Merion GC Greens Drainage Installation

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Trent Bartman of XGD Systems recently completed 2 of the last group of greens to be retrofitted for greens drainage at Merion GC. The different colors of bentgrass are outstanding this time of year, almost in bloom if you will.
As you can see the attention to detail is apparent on these venerable old greens/approaches. Even in December they are in stunning condition.

Kudos to Matt Shaffer and staff as they always strive to do the great job, and educate numerous young turf professionals over the years, along the way.The staff may change over the years but the condition of these greens never do. Matt initially considered a native dirt backfill on the last two greens this fall to avoid the visibility of the XGD laterals. However, I was able to force him to reconsider this option, give the fact that compaction would be compromised to the point where no one would be happy. Although, I like the idea of the option  to consider native backfill like we have done at Toronto GC, Shinnecock GC, and Noyac CC. The fact remains the composition of the native soil under the greens at Merion is not conducive to quick compaction without destroying soil structure during compaction.

Instead, Matt chose to use the 50:30:20 greensmix he has always used. In my opinion, it is less apparent on bent vs. poa green surfaces. I prefer this dirty greens mix blend as surface drainage is not as important as subsurface drainage in our opinion, so use a highly organic backfill from the beginning and everyone is always happy.

So, as you can see from Trent’s pictures, Merion Golf Club looks pretty good at about any time of year.

Thanks, Poor Old Dirt & Grass Farmer

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