Thank You!

Hello and welcome to The Greenkeeper! Today is Friday, March 10, 2023 and much has transpired since my last post. Honestly, I don't even know where to begin. How did we get where we are today when weeks ago we were thankful to have the renovations and improvement projects in the rear-view and spring and the upcoming golf season on the horizon? 

I have always believed things happen for a reason and God works in mysterious ways, and after nearly 18 years the time has come for me to say goodbye to Carolina Golf Club. I have been witness to much change in that time, the least of which was the total transformation of the golf course in my first few years. Hopefully some of you have enjoyed a look back as I have been sharing old photos on Twitter recently. 

Today we’re looking back at the transformation of Hole 11. We’ve lost a few more trees since 2008, and that’s not a bad thing. This hole played most difficult in 2018 US Mid-Am. pic.twitter.com/WTKp4OTWjl

— Matthew Wharton (@CGCGreenkeeper) March 2, 2023

Would you believe me if I told you the best view at Carolina once had no view at all! Hole 15

Pic 4 📸: @richardalee66 pic.twitter.com/jLs8knQtl2

— Matthew Wharton (@CGCGreenkeeper) March 6, 2023

Today we take a peek at Hole No. 2 designed by Kris Spence in 2005. Note how the landing zone was extended during the construction of the dam for our irrigation reservoir in 2007. pic.twitter.com/sqNta2vB62

— Matthew Wharton (@CGCGreenkeeper) March 8, 2023

The other day I was reflecting with my superintendent peers at Charlotte CC, Quail Hollow, Myers Park, and Carmel only to realize I arrived in Charlotte before each of them. Sadly, two former superintendents at those clubs back when I arrived passed away in 2022, eighteen years is a long time.

It is long enough to watch your children grow up and leave for college. I've seen your swings get shorter and watched you move forward a set of tees, or even two. I've applauded your on course successes and grimaced with you when the putts didn't drop. I tried my best to help make the game more fun for all who played here.

These last few weeks I've been helping the team prepare the course for the coming season, and doing everything in my power to ensure their success. We wrapped up preemergent herbicide applications to all tees, fairways, and rough plus managed to cleanup some late arriving winter weeds with spot post emergent treatments. We started our annual mowing of the cool-season native areas and the team will follow up with preemergent herbicide treatments soon. 

The cart paths are being edged and soon fresh mulch will be installed in all landscape areas. And thankfully Mother Nature finally allowed the course to dry sufficiently to permit us to use the large 3-ton roller on Holes 2 and 8. I am thrilled we have those holes open for normal play once more. Thank you for your patience. 

In fact, thank you is all I can say. Thank you for taking a chance on a Virginia native with little knowledge of Donald Ross or golf course construction and grow-in prior to my arrival. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to learn on the job and to make mistakes. Thank you for your unwavering support during the good times and challenging ones. Thank you for preparing me for this next chapter in my life and career as a golf course superintendent.  

CGC will forever live inside my heart. I'm not the first person entrusted to care for Carolina Golf Club and I certainly will not be the last. But hopefully when folks look back on CGC's illustrious history they can point to my chapter and say he cared more.

Thank you,

Matthew Wharton, CGCS, MG

* I composed this message prior to last night's emotional sendoff. I cannot thank you all enough for such an amazing farewell. 

January Recap!

Hello and welcome to The Greenkeeper! Today is Wednesday, February 1, 2023. With the first month of the year now behind us, thought I would take a moment to recap and look ahead. Since my last post we have received 2.70 inches (68.5mm) additional rain, and the longest consecutive stretch of dry days has been three.

Our total for January 2023 reached 5.73 inches (145.5mm) and was the 26th wettest of all-time. All I can say is thank goodness we didn't have a repeat of 1936!

Courtesy of Brad Panovich, WCNC

I've been looking back over our weather records and interestingly from 2006-2016 Carolina Golf Club averaged only 2.90 inches (73.6mm) rain in the month of January. But since 2017 that average has jumped by more than two inches to 4.93 (125.2mm). Also, four of the past seven years (2017,2019,2020, and 2023) saw greater than five inches fall on the golf course. 

Rainfall at CGC

I know, it's wet and we're all tired of it. I get asked frequently why I always share weather related info in the blog updates. Like I said at the Annual Meeting, Carolina Golf Club is not a simulator. We play golf outdoors year round, in all the elements. I know there are some of you that believe the weather is a convenient excuse, but I am merely sharing facts that explain why some things are the way they are at any given moment. Believe me, my team and I are more frustrated than you we can't do more on the course right now.

But enough about that, we did manage to wrap up the patching of all stump holes and made repairs to damaged turf along the cart path edges. For this we installed new TifTuf bermudagrass https://tiftufbermudagrass.com/. Born out of a quarter century of breeding at the University of Georgia, TifTuf is recognized as the most drought tolerant bermudagrass variety and by establishing it in multiple areas of the rough this gives us an opportunity to evaluate its performance in our environment over the coming year. 

TifTuf

We have always evaluated new bermudagrass varieties when the opportunity permits. In addition to our original Tifway 419 we also have Celebration bermudagrass and Latitude 36 bermudagrass growing on select parts of the golf course. Celebration was chosen for its greater shade tolerance and Lat 36 was selected for its greater cold tolerance. We test these new varieties should the need to reestablish ever arise allowing us to make an informed selection. 

I also referenced potholes during my last post, and we have procured the material necessary for patching. But unfortunately we cannot effectively patch holes filled with water. Until Mother Nature plays nice we are on standby waiting for our opportunity.

In the meantime I have been enjoying the new book The Golf Architecture of Donald Ross written by Donald Ross Society President, Bradford A. Becken, Jr. The book is full of photographs, drawings and field notes sewn together by Mr. Becken's recall of having played every golf course Donald Ross has designed still in existence.

One thing I really enjoyed was Appendix A, titled An Ideal Routing. This is actually an excerpt from a previous publication, Golf's Grand Design: The evolution of golf architecture in America co-authored by Ron Whitten and the late golf course architect Bob Cupp. It is a back-and-forth conversation on the routing of Seminole Golf Club in Juno Beach, Florida. And I was struck by their reverent description of the par 4 sixth hole and could not help but recognize its similarity to our par 4 seventeenth. 

No. 6

No. 17

Okay, there are vast differences in appearances considering the open sandy waste areas at Seminole compared to the maintained rough at CGC, but the strategy of these holes is the same. One needs to challenge the left side fairway bunker(s) in order to provide the proper angle to play up the diagonal green guarded by a long diagonal bunker. Other similarities not depicted by the 2D overhead image is both holes play uphill from their respective teeing grounds and the landing areas both slope to the player's right leaving a shot slightly below your feet. Although that lie helps promote a fade for the right-handed player, hitting a fade from the middle or right side of the fairway can make safely carrying the long, diagonal bunker and reaching the putting surface extremely difficult. 

So there you have it, a little weather and golf course architecture to start your February. Tomorrow is Groundhog Day and rain is in the forecast. Of course it is!

See you on the course,

Matthew Wharton, CGCS, MG

Holes 1 and 2 Reopen for Play!

Hello and welcome to The Greenkeeper! Today is Thursday, January 19, 2023 and I want to take a moment to answer some questions I know have been floating around the past couple days. First allow me to apologize, I did spend the past two days in a training session as we are upgrading our irrigation control software this season. The timing of the class falling on the heels of a holiday and the completion of our winter course improvement projects I'm certain contributed to folks noticing no work was taking place on a couple of holes closed for play. 

By now most of you should have received and hopefully read the winter edition of the Ross Report. If so, then you know Golf Course Services completed our Capillary Bunker renovation last Thursday. The project which began back on October 3, 2022 utilized over 445 cubic yards of capillary concrete and nearly 1250 tons of new G-Angle bunker sand. GCS also installed just over one acre of new sod as years of sand splash buildup was removed and all the bunkers restored back to their original shape and contour.

I will be sharing more on this project and the others at next week's Annual Meeting. I look forward to sharing with you greater details along with our tips for you to help us maintain these bunkers to your high standards each day. 

As for our drainage project, the update in the Ross Report touched more on Hole 8. You may recall Turf Drainage Company took a holiday break as was mentioned here (Christmas Break) and returned on January 6. Also, my most recent post from January 5 (Nature's Wrath) talked about the major rain event (1.87 inches) that fell just two days before they resumed work. Needless to say, Mother Nature has been anything but cooperative as it relates to our drainage work.

Despite the challenges and setbacks we encountered, the work was completed this past Sunday, January 15. And I am happy to report this morning we reopened Holes 1 and 2 for play. Hole 1 does contain a large swath of Ground Under Repair across the fairway. This "crosswalk" area was utilized to haul soil into the wooded area on the far side of the hole for storage until used at a later date. Hole 2 opened for the time being as a shortened par 3.

"Crosswalk"

It has been my intention from the outset of this project to use a large multi-ton asphalt roller on both Holes 2 and 8 to smooth and firm the surface following project completion. We also want to topdress and then further protect the areas by restricting golf car traffic and give all the sod the best opportunity to survive the remainder of winter. 

Once we are able to perform these two operations the plan is to open the holes playing from the forward most teeing positions. This will allow most players to carry the ball over the impacted areas while still playing the holes as a par 4 or reachable par 5. 

Unfortunately the golf course has now received 11.60 inches rain (that's almost 300 mm) over the past eight weeks and more is in the immediate forecast. The soils on both holes were saturated from the outset of the project meaning despite the systems working to drain excess ground water and seepage water, dry weather is needed in order for us to catch up and access those areas with very heavy equipment. 

Today - Mon

Next Week

Until then, the holes will unfortunately need to remain shortened as much as possible. The agronomy team continues to focus on tidying up the golf course and repairing collateral damage from all projects. Cart path edges are being resodded where necessary and potholes will be addressed as soon as possible.  

Again, I will touch more on this topic and answer whatever questions you have at the Annual Meeting this coming Tuesday, January 24. 

See you on the course,

Matthew Wharton, CGCS, MG

 

Nature's Wrath!

Hello and welcome to The Greenkeeper! Today is Thursday, January 5, 2023 and let me start by wishing each of you a happy new year! I wish the first post for this year was a happy one, but unfortunately I need to share some course related news as it relates to the weather event experienced yesterday.

Yesterday the golf course encountered 1.87 inches of rainfall (47.5 mm). In fact, this was the fifth rain event of more than one inch since November 28th! The most recent was 1.75 inches (44.5 mm) on December 22nd and those of you that played in our Christmas Balls event the day prior probably saw me and members of my team working on Hole 8 to button up our drainage trenches with new sod.

Fortunately everything held together back on December 22, but yesterday's storm intensified between 9:00 and 9:30 am to an extreme rainfall rate shown on the U.S. Geological Survey's rain gauge located just down the street from us at Fire Station 10 on Wilkinson, Blvd. https://waterdata.usgs.gov/

In fact, it was at that same time lightning was detected near CGC and thunder shook the entire Turf Care Center. I quickly grabbed a screen shot of the radar in real time and posted to Twitter.

Thunder ⛈ just shook the Turf Care Center! 😳 #cltwx #winter https://t.co/5Z8WBBrOk6 pic.twitter.com/YJhddenMEc

— Matthew Wharton (@CGCGreenkeeper) January 4, 2023

The line of red indicates the severity and rate of rainfall at that precise moment. When the storm finally passed and it was safe to patrol the course the gauges were emptied, SubAir activated, and several drain inlets cleared of debris. When I made my way down Hole 8 I encountered some displaced sod near the top of the hill and unfortunately one of those pieces blocked one of our newly installed surface inlets.

Sod Torn Away

Displaced Sod Blocking Inlet

Minor in the overall scheme of things and easily repaired, but by inhibiting surface flow to move under ground it allowed for greater surface flow down stream at the steepest part of the hill. The power of nature contained in moving water is hard to describe, but it is why meteorologists urge everyone to use caution during heavy rain and floods.

 

They say pictures are worth 1000 words and I know the two pictures above look horrifical. But I assure you the comeback will far exceed the setback. As play resumes today I wanted you to be aware in case you see it before repairs are completed. 

Sometimes I get asked is one inch of rain a lot. The answer is a resounding yes. Your home lawn can easily survive during the growing season on one inch of rain per week, so to receive one inch or more in a day or even just a few hours is extreme. One inch of rain spread across one acre contains roughly 27,000 gallons and weighs approximately 226,000 pounds. In other words, it is forceful.

In other news, our bunker renovation is in the final stretch. Holes 7-18 are completed and the greenside bunkers at 5 and 6 have the new Capillary bunker liner installed. Work has now commenced readying the greenside bunker on Hole 4 for liner installation. This leaves Hole 3 as the only hole on the golf course with unrenovated bunkers. 

Following the completion of the bunker project Golf Course Services will remain on site to construct a hillock on Hole 16 designed by our golf course architect Kris Spence and then dredge our storm water retention pond to the left of Hole 15 before they say goodbye.

See you on the course,

Matthew Wharton, CGCS, MG 

Christmas Break!

Hello and welcome to The Greenkeeper! Today is Wednesday, December 21, 2022 and before the annual Christmas Balls tourney tees off I would like to wish each of you and your families happy holidays! Things have been quite hectic on the golf course since my last update, so let's cut to the chase then get you on the course.

When we last met Golf Course Services (GCS) was on Hole 13, tree work was either happening or scheduled to happen, and a drainage project with Turf Drainage of America (TDA) was starting after Thanksgiving. I am happy to report today GCS is more than half-way complete on Hole 8. In fact, Hole 8 will reopen for play today but as a shortened hole.

Newly Renovated Bunkers Holes 11 & 12

That also means Holes 9-18 are complete. And with Holes 1-2 plus the practice area being renovated last year only Holes 7-3 are remaining. Also, recall when the bunker project started GCS renovated a large swath of fairway bunkers across the center of the property on holes 4-7 thus when Hole 8 is complete it is mostly just greenside bunkers remaining on the final five holes of this project.

All the tree work previously mentioned in other updates and the Fall Ross Report is now complete. In fact the stumps were removed this past Monday. After our Christmas break my team and I will remove the stump grindings, backfill with soil, and patch with sod. Save for the location where the large oak once stood right of the 16th green. There are other plans to address that area and they are spelled out in the upcoming Ross Report, so watch your inboxes. 

Hole 16

As for the drainage project, TDA have completed the planned installation on Hole 8 and installed drainage in the approach short of 1 green. The plan now is for them to return following a brief holiday break before installing the new drainage plan on Hole 2. Yes, the drainage work is messy. Especially when the weather is uncooperative. In the upcoming Ross Report I equate bunker renovations and drainage projects to types of home remodels. One is like changing the paint color of a room while the other is more like a full demo. I think you get the idea.

Approach Hole 1 During

Approach Hole 1 After

We definitely encountered collateral damage on Hole 8 due to the unfavorable weather, but rest assured my team of elves and reindeer will continue to work tirelessly to build back better.

Now, for those of you with visions of Christmas golf instead of sugar plums in your head I believe Jack Frost and Old Man Winter are looking for a match. LOL. According to our good friend and local meteorologist Brad Panovich, Charlotte could see the coldest Christmas in the Queen City since 1983! 

5-Day Forecast, Accuweather

What does this mean for the golf course? Well, it is going to freeze and once frozen it will take several days to thaw, just like your Christmas turkey. So get out and enjoy the course today because tomorrow calls for rain before the artic blast begins making its way into town on Friday. 

Stay warm, stay safe, and merry Christmas CGC.

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