Busy Spring So Far

The bridge on #1 Norman was submerged

As many of you know we experienced serious flooding on all 3 courses. Once every 4 or 5 years we get a flood that closes us down for at least a few days. This happened to be our year. Over 4 inches of rain fell within a 12 hour period. The river rose and this was the result. There was a lot of clean up but thankfully no serious damage other than a few washed out bunkers. This is one of the joys of working on a course built in a flood plain along the Potomac.

#13 Norman

In addition to the flooding last week we also received some bittersweet news. Our Director of Agronomy, Tyler Koser accepted a position back in Scottsdale AZ. He is making the move to be closer to Troon headquarters which will allow him to hold dual responsibilities. His new role will include Superintendent of Terravida Golf Club as well as assisting the corporate agronomy team whenever necessary. Please congratulate Tyler if you see him. His replacement will be starting the first week in June.

Dangerous Tree Removal

#13 Norman

Today was our first day of temperatures in the 80s and we were very busy on all three courses. Summer is just around the corner. We had the tree professionals from Twin Oak Tree Co. remove a huge Hickory tree that had partially fallen across the cart path on #13 Norman. We attempted to remove it ourselves and quickly determined that it was too dangerous for our staff to deal with. The pictures show how the tree was stuck on another large tree, hanging precariously across the path and right above an irrigation satellite. The guys from Twin Oak were seasoned professionals and they had it down safely in a few hours. The cart path is now reopened and we will be removing the larger pieces of the trunk next week.

If you look closely you can see a climber 50ft up 

They gently lowered the trunk to keep from breaking the cart path

 A lot of stress being put on that smaller tree