Installation Crew Updates

Here it is today, December 12, and all six of our crews are still hard at it, although the end may be near for three of them any day now.  Matt Magarian’s Chicagoland crew has downsized and moved to The Alotian Club, near Little Rock, AR and they have been working on a fairly substantial fairway XGD project that will take them through the end of February:

These dormant Zoysiagrass fairways are a tough cut with the Miltona sod cutter, but as you can see the detail this sod cut provides is world class.
There is a great story behind this highly exclusive golf club built in 2004 by Little Rock billionaire Warren Stephens, and designed by Tom Fazio. The Alotian Club’s name is derived from a group of wayfaring golfers, including Stephens, who set out to play the best courses in America. The trips became known as the “America’s Lights Out Tour”(ALOT). Over time, members began calling themselves Alotians, hence the name of this golfing gem.

Mark Rowan’s crews just finished most all of the greens at Elmwood Country Club and moved to Fenway GC, also in Westchester county, above NY. They may have hit a snag here though as the greens sod is proving too frozen to cut. The club has covered a few greens in anticipation of holding some heat in, and we will try again tomorrow morning. Both Elmwood CC and Fenway are both classic old A.W. Tillinghast tracks.

Jim Phelps and crew just put a ribbon on a six green/approach project on Long Island at North Hills Country Club , this club originally formed in 1927, and moved to their current location in 1961 when Robert Trent Jones built their new facility. Jim has since moved on with his crew this week to assist in finishing up at Fenway.

Finally, Tom Hundley and his crew are just about completing their internal subsurface greens drainage installation at Talbot Country Club on Maryland’s eastern shore. As in most of the turfgrass business this past year, it has been a long and trying time to try and complete most all projects on time and in our usual precise manner. But, we couldn’t be happier, as we have been able to service most all of our scheduled clients, save for some projects being pushed to the spring, which happens most years anyways.

Regards, Poor Old Dirt & Grass Farmer