Aronimink Golf Club – An XGD Greens Restoration

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I thought the timing was right to opine on this week’s PGA event in the great Philadelphia golf region. XGD completed it’s subsurface greens drainage installation at this classic old Donald Ross gem in late fall of 2007.
As you can tell by the picture looking down from the back of the green how immense the putting surfaces are at this venerable golf venue.
Our XGD installation teams began on this 165,000sqft of greens/approaches/collars/runouts at Aronimink http://www.aronimink.org/ in the second week of November in 07, and started out in less than seasonal weather conditions for the Mid Atlantic region. And although the XGD installation project always seemed slightly behind from the get go, some decent December weather saved our bacon, and the XGD teams were able to finish that late December before the really unproductive weather hits.
The subsurface greens drainage restoration not only included all 18 green complexes, but all approaches,collars, and bentgrass runouts in and around the green complexes. These are very numerous and certainly will be interesting to view on TV this week. Superintendent John Gosselin wanted the ability to provide firm and fast conditions throughout this entire event regardless of what Mother Nature could throw at them, and XGD Systems is proud to provide the assistance and hope the club never has to utilize it’s intricate drainage system this week.
To this day our project at Aronimink still stands as the biggest XGD project we have undertaken. Well deserved credit for project success and timeliness lie with the golf club maintenance staff communicating well with XGD Operations Manager Mark Rowan. Completing the project was truly a team effort and both sides are proud of the turnkey effort in greens drainage installations that we were able to provide this client.
Turfgrass conditions at this layout were in immaculate conditions on our arrival(thanks to Aronimink staff again), and on our departure. It is one of XGD’s goals to provide all clients with smoother greens than when we first arrived. In this way we can package XGD Systems as a restoration and certainly not as a greens renovation, which in my eyes portrays a bulldozer and the “let’s tear it up” mantra of golf architecture. By keeping the original green contours “original” by the truest definition of the word, and not replicated to their original landform, any golf club can complete a cost-effective successful greens restoration like Aronimink did.
Aronimink also utilized golf architect restoration specialist Ron Pritchard as well starting all the way back to 2000, and this has been a nice marriage for the club and the PGA to join forces to host this AT&T National http://www.attnational.org/ which has Tiger Woods in the field to always up the juice meter in the event. So, from all of us at XGD Systems congratulations to Aronimink GC and staff for securing this prestigious event for Philadelphia golf, and good luck this week as those classic old Ross green complexes help provide the last line of defence to the world’s best golfers.
Later, Poor Old Dirt & Grass Farmer
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