Bedford - Signs of life are starting to appear at PGC. The Course Superintendant has begun to ready for the season and will be getting the grounds/maintenance crew on board in short order. I walked each hole on the course to get a close up of the challenges. And there are many.
Going in order:
1st Hole. It is looking pretty good. The area immediately beyond the creek (on the green side of the creek) is still soft, but is drying well. This warm spell (and mild breeze) will go a long way towards making it playable. In general, there is little to worry about there.
2nd hole: I did not go down that fairway but took a good look from aside the third green. I suspect the area in front of the tee box is damp as it usually is due to the tree overhang and lack of sunlight. The remainder of the fairway from approximately equal to the 4th tee box onward towards the green looked good.
3rd hole: By and large the area in front of the white tee boxes and all the way to the green is dry. There is some residual water aside the white tee box (on the side of 6th), extending back to the blues, circling behind the box. That area really has no run off and is traditionally damp in the spring.
4th hole: The 4th sustained a lot of water in the rain storms, but has drained well. While it is still soft underfoot, there is little left in the way of actual water. A little residual water remains around the trees near the paved road, but the area is drying out nicely
5th Hole: Same as four, perhaps even a little better. I remember in years past, even last year, that area getting pretty soft, but for whatever reason, it is in pretty good shape as is the consistency of one, four, and five all from that same creek.
6th Hole: This was interesting too. There was a small collection of water around the white tee box, but the areas that are usually soaked are in pretty good shape. The water hazard is not near at peak - nor was the hazard on three. The passage by the hazard is dry - which is usually wet. The remainder of the sixth hole is unbelievably dry. The water that usually comes out from the right tree line is not even near the fairway or rough. Again - another oddity compared to times past.
7th hole: Here is where we start running into a bit more trouble, but not as much as I thought we would. The last 130 yards from fairway into green is damp, but drying nicely. A few sizeable, but dead, limbs came down from the tree line separating 7 from
8. Consistent with the other holes, there is little in the way of any visible water, soft underfoot, but sans any more heavy rains should be fine. The usual water collection behind the 7th green is there and will take added time before any utility vehicles or golf carts go behind it. That is all part and parcel of the problems from the cart underpass on 8, that caused the problems for that hole. That is where there are collections of debris, causing the backup.
8th hole: While there was significant water damage in front of the tee box and overflowing the cart path a few days ago, repairs have begun, the water receded to allow a makeshift bridge across it, and the creek needs to be cleaned out and the debris from the underpasses cleared for the water to flow. Still yet, if that creek is supposed to link up with the one coming across 5,4, and 1 and I suspect it does, that probably needs to be cleared first to accommodate the increase in water egress that will come from the repairs on 8. All that said, it is just the area of rough that has been affected and where the fairway starts rising up that small hill (across and short of where the General used to be) is fine. With the tee boxes up, it is only about 75 yards to the fairway anyway, so with some repairs on the bridge and creek, the left side should dry out. However, there is no way a cart is going over that for some time, so unless they route the carts around the side of the 8th tee box closest to the 9th green and restrict passage to the right side of the fairway/rough, I can't see how they will allow the carts at all. The left side is going to be damp for sometime to come, unless the fill that hole area with stone, gravel, and top soil after the repairs. The only problem with that is it puts the cart riders in a more direct line of fire from errant shots coming down the 9th. Permits are being pulled and the heavy work is to beginning. It's going to take some doing to make it passable. I know little about landscaping and ground repair, so I'm just spitballing theory here, anyway.
9th hole: That didn't fair too badly either. Usually in the spring we see a soaked first 150 yards in front of the tee boxes, but the area is drying up pretty well, with just a few small puddles visible. Again, with the heavy rains I expected this area to be completely soaked, but it was not. The area in front of the creek of course, still needs some drying, but only at the lowest, flat portion where fairway turns to rough before the creek.
Greens: The greens look fabulous, They are in playable condition right now.
Traps: Well, most of them are hard enough to accommodate patio furniture at this point. I won't beat that dead horse. We all know the problem. However, one interesting note is that as I mentioned, the water hazard on three was at near normal level, but I cannot say the same for the trap immediately to the left of the green. That sucker is full of water.
Summary: There is not doubt a lot of cosmetic work to be done and some more drying out needed in the aforementioned areas, but by and large I was quite surprised how well the course held up under the immense rainfall we had. Credit has to go to JC who was working quit hard at the end of last year to clean out of lot of the dead tree limbs and debris that amassed over the years. I suspect this had a lot to do with how well I think the course held up in the deluge of downpours we had. Right now, PGC plans on holding to it's April 8 or 9 opening date.
Photo Below: Looking down the 9th Fairway from 9th Tee
Next: From behind 1st Tee box
Next: 3rd Green from third fairway
Next: 6th Tee box from 3rd Fairway
Next: Damage in front of 8th Tee from 8th Fairway
No comments:
Post a Comment