machine stalled out looking for a satellite or in a position where it did not quite make it back to its charging station. We are an early adopter and working closely with their software team to help improve these units for the future.

So where do I see this going? The small machine you see here is their most basic commercial model. They have one that can do steep slopes and a larger mower that can do six acres a day. In the next three to five years, I can see a fleet that combines all these models that cut the vast majority of the intermediate and primary rough on the golf course every 24-48 hours. A little farther into future, I envision the machines expanding into fairways and even range pickers.

The improvement in the appearance as well as the day-to-day consistency of the golf course would be dramatic. Combine this with the labor and fuel savings and it’s easy to see why superintendents have been anxious to incorporate these types of machines into their daily maintenance programs.

Upcoming Bunker Renovation

2023-05-31T18:42:32Z

This is not an article about the condition of the bunkers. That story has not changed since the last time I wrote about them. If you are interested in that, you can find that article by clicking here. Rather, I wanted to provide a synopsis of where we are in the process of renovating them.

A couple of years ago, the club earmarked the money to renovate the current bunkers during the winter of 2023-2024. The scope of this work was to remove the current sand and fabric liners, replace the drainage, install a new aggregate liner (which has been the industry standard for the nearly a decade), and reinstall new sand. The newer aggregate liners significantly extend the life of bunkers, for as much as 10-15 years. So, if we moved forward on this project, the current bunkering would be in place until at least 2035 and more likely, closer to 2040.

With that in mind, I asked myself if this was the set of bunkers—placement, size, shape, style—that the club wants for that long. I spend a good amount of time watching members and guests play golf. This is not so I can make fun of your swings to my peers or even feel better about my own game. I do it because I want to see how the golf course plays for people of different skill levels (contrary to popular belief, I do want people to enjoy themselves out here). What I have observed is that we currently have a lot of bunkers that are only in play for shorter hitters and higher handicappers. Due to advancements in equipment, practice technology, and general fitness, the more skilled players can now fly the ball over most of the trouble.

This led me to believe that the current golf course was becoming outdated and will only continue to do so as golf continues to advance. I ran this thought by the Board, as well as the Green and Golf Committees, and we agreed to have Andrew Green, our consulting architect, look at the bunker placements and distribution with the future in mind.

For those of you that don’t know, Andrew has been working at OGC since 2010, first as an in-house architect for a golf course design/build company named McDonald & Sons, and more recently, as an independent architect with his own firm. In the last five years Andrew has completed renovations at Congressional Country Club, Scioto Country Club, Inverness Club, Indian Creek Country Club, and Wannamoisett Country Club. In addition to those, he also led the highly acclaimed renovation at Oak Hill Country Club where his work was showcased at last week’s PGA Championship. Andrew also just broke ground at Interlachen Country Club in Minnesota (where Bobby Jones won the U.S. Open on the way to the Grand Slam) and is planning the renovation at East Lake Golf Club in Georgia, the permanent home to the Tour Championship.

After listening to my concerns about the current bunkering, as well as studying the current state of the property, Andrew agreed the right course of action for the club was to create a new bunkering plan to react to changes in the game since the last renovation in 2010-2011. The Board and pertinent committees agreed, and the bunker project was put on hold to give Andrew time to develop a different plan for presentation to club leadership. As of right now, we are targeting a start date of October of 2024 to commence work on the bunkers. The scope of this project will be larger than originally planned. Bunkers will be moved, re-shaped, and re-sized with the goal of providing a more challenging course to the more skilled golfer and a more fun experience to higher handicap players.

Until then, our staff will continue to monitor sand depths and the appearance of fabric liners. We will move sand around and add as necessary. It is impossible to monitor every square inch of every bunker. Just last week I was playing a couple of holes and I happened to find an area in a bunker that was very thin on sand. Two feet away there was plenty, and I know our staff had just been in that bunker checking a few days prior. We get a lot of play and sand moves around quickly so please feel free to provide feedback if you observe any of these areas and we will address them as necessary. As an alternative, we also have a great group of teaching pros here that could help you avoid these hazards all together (wink, wink).

I look forward to updating the membership more as this plan comes together!

The Driving Range in April

2023-04-28T15:54:11Z

The driving range at Overbrook has always been a challenge to manage. Its width does not allow enough space for the number of people that want to use it, its length cannot contain every golf ball, and the grass tee is undersized for the number of shots that the membership hits. At no time in the season is the last deficiency more evident than right now. The condition of both hitting areas, the grass, and the mats, is not currently befitting of our club and the standards that we’ve established. So, what happened?

First, let’s review the mat situation. The mat line at the range was installed several years ago. Last May, we noticed that the mats were breaking down and no longer providing a quality surface from which to practice, and subsequently, a new mat line was purchased. Due to supply chain and manufacturing issues, one year later this mat line has not been installed yet. Despite repeated calls to this company, as well as other potential vendors, we still have not received the new range line.

Moving on to the issues with the grass... The primary turf on the range tee is bermudagrass, which is a warm-season turf variety. These types of grasses need soil temperatures in the 70s and 80s to grow consistently. This type of grass is perfect for our range in the summer when it is at its busiest. We can get four or five days out of the tee and be confident that it is going to heal in a couple of weeks when we need to use it again. Additionally, we made the decision last year to re-level and re-sod the entire tee on July 5th. This project was received so well that we decided that we would make it a part of our regular program, only instead of waiting until July 5th, this year moved up the date to May 29th.

Soil Temperatures on Tee Surfaces-April 11th-April 28th

As illustrated in the graph above, during the period of April 11 through April 17, the average soil temperature was quickly approaching the ideal range for our tee. Because of this temperature trend, combined with the aforementioned mat situation, as well as the fact that we know we have a new grass tee surface coming at the end of May, I made a calculated decision to open the grass earlier than we had in past years. Since that decision was made, temps have cooled off significantly—we have even had two frost delays this week—and we have had nearly zero recovery on the grass tee.

So that’s how we got where we are today. Where do we go from here? In the short term, we will predominantly be using the mats for practice and warm-ups. We expect the new mats to arrive and be installed any day now, which will improve the experience. We have performed a heavy ryegrass (a cool season turf that will perform at lower temperatures) overseed on the range tee and the rain this weekend should help with germination and establishment. We will use the ryegrass to aid in recovery until we are able to sod the entire tee surface.

With the Trackman Range system, we know that each month during the golf season, approximately 100,000 golf shots are struck on our driving range. To prolong the life and quality of the grass tee box, we must begin to think about the driving range a bit differently than we have in the past. There are only ten lines on the range, 20 if we shift slightly and have golfers with their feet in old divots. Once those areas are used, it could take anywhere from a week (in the middle of summer) to several weeks (in the shoulder seasons) for the tee to heal. Although we understand that most people prefer to hit off the grass and not mats, unfortunately using the grass portion of our tee box cannot be our default, especially in early spring and late fall.

We have a limited driving range with various safety factors to consider as well. Determining how much practice is done from the synthetic mat and how much is done from the grass tee box will be based on how fast the turf is recovering at that time of year. When recovery is slower, the bulk of our weekday member practice will be done off the new Turfhound synthetic tee line with the grass area utilized primarily on weekends, holidays, and special events. As is the case with many of our decisions, this is the best option to accommodate the most amount of our members at our highest days of usage.

The driving range continues to gain popularity amongst the members. Looking out into the future, Club management is working with both the Green and Golf Committees to establish new procedures to make the range experience as good as it can be. Ideas include replacing the range mats every year, performing a heavy overseed in the fall, covering the grass tee all winter, or even possibly sodding the tee twice a year, once going into the summer and another going into the fall. Each of these has options both positive and negative ramifications that club leadership is currently weighing against each other but with the ultimate goal of making the range experience the best it can be throughout the season.

What Are We Waiting For?

2023-04-19T19:21:53Z

In a recent Green Committee meeting a member asked me “what are we waiting for?” What he was referring to were the conditions that it is going to take to really get the grass moving. Do we need rain, heat, or is it something else?

A look at the trees, blooms, and color of the turf will show you we are much farther along this year than 2022. Below is a photo that I take every year on April 18th for my records that illustrates this.

2022

2023

So why do the greens and other areas of the golf course still have a tinge of brown and we still have open aerification holes? The major factors in a course breaking dormancy are soil temperatures and moisture. Soil temperatures are ten degrees warmer right now than the previous five-year average however, on the precipitation side, we are much drier at this time of year than we have been during my tenure here. It feels like the like the drought of last summer continued through the winter with the lack of snow and is now hanging around in the spring. We have supplemented water needs with our irrigation system but that is no substitute for a long, slow, soaking rain.

The grass has broken dormancy but it is still filling in. The brown you see on some surfaces are the old leaves that got beat up this past winter by wind, lack of moisture, and traffic. When the weather changes, these leaves do not turn green again. New leaves grow in from below the surface and take over. These old leaves decompose into the green surface and turn into thatch (thatch control is one of the major reasons why we aerify but that is a topic for a different article). In the photo below, you can see the new leaves emerging from the ground and covering the old reddish, brown plant tissue.

So is there anything we can do to speed this process up? Yes! This is where agronomics come into play and different superintendents make different decisions based on their own philosophies and facility expectations. We could fertilize the greens, specifically with nitrogen, to push them along but there is a trade-off that comes with that. Nitrogen is the nutrient that causes leaf tissue to grow but it also has a tendency to stick around in the soil. So we could, in theory, apply high rates of nitrogen and push the greens along slightly faster than they are progressing now. However, if we did that, there is a chance that some of that nitrogen will stay in the soil into the late spring and summer months. Excess nitrogen during the summer causes unwanted growth of greens, result in slower speeds and a softer surface. Instead, we choose to apply very small rates of nitrogen weekly through the sprayer (a technique known as spoon feeding) at rates that err on the low side.

Guests who play here during the summer regularly state how good our greens perform compared to where they normally play. One of the main factors that I attribute this to is our conservative approach to nitrogen fertility in the spring, which allows us to better control growth in the summer.

So what are we waiting for? A little rain would be nice but other than that we are in good shape. We gave the greens another small shot of food today and I anticipate them getting to in-season condition very soon.

Green Speeds

2022-06-07T14:22:12Z

Time to pull back the curtain on a hot topic at nearly every golf course in the country…GREEN SPEEDS!

First, it is important to understand the challenge we face each day when setting up the golf course. The most difficult aspect about managing your course at OGC is catering to the vast diversity of the golfers we have at the club. Fairly regularly, we can have parents that are just introducing their kids to the game, double digit handicappers who came out to socialize, and past U.S. Open participants playing the golf course at the same time. Each of these contingents have different preferences regarding hole locations, fairway height, rough density, bunker firmness, and yes, green speeds. To put this in a different context, it would be like asking a chef to make a meal for 200 people that they all must love but it must be the exact same meal for everyone.

Each day, we do our best to anticipate who will be playing and what that setup should look like. Our goal is to balance that day’s setup directly in the middle of what the highest and lowest handicappers playing on that day would find ideal. In regard to green speeds, that means that some people playing that day will find them to be too fast and others, too slow. After five seasons, we have a very good idea of what that speed is for each group and each day.

So, what goes into obtaining desired green speeds? It starts with data. Each day, we collect an array of information from the greens that we use to make decisions on how to handle green maintenance. We measure green speed, the volume of clippings that we removed during mowing, and make notes on their physical appearance. Below the surface we are regularly checking root growth and structure as well as the physical characteristics of the soil profile. We have in-ground sensors as well as hand tools that tell us what the moisture content, salinity levels, and soil temperatures are at different depths. Each of these observations are recorded, charted, and input into a database. Over the past several years, we have been able to make some fairly concrete connections of how each of these factors relate to each other on our property and how they will affect green speed.

We then take the above data and formulate a plan, generally ranging from one to two weeks out. We factor in who we predict will be playing, how much play we will be receiving, upcoming tournament and events, and weather patterns. The most common question that I get asked at the club each day is “Did you mow and/or roll greens today?”. Simply put, that is the most basic part of the plan. If we are in season and the golf course is open, the answer 99.9% of the time is “yes”. However, obtaining desired green speed is a much more dynamic process than that. Green speed is a product of how much, or how little, friction is being applied on the golf ball from the turf. With today’s agronomy, we have an amazing amount of control over the how the plant behaves. We can spray products to reduce the growth rate of the plant, make the leaf blades smaller, and bring the leaves closer together. We can apply products that hold water at the surface of the green or move water through the profile. We can also perform physical practices like brooming and vertical mowing to make the turf more upright and rolling it to smooth it out. All these practices will change the amount of friction on the ball—both positively and negatively—and thus alter green speed. These alterations don’t often occur overnight, rather each takes several days to take effect. The morning mow/roll just maintains the results of all of the other practices that were performed and the products that were applied. Think of it as daily brushing your teeth between dentist visits.

I have somehow made it to this point with only the briefest mention of Mother Nature. The weather is the single biggest influencing factor in our ability to obtain and maintain green speeds, particularly humidity and dew point. We can perform the same exact practices to the greens and see as much as two feet of difference on the stimpmeter if the dew point is in the 70’s verses the 50’s. Not only can weather factor into the daily speed of a green but pushing the greens for speed when the turf is under environmental stress caused by severe weather could result in catastrophic turf loss. With that being said, we do provide the best conditions possible within the parameters that weather allows us, but the health of the greens is always our top priority.

Lastly, I want to touch on the notion that when it comes to green speeds that the faster they are, they better they are. In a recent interview that Gil Hanse gave on the Golf Channel leading up to last month’s PGA Championship, he stated “We would rather compromise green speeds than compromise great architecture”. What did he mean by this? The setup at Southern Hills featured rolling greens that stimped 10.5-12 throughout the week and vast quantities of closely mowed turf in the green surrounds. This allowed setup officials to put holes on subtle slopes, near runoffs, and hidden behind hazards. The golf course did not need protected by speed; a point illustrated by Justin Thomas’s winning score of -5.

How does that relate to our greens? Our greens were built around 1950, before the stimpmeter was distributed. For those of you that may not know, the stimpmeter was invented in the 1930’s as a tool to make sure that greens were consistent, not to see how fast greenkeepers could get them. There was only one in the world, and it was owned by Mr. Edward Stimpson, who recorded different green speeds from 1946 to 1973. He reported the green speed at the 1963 U.S. Open at 2.7 feet. The stimpmeter made its public debut in its first national championship in 1976 at the U.S. Open, the same year that approximately 1,500 clubs across the country participated in a USGA study on green speeds. Overbrook was included in this study and its reported average for that year was 6.6 feet, on par with the U.S. average of 6.5 feet.

I say all of this to illustrate the point that our greens were not necessarily designed to run at 13 on a stimpmeter on a daily basis, rather that should be, and is, the outlier. Nor am I petitioning that we return to the good ole’ days of greens that roll eight or nine feet. I am merely pointing out that the faster our greens are, the less variety we can have in our setups because we are handcuffed by the amount of reasonable hole locations they have.

To illustrate this point, let’s take a closer look at the 12th green, as it may have come up in some of your recent conversations. Above is a laser scan that shows percent slope on the green. Through experience, we can correlate percent slope to pinnable areas as they relate to green speeds. When greens are 13’+, we can fairly put a hole on any dark green area (0-2.5% slope or 8% of the total green). At 12’-13’, we can move into the light green (2.5-3% slope or 16.6% of the total green). At 11’-12’, I am comfortable putting holes on the yellow and orange areas (3-4% or 58.1%). The Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, green speeds were 12.5 with and the hole was cut in the orange area. I am still hearing about it five days later.

I could do a separate dissertation on each of the above paragraphs, but I have already taken up too much of your time. My goal was ultimately to illustrate that hitting target green speeds isn’t as simple as cutting lower or rolling more. It is a process that takes time and is very deliberate. It’s also not our goal to make the greens as fast as possible each day. Rather, we strive to provide conditions that will provide most of the membership playing that day with an enjoyable round that has plenty of variety while preserving the long-term health and integrity of the golf course. I hope this gives you some insight on how and why we manage our greens the way we do.

Bunker Consistency

2022-03-17T17:49:06Z

Recently, I received an email from a member asking me about the the consistency, or lack thereof, in our bunkers. I received more questions/comments about the bunkers than any other area on the golf course and wanted to share my response with the entire membership:

"Thank you for the email. I always appreciate feedback and am happy to have a discussion about the golf course.

For reference, the bunker renovation was performed in 2010. The sand that was chosen during the renovation is called Valley Forge Buff. Different bunker sands have different properties and I know that the Green Committee specifically chose this sand because of its ability to lock together, which prevents washouts and provides a firm surface from which to play.

The American Society of Golf Course Architects says that bunker sand has a life span of 5-7 years. This is because over time, the sand becomes contaminated with organic matter and other soil particles, which affects how the sand plays. For an example of this think about beach sand v. clay soil. When a wave washes up on a beach, the water dissipates and the sand is firm again within seconds. That same amount of water will sit on and in a clay soil for hours. These cases illustrate the extreme ends of the spectrum but do help to explain the water holding capacity of different types of soils.

Back to our bunkers. I believe that this contamination is what you are feeling when you are playing, rather than a lack of sand. (Above) are three different photos-all are from the front right bunker on #7, all random spots within four paces of each other. As you can see, there is ample sand in the bottom of the bunker but the difference in each is the amount contamination that can be seen at the top. What you are seeing is a result 12 years of dust blowing into the bunkers as well, clay migrating to the surface, and organic matter buildup from grass clippings and tree debris decaying. The darker brown areas will hold more moisture and thus play firmer than the areas with a solid column of pure white sand. When the sand that is in the bunker already has a tendency to be firm, this can make it feel like solid clay.

So I guess the next question is, can we just flip the sand over or mix it in? We regularly use a machine rake to break this layer up and mix these sands together but there is a limit to how affective it is. As I am sure you know, most of our bunkers are lined with fabric. I have thought about running a tiller through the bunkers in the past but I ultimately believe that the risk of disturbing that liner is not worth the tremendous amount of labor or the temporary affect that we would get out of it.

When broken down by area on the golf course, you might find it interesting to know that we spend the second most man-hours on bunker preparation than any other surface on the golf course. For reference, the top four since March 1st are: 1900 hours on greens, 1400 hours on bunkers, 1100 hours on rough, and 850 hours on fairways. Nearly every day, we have crew members checking depths, scouring surfaces, and moving sand around.

Ultimately, we do need to look at replacing the sand on the golf course and you should know that it is on both the Green Committee and the Board’s radar. If we do, I have recommended that we do install an aggregate liner such as Better Billy or Capillary Concrete. Both have been in the field at other properties since the mid-2000’s and have been shown to perform very well and extend the life of bunker sand."

Hopefully this sheds some light on the science of why our bunkers perform the way they do.

Off-Season Course Setup

2022-03-17T17:45:23Z

We have reached the official end of of the 2020 season. The weather is getting colder, turf growth is slowing down, the course has been aerified, and we are no longer posting scores for handicap purposes. This is the time of year when the grounds team changes our focus from daily play to setting the course up for a successful next season.

As I am sure most of you are aware, Overbrook, like nearly every other golf course in the country, did a record number of rounds this year. This is fantastic for the game of golf and should be celebrated. We are seeing more juniors and families playing than ever before and that bodes very well for the future of the game that we all love.

With that being said, the increased play did take its toll on the golf course. Due to the amount of nine-hole rounds we recieved, the front nine greens showed signficiantly more wear and ball marks than the back and several tees were very well used (to put it kindly) by the end of the season. Turf growth is quickly slowing and its capacity for recovery is diminishing however, the amount of rounds that the course continues to receive is still much greater than we have seen in the past.

As such, you will see some very non-traditional tee marker locations as we wind down the season. Once the temperatures really start to cool off, we will be covering several high-use tee boxes, as well as some portions of select greens, for the winter. This is all done in an effort to give some of our highly trafficked areas a break and allow them the maximum amount of time to recover so that we are ready for next April, when we start posting scores again.