Glen Oak Country Club July 16, 2014

| Course Consulting Service Report Page 1

GLEN OAK COUNTRY CLUB
Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania



Visit Date: July 14, 2014


Present: Les Lear, Assistant Superintendent
Melinda Wesley, Assistant in Training
Gino Marchetti, Superintendent
Darin S. Bevard, Director, Mid-Atlantic Region


















United States Golf Association
Darin S. Bevard, Director | Green Section | Mid-Atlantic Region
485 Baltimore Pike | Glen Mills, PA 19342 | Phone: 610-558-9066 | Fax: 610-558-1135 |
Email: dbevard@usga.org
USGA Green Section Mission: The USGA Green Section are leaders in developing and disseminating
agronomically, environmentally, and economically sustainable management practices. We help golf facilities
maintain better playing conditions for better golf through science-based and practical solutions.
Glen Oak Country Club July 16, 2014
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During our April stop-by visit, winter damage on the Thirteenth and Sixteenth greens
was the major concern. Overall, these greens have recovered very well with only
minimal impacts on playability. In fact, in visiting several golf courses in northeast
Pennsylvania, winter recovery on Glen Oaks greens was probably the best that I have
seen to date. As the summer progresses, these damaged areas should only get better.
As it relates to the greens, the biggest problem is some weak areas of grass on your
newly sodded collars. The primary problem is on the PennTrio creeping bentgrass that
came from an outside sod source. It is often difficult to establish sod that does not
match the soil conditions on the golf course.



























High traffic areas of your recently sodded collars showed the most signs of stress. As the collars
mature and aeration programs are implemented, their management will become much easier. It
just takes a little time.

The completion of your bunker project as well as renovations on the Tenth, Eighteenth
and Practice Putting greens are excellent. Playability of the on-course greens has been
improved. More hole locations will be available on the Eighteenth green, and there will
be more room to spread wear and traffic on the Practice Putting green. Persistent
problems with anthracnose should be less with the increased size of the Practice
Putting green.
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In addition to the topics mentioned above, ongoing maintenance programs on your
greens, management of your naturalized areas and tree management were also
discussed. With these thoughts in mind, we offer the following suggestions and
recommendations for your consideration.

GREENS

1. Recovery. In some respects, Glen Oak was fortunate that winter damage on the
greens wasnt more widespread. While there were isolated areas of damage on some
greens, the only greens severely affected were the Thirteenth and Sixteenth greens. As
a whole, these greens have recovered extremely well. In the short term, increased
grooming efforts may be needed in the bentgrass areas to improve density and texture.
This can be accomplished with grooming attachments for your mowers or even by
simply hand brooming the areas in question. As a whole, the greens were well rooted
which bodes well for the remainder of the summer season. Any areas of isolated thin
grass on your greens can be lightly topdressed to help with recovery. Beyond that, the
greens that were damaged can receive regular maintenance.

After winterkill events, one question that always comes up is what can be done to
prevent future winterkill. Ultimately, this is difficult to predict. The one thing that I can
say for sure is that we do not understand the interaction of all of the factors that lead to
winterkill. There is a weather component, a turfgrass health component and a soil
moisture component that ultimately work together to cause winterkill. We are unable to
predict any of these factors leading into the winter. Thus, I believe you should continue
to cover your greens. Additionally, if there is a time during the winter where snow cover
is present and a warming trend could allow for snow melt, or worse yet, there is a warm
rain on top of the snow ahead of colder temperatures, snow removal should be
considered. As long as the cover on the greens is just snow, there is not a problem.
When the snow becomes a combination of slush and snow at the Putting green surface,
this is the best opportunity for damage if the slush re-freezes. If resources are available,
removal should be considered in these instances.

2. Collars. Management of sodded collars during the first full growing season is always
challenging. As a whole, the collars at Glen Oak have held up fairly well. The primary
problems are in high traffic areas where mechanical damage is affecting the grass.
Furthermore, the PennTrio sod has suffered the most problems. This is not unexpected.
Any time that you use sod from your site, it is going to perform better than sod from an
outside source. In a short period of time, the PennTrio will adapt to the conditions that
are present. Options to improve the collars and continue their grow-in were discussed.

A) Core Aeration. One of the challenges with sod is there is almost always a soil
layer present when it is installed. The sod installed at Glen Oak was grown on
soil. It will take some time to break-down the soil layer in the profile. The best
way to do this is through core aeration and topdressing. The collars should be
core aerated as frequently as possible when the weather is good for turfgrass
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growth. The collars should be cored, topdressed and allowed to heal. Once they
heal, they should be cored and topdressed again. When the weather is hot and
humid, do not core aerate or topdress the collars. The abrasion of the sand on
lush turfgrass leaves will cause damage. The collars can be solid tined if needed
to help with water management over the course of the summer. Ultimately,
removing and breaking down the soil layer that is present will be very important
to the management of the Penn Trio sod.

























The distinct soil layer brought in with the sod is part of the challenge of management. More
aggressive core aeration will be needed in the short term to break-down and remove this
layer to improve water infiltration.

B) Brushing/Grooming. One of the biggest challenges with collars is that the grass
tends to lay over making it more susceptible to mechanical damage. When
weather conditions lead to aggressive growth on your collars in late
summer/early fall, the collars should be brushed and/or groomed in an effort to
promote more upright growth. The interval of these practices must be determined
by the appearance of the grass. In addition to brushing and grooming, lowering
mower heights will help to improve density. Again, when weather conditions are
favorable for cool season turfgrass growth, height of cut should be reduced on
the collars.

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As the sod becomes better established, problems on your collars will decrease. The
current program of plugging out severely damaged areas is well directed. In the short
term, more aggressive aeration programs will be necessary. Over time, brushing and
grooming of the collars will also benefit their appearance, health and playability.

3. Tenth and Eighteenth Greens. The re-contouring of your Tenth and Eighteenth
greens (in addition to the work on the Practice Putting green) is excellent. Changing the
contours of these greens to provide better playability and more usable hole locations will
serve you well in the future. From a playability perspective on the Eighteenth hole, you
now have the opportunity to provide more variety in hole locations. On the Tenth hole,
improving the underlying soil should help with management of what has always been a
challenging green. From what we saw during our visit, these greens have actually
grown-in very well. If there can be one problem with sodded greens, it is water
infiltration. If water management becomes a problem, solid tine aeration can be
performed to improve water infiltration. To date, this has not been a problem on these
greens which is very good to hear. The success of the sod on the greens points out how
well sod grown on your property performs compared to sod from an outside source.
This is why having and maintaining a quality nursery green can also be important.

4. Verticutting. The question of whether verticutting needs to be employed on the
greens at Glen Oak was raised. From what I saw on the day of our visit, my answer is
no. Through periodic grooming, any lateral growth that does occur on the greens can be
addressed. Aggressive verticutting is not needed. If there becomes a need to verticut,
this practice can certainly be employed, but dont feel pressured to verticut just for the
sake of implementing this practice; the greens dont need it at this point in time.

FAIRWAYS

1. Second Fairway Extension. The fairway extension on the Second hole was actually
performing surprisingly well. When this project was discussed, the need for patience
was addressed. However, the turfgrasses in this area are actually performing much
better than I expected at this point in the growing season. While there is still work to be
done, this project is off to a very good start.

The biggest benefit for the fairway extension will be to increase creeping bentgrass
populations. Aggressive overseeding in the middle of August (or whenever you can get
to it) will help with this process. Whether you again aggressively verticut with the
Graden and follow up with creeping bentgrass overseeding, core aerate the fairway and
overseed or perform a combination of practices prior to overseeding, increasing
bentgrass populations will only make this fairway better. For sure, this fairway extension
changes the playability of the Second hole for longer hitters. Turfgrass quality will
improve over time.

2. Tenth Approach. The Tenth approach is still weak just in front of the green. However,
I think with the changes made to the Tenth green and the re-sodding of this area, it is
more a product of maturity than the problems that were experienced in the past. As with
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your collars, timely aeration should help this area to mature. Site specific fertilization of
this area should also help with grow-in. Whether liquid or granular sources are used,
slightly higher nitrogen inputs will improve the density and rooting in the Tenth
approach.

GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS



























Overall, your sodded green surrounds are holding up well. However, maintain moderate
nitrogen fertilizer inputs in these areas in late summer and fall. There was an obvious positive
impact from nitrogen fertilizer overlap into the surrounds from your putting green applications.


1. Surrounds Fertility. Fertility in your green surrounds will still be extremely important
as you try to maintain the density and appearance of your turf-type tall fescue. Mr.
Marchetti indicated that a foliar nitrogen spray would be applied to the surrounds soon
after our visit. This is a good start. However, granular fertilizer inputs are needed. In the
short term, consider application of a natural organic fertilizer such as Milorganite or
Nature Safe to provide to of a pound of actual nitrogen per 1,000 square feet. A
controlled release nitrogen source such as Duration or similar product could also be
used in place of natural organic products. The key is to provide a sustained feed for the
surrounds for the remainder of the summer growing season.
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In late summer, initiate applications of nitrogen from readily available nitrogen sources.
Urea or ammonium sulfate can be used. The goal should be to supply 1 additional
pounds of nitrogen before the end of the growing season. Two pound applications of
actual nitrogen per 1,000 square feet can be made approximately 3 to 4 weeks apart.
When the grass greens-up next spring, consider an additional 1 to 1 pounds of actual
nitrogen per 1,000 square feet. Do not get caught up in arbitrary numbers for nitrogen
application. Rather, fertilize the grass to the point of response. It was obvious that the
surrounds immediately off the green were benefitting from the overlap of fertilizer
applications that were made to putting greens. As a whole, nitrogen inputs need to be
increased in your surrounds to provide the texture and density that is desired.

2. Tree Management. Many ash trees that are on the property at Glen Oak are already
showing signs of decline which is likely from the emerald ash borer. Once trees are
infected, there is really nothing that can be done to prevent their eventual decline. While
the treatment of trees can delay their eventual death, the trees cannot be cured. Thus,
spending money for treatment does not make sense. Rather, the trees should be
removed as they decline and replaced with oaks or other hardwood trees where
necessary. Do not wait until there are massive numbers of trees that need to be
removed.

3. Naturalized Areas. Management as well as expansion of your naturalized areas was
discussed. Where these low maintenance areas regularly come into play, it may be
worthwhile to actually kill the existing vegetation and establish hard and sheeps
fescues that will provide better playability over time. In out of the way places, simply
allowing the existing grass to grow-up will work just fine. The appearance of the
naturalized area to the left of the Second hole is excellent. However, if it was closer to
play, it would be a bigger problem.

If you choose to establish other areas, the area to be converted should be sprayed out
with a non-selective herbicide such as Round Up. The area can then be aggressively
overseeded with hard and sheeps fescues to provide a good stand of grass. Generally,
seeding rate should be about 80 to 100 pounds of seed per acre. Lower seeding rates
provide better long term results. It will take a full growing season for these areas to
become established. If there are any questions regarding expansion of your naturalized
areas, do not hesitate to contact us.


CONCLUSION

The improvements that have been made at Glen Oak since last year are very good to
see. Renovation of the bunkers was long overdue, but now that the work is completed,
the golf course is better for it. Be sure to supply necessary nitrogen fertility to the green
surrounds to maintain their quality and appearance.

The collars will need to be carefully managed for the remainder of the summer. When
weather conditions allow, aeration should be performed to remove the soil layer. As the
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sod matures, management of the collars should be a non-issue. It just takes a little bit of
time.

This concludes our summary of the major points of discussion during our visit and tour
of your golf course. If any questions arise concerning this visit, my report or any other
area, please feel free to call our office. We are here to help.



Sincerely,

Darin S. Bevard
Director, Mid-Atlantic Region

DSB:mf

cc: Gino Marchetti, Superintendent
John Bulger, Green Chairman
John Pesavento, President
Mack Saunders, USGA Green Section Committee