News

Well, we did it. Egypt Valley invested in some more asphalt.

More cart paths have been paved and we are also removing some paths and returning them to grass. On the Valley course No. 8, you’ll notice some new sections of path and we are grassing the area that did not get paved on No. 8.

If you travel to No. 14 tee box, you’ll see the area back by the tees has been paved up towards the bridge. Wow, what a nice improvement. We need to dress in the edges yet on all of the paved areas, but you can already see and feel the difference when traveling the new paths. Drink sales may go down due to less spilling, credit to smoother cart paths. Behind the No. 11 green also received some new blacktop, but this was not in the original plan. It broke apart from all of the truck traffic while getting to the other areas.

Moving to No. 15 Valley, we paved from the bridge all the way to the fairway bunker on No. 17, providing much better traveling through No. 15 to 16 and 17. There’s such a nice cart path on No.16, perhaps more carts will stay on the path when playing the par three. Just a thought, but certainly all four cart tires can stay on the path at the tee and green complexes. Also newly paved is the right side of No. 17 green. We did slightly shorten the overall length of this path due to the fact that it was not needed.

Moving to the Ridge course, we paved around No. 12 green on the left and right side. The path that runs from the forward tee to the green did get ground up and we are hoping to level all of this and return it to grass. So, on No. 12, we’ll have a cart path at the green and tee area but nothing running along the tree line. Players mainly travel the fairway, which can also be used by our maintenance workers and beverage carts, in addition to the rough. No more black marks on your golf balls when playing No. 12 Ridge! If all goes well this fall, we hope to remove part of the path on the right side of No. 11 and will just shorten it up and get rid of some of the crumbling path.

There will also be an overlay of paving done on the path by the tennis courts going up the hill to the Valley halfway house, as this area experienced some roughing up during the construction phase.

Many, many thanks to the members who helped support our grounds staff with a great luncheon and some kind generosity. On August 1, we had a cookout for our staff that was cooked and supported by several of our members. What a great day! We had burgers, chicken, brats and pulled pork from the grill; grilled peppers and onions for the brats or on the side; potato salad, sliced tomatoes, onions, cheese slices and pickles. There were also chip assortments and cookies, plus pop, Gatorade and water.

Once everyone was full, we met at the Forest Hills Eastern softball field a couple of hours later. The Ridge grounds crew challenged the Valley crew to a slow pitch softball game. Let me tell you: there was soft smack talk going on before, during and after the game. In the end, the Ridge stomped the Valley this year. Usually, it’s the other way around—but not this time. The Ridge team took an early lead and never looked back until the last out of the 9th inning. What a fun and rewarding day for our staff! They were spoiled by some generous members and then played their hearts out on the ball field. This was all after prepping the golf courses for daily play.

We had a solid team to help take care of the golf courses this summer! Best of luck to all of them as they head back to college.

(Don’t forget to check out the awesome morning sunrise picture in this blog!)

Jeff Holmes, CGCS
Golf Course Manager