Other grounds work

As the title of our department implies, we are not only responsible for the golf course, we are responsible for all of the grounds at Bretton Woods. There are an extra 150 acres that need attention and in the last couple of weeks we have been spending some time in those other areas.

We assisted in the planting of 33 trees on the property recently. 26 trees were planted along the entrance road, from River Rd. to the clubhouse parking lot. The existing trees along the entrance are not being removed though; this was simply an insurance plan to make sure that as the current trees continue to age and decline, we will have trees ready to fill in. Instead of waiting for the old trees to need to be removed and being left with an empty entryway, we planted the new trees in an effort to be ready. We also added 1 tree in the clubhouse parking lot to replace a tree that had been missing for some time. 3 trees were added at the pool parking lot and 3 trees were planted on the grounds around tennis. While the labor for planting was contracted out, long term care falls to us. We have already been out several times to water each tree (despite the rain!) as well as stake a few trees that developed a lean in the wind we had last week.

We also have been busy prepping our new and existing sand volleyball courts. We fertilized the sod around the new court inside the pool compound. We continue to monitor and aid in any way possible to make sure that it is stable and ready for the hundreds of people it will see for Memorial Day weekend. We have a new net and court tape ready to install as well. We also have been working down at the existing volleyball court near the soccer fields. We edged the entire perimeter and removed the debris. We also installed a new net and court tape on that court as well. Our plan is to incorporate raking of the courts into the routine of our bunker raking crew. The plan is for the bunker staff to head to the pool volleyball court and then to the court near soccer 2-3 days per week once they finish raking bunkers on the golf course. We will also be ready to rake for any planned event that may utilize the courts.

We have not completely ignored the golf course lately, though. We caught up on as much mowing as we possibly could in the brief stretch of dry weather we had. We also added some new plants near the pond on #9. We had previously removed some very unattractive trees and shrubs from the bank near the green, and last week we added 10 ‘Wine and Roses’ Weigela plants to fill in the gap. These new shrubs will bring some vibrant color to the spot that will also be visible from the deck of the clubhouse.

We welcome our Grounds department responsibilities and enjoy the opportunity to maintain many different areas outside the golf course. Having such a large property presents many different challenges, but it also provides the opportunity to meet many different expectations.

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

When you splash bunker sand onto the green after your shot, please brush away any large piles or clumps that may have ended up on the green.

See you on the course!

Joe

jvillegas@bwrc.org