Golf Course Infrasturcture RefurbishmentEnhancement ProjectLONDON HUNT AND COUNTRY CLUB&
GREENS: RE-GRASSING 2024 All golfers have heard of a native weed grass called “Poa,” which is short for its Latin name Poa an-nua. When healthy and happy, Poa produces a wonderful putting surface, but it is a weak grass that doesn’t tolerate heat, cold, drought or pests very well. Poa can just suddenly die within days when stressed by any one or combination of factors. It is not a desirable grass because of this unpredict-ability. Bentgrass on the other hand, has been bred or genetically selected to be more tolerant to drought, heat, humidity, pests, and traffic stress. Poa is such a ubiquitous weed grass that is a pro-lific seed producer so it tends to creep into bentgrass areas in the spring and fall seasons that are drained, or have too much shade, or poor air movement. Once a significant population of Poa invades a bentgrass area like a green, the superintendent must now manage two different turf cultures that are interspersed. Once the population of Poa reaches 50% or more, the management techniques now must strive to save the Poa, to the further disadvantage of the bentgrass. That is the current situation at London Hunt and Country Club. Unlike in the USA, Canadian pesticide laws prohibit many of the management tools that can control Poa populations. Therefore if the perfect consistency of bentgrass greens are desired, the only solution is to kill and remove the Poa contaminated turf and plant only bentgrass. That process is called “regrassing.” Once the new, Poa free bentgrass is established the superintendent can use cultural practices to retard the invasion of Poa.Many clubs across North America thrive with Poa greens. However, these clubs have older more established grasses, different varieties, different climates and as mentioned earlier utilize chemicals unavailable in Canada to control their growth. Our young, shallow rooted poa is weak and extremely susceptible to the environment.
1960 1970’s 1970’s 1960-1980 1976 1970-1990 1980-2014 2014 May 2014 2014- Present2018- PresentPresentGreens establishedGreens flattened to establish more pin positionsEdges of greens raised up due to member requests that roll off too difficult, but has led to poor drainagePoa becomes dominant grass in greensAdvent of Stimp meter - average speed in the USA 6.5 feetMowing heights decline by over 50% - speeds increaseWinter greens damage varies from year to year with various approaches from covers to no coversWinter damage suffocates the Poa grass killing 90% of the greens at LHCCGreens completely re-seeded with Bent grass for the 2014 LPGAPoa seeds in base mix germinate and re-establish a weak, young Poa eventually taking over 50% of the green’s grassesDeep Aerating and Drill and Fill help to establish better drainage, firmer surfaces, better ball roll, better sand mineral components on which Poa thrive Hot summers and cold winters require a heavy investment of human capital and excessive inputs to maintain multiple grasses particularly with our sub-standard infrastructureGREENS: RE-GRASSING 2024
We are fortunate enough to have as our Superintendent Jayson Griffiths who among many other things, has experience in re-grassing of greens. Regrassing of greens, such as Jayson Griffiths assisted with at Devil’s Paintbrush in Caledon, means killing all of the grass on the green, removing the dead sod and excessive organic layers, re establishing a new seedbed, and planting. Once the bent seed germinates, it must be allowed to grow into a mature turf suitable for golf. That process takes about 10 weeks during good plant growing weather.Regrassing is not rebuilding. Rebuilding is where the entire profile of the green is removed to a depth of 18” to 20”, new tile drainage is installed, than a 4” gravel blanket, and 12” or so of new greens mix root zone. London Hunt and Country Club’s greens do not need this extreme level of reconstruction. Regrassing will only disturb a few inches of existing top materials. To improve subsurface drainage on regrassed greens, a technique called “XGD” or existing green drainage, will be used to add tile drainage where needed and in a minimally invasive way.Currently all experts familiar with London Hunt’s greens believe that regrassing and XGD is all that is needed and not rebuilding.Once this proposed irrigation/Bunker/drainage project is complete, the situation with the green and the Poa grasses will be addressed. Simply from a logistics perspective, any work on the greens complexes cannot occur until the irrigation system has been addressed.GREENS: RE-GRASSING 2024
THE PLAN:TIMING
Phase 1 2022 Phase 1 2023AprilOpen Portions ClosedMayOpen Portions ClosedJuneOpen OpenJulyOpen OpenAugustPortions Closed OpenSeptemberPortions Closed OpenOctoberPortions Closed OpenNovemberPortions Closed OpenTIMING - INFRASTRUCTURE AND BUNKER PROJECTTIMING AND IMPACT ON PLAY• Grass grows when the weather is warm – that is an unavoidable fact. • Much of the infrastructure updating can be performed in the shoulder seasons, but the re-grassing of greens will require both warm weather and a fully functioning AND reliable irrigation system to be successful.• The result will be member interruption on the golf course with the best case scenario illustrated below.• While the work is being completed, we anticipate many holes to remain open and those where work has been completed, re-opened. The result will be, at a minimum 9 holes will always remain open.
Phase 2 2024 Phase 2 2025AprilOpen Temporary GreensMayOpen Temporary GreensJuneOpen OpenJulyOpen OpenAugustTemporary Greens OpenSeptemberTemporary Greens OpenOctoberTemporary Greens OpenNovemberTemporary Greens OpenTIMING - GRASSING OF GREENSOnce the Project to upgrade the course infrastructure is complete, a thorough assessment of the changes, their impact on the greens and the ongoing issues with the current poa grasses in the greens will allow us to commence with re-grassing to a 100% bent grass stand. The timing of such a project would be:
THE PLAN:FUNDING
IrrigationBunkersDrainage and GreensTees and EnhancementsThe need for the irrigation and drainage system upgrades has been known for many years and the Club has set aside capital funds for a large portion of the project.To date we have set aside $4,000,000 to help finance this project. The overall project costs are summarized in Table 1A.To cover the costs on the new debt, for this project, the current Long Range Planning Fee will be increased to a maximum of double the current fees for each category.This will commence in 2022 and will service both the interest, and repayment of the principal.The project is expected to be amortized over 20 years.CAPITALFUNDINGAPPROACHTable 1AProject Cost $8,250,000Cash on Hand $4,000,000Net to Finance $4,250,000Table 1B37% OF PROJECT28% OF PROJECT17% OF PROJECT18% OF PROJECTMembership Category Current LRP Proposed in 2022Resident Shareholder $350 $700Resident Shareholder Spouse $150 $300Senior Life, Intermediate 25-39, Class A Senior Life $175 $350Senior Life Spouse, Non-Resident, Intermediate 25-39 Spouse $100 $200Senior Social, Class A Senior Social $125 $250Senior Social Spouse, Intermediate 19-24, Intermediate 19-24 Spouse$75 $150Class A Resident $250 $500