TGC Golf Green Drainage

I had the pleasure recently of a tour
of the recently restored Toronto GC http://www.torontogolfclub.com/ . This H.S. Colt original was restored by TDIGolf http://www.tdigolf.com/, under the watchful eyes of Martin Hawtree http://www.hawtree.co.uk/ from the UK, whose grandfather worked with Harry Colt.

The first picture I have to show all is the par 3 seventh from a new tee cut in to the existing hardwood forest. Pretty stunning artwork in my eyes, but not for everybody.

Grounds Manager Al Schwemler ended up touring me through the entire property after we reviewed several of the XGD subsurface greens drainage system installations. Early signs from Al indicate the greens turf has a renewed growth vigor that he partly attributes to the optimum soil moisture being provided by the greens drainage system. The putting surfaces certainly looked healthy enough to me, yet didn’t appear overfed, as I am prone to seeing in my fair share of in my travels. Having known Al for as much as 20 years now, allows us to have a candid interview/discussion that I can’t wait to share more of with you all.

The large scale restoration plan initiated by the club, and completed late last fall, is just now starting to show some minor signs of course maturity, but still has a ways to go as Al gets a feel for achieving the right fescue look in the rough which he has already achieved at #4 with vivid colour, I will post on later. Numerous old style golf architecture pundits raged on about how the original Colt course was being destroyed, not restored. I will say it is too early to really evaluate the stunning changes to North America’s third oldest golf club. Like anything in life, the club needs to mature for a few years before a really thorough evaluation can be truly considered. My early thoughts though, sweet.

XGD is close to securing some install projects for later this month. Truth be told, we don’t usually get the opportunity to do any great volume of work in June/July. That looks to be changing for the better, as we now can provide our clients with a lot of installation windows that probably usually wouldn’t be considered. Our unique greens drainage restoration process, combined with our logistical flexibility, looks to benefit our clients with some more installation options for greens or fairway drainage systems that have the green/fairway in play immediately upon our completion. And I mean really in play, you could host a serious club event the day after our installation is complete, and several of our clients have done so.I believe that this type of installation precision sets us apart from any others trying to mimic the XGD process. After their time consuming installation is complete, it may take several weeks to achieve what XGD gave you upon completion. It is this type of turnkey greens restoration project that now has lots of clubs reconsidering their greens rebuilding options, and utilizing internal greens drainage as a tool for rebuilding, along with other cultural practice improvements/upgrades.

So please stay tuned as I start to flush out more pictures from my TGC visit, and begin to put the Al Schwemler interview together to share with everyone. In the meantime, if your club is closing down for a few days for aerification this late summer, give us a call if we might be able to sneak in and knock off a few greens for you.

Cheers, Poor Old Dirt & Grass Farmer