Putting Green Stairs

The rotting and slippery green matting is gone from the steps leading down to the putting green.  New boards have been added and covered with a very nice anti-slip matting.

New Bridge on #17

The old walk bridge on hole #17 was in pretty bad shape and needed to be replaced.  We have many talented people on our crew with some very handy skills.  Scott Chrisman is a crew member who has many years of carpentry experience and has done some nice work on many projects this winter.  He and the crew demolished the old structure and rebuilt and nice new bridge complete with handrails on both sides.  The old bridge had a makeshift handrail on one side only.  Having a carpenter on staff is of great benefit to our golf course.

The top decking boards were still in good shape, we reused them.

The rotten boards underneath were the problem.

The bride stripped back to the telephone pole supports.

The old decking boards were cut to equal lengths.

The recycled boards put back in place as the new support boards.

New boards purchased from Lowes.

We had 2 gas generators and lots of batteries.

The new flooring is looking good.

Handrail supports in place.

The new handrail is looking great.

We have a much nicer bridge on #17.

Bunker Removal on #7

We removed the first fairway bunker on the left side of hole #7.  We flattened the area and will finish sodding the area when the ground warms back up in the Spring.

Storm Drain Repairs on #12

In a situation exactly like what happened last year on #10 fairway, a large 30 inch steel drainage culvert needed to be replaced,  The bottom had completely rusted out and sinkholes began to form at the surface.  We addressed this problem in the early winter of 2015.

Winter Drainage Projects 2015-2016

Drainage projects are a staple of every winter maintenance diet.  It is inevitable that old drains will fail and wet weather springs will find their way to the surface of our fairways and roughs.  By the end of the golfing season we usually have located plenty of locations that new drains will need to be installed.

Here is the run down on what drains were installed/repaired this winter.

Cart Path Drain on #2  -  342 Ft.

Narrow Neck on #8 Fairway  -  372 Ft.

#4 Left of Fwy Rough  -  300 Ft.

#6 Tee Surrounds  -  777 Ft.

Other locations we completed on the course this winter season :

#12 Left of Cart Path  -  276 Ft.
#14 Cart Path near White Tee
#15 Fixed badly clogged drain on #15 cart path.
#3 Fairway wet weather spring.

Introducing the Glenroy Tees

The Glenroy Tees are a new set of tee markers that convert the golf course into a shorter length course with a total of 3,360 yards.  The par for each hole remains the same, but the distance is much shorter.  This course is a great place for the beginning golfer to start, as well as place for higher handicap golfer to find more enjoyment in the game.

Look for the white G that is painted on the cart path.  This will be a good location marker to use when finding the Glenroy tee locations.  This is also a good place to park if we happen to be cart path only.


The Glenroy tees have been rated for handicap and are included on the score card.  Please ask in the Golf Shop if you have additional questions.  I hope everyone gets a chance to try this latest addition to the golf course.

Verticutting and Thatch

Verticutting, also called vertical mowing, was performed on all of the fairways in the last few weeks. This process removed some of the thatch layer so turf can receive more oxygen , better absorb nutrients, and allow moisture to reach the soil instead of getting absorbed in the sponge-like thatch layer.

Thatch is a layer of dead stems and roots that forms between the grass and soil. It isn’t all bad. Small amounts can actually reduce compaction in high-traffic areas. When thatch exceeds a half-inch, all that biomass starts eating up the good stuff that belongs to the turf: air, water and food. Thatch also becomes a barrier for chemicals that need to reach the soil and roots of the turfgrass. Significant thatch can provide excellent nutrition and breeding grounds for a number of disease and insects.

As you can see there are many reasons to combat that thatch layer we have in the fairways here at Kenmure. This Fall we were able to rent an excellent piece of equipment to help us. The Sisis Veemo did a wonderful job and we plan on using it again in the future. The Veemo machine was attached to our tractor and operated by Kenmure employees. This procedure created a good bit of waste material that was removed from the fairways and transported to a composting site up on the mountain.

Verticutting is not a replacement for Aerification. While they both have some similar benefits they do not completely overlap each other. Verticutting is mainly for thatch removal and does not do much to relieve soil compaction. Aerification is the best tool to relieve soil compaction. They are both extremely beneficial processes and we will utilize both procedures. Verticutting of the fairways will take place in the Fall. Traditional core aerification will be performed in the Spring every year.

It should also be noted here that thatch is also becoming a problem in the Greens and Tees. The Greens showed significant scalping over this season. It became especially evident when lower cutting heights were attempted. These issues will also be addressed with Verticutting in the near future.