Miracle League of Westchester - Sign Up to be a Sponsor or Buddy!

Last year, I happened to come across an news article that warmed my heart.  The story was about a new baseball field that had been built in a park tucked away in the woods in Hartsdale, NY.  Since we are in the business of building batting cages, my natural curiosity was to read more about the project.  Turns out the field was built specifically for special needs children for an organization called The Miracle League of Westchester.  After reading the article, I clicked onto their website and immediately a smile came on my face as I looked at all of the pictures and videos of these amazing children being active and enjoying life.  It was such an easy decision to sign up to become a sponsor.  As with all charities, the more sponsors that donate, the more they can provide for the kids.    It is not too late for your organization to sign up.  However, becoming a sponsor is not the only way you can help.  You and your children can become buddies, you can attend games, participate in their annual golf tournament held at Hampshire Country Club in Mamaroneck, or just donate a few dollars on their website.  Anything for this wonderful and worthy cause.  I guarantee that you will have a smile on your face too. 

The Decision - Which Bunker Liner for Pine Hollow?

Last month we wrote in an entry that 360 Golf is currently working on a project at Pine Hollow Country Club renovating the bunkers.  This renovation is the first restoration of the bunkers since the mid 90's when Gil Hanse, on one of his first assignments after leaving the Renaissance Design Group, redesigned the bunkers.  Consequently, everyone involved in the project wants to ensure that this restoration brings out the best in Mr. Hanse's design.   At the time of the previous entry, the Club was debating on how to proceed with the renovation.  The topic of discussion - which bunker liner should be installed.  The Club had narrowed the options to the following - Billy Bunker, Synthetic, & Natural Grass.  After much discussion, debate, and guidance from USGA's David Oatis, the Club selected the Sod Bunker Liner method because they felt the natural grass liner would best fit Pine Hollow's sandy soil environment and harsh winters.   

Pine Hollow CC After the "Worst Storm of All Time"

Drainage Installation

Once the decision was finalized, 360 Golf started working right away in the rain, snow and cold to meet the aggressive finish date of May 1st.    As of this writing, 360 Golf has already installed 40,000 SF of sod liners in 8 holes of bunkers. 

As for the technical aspects of the project, 360 Golf is using a fine fescue blend sod for the edges of the bunkers to match the existing sod on the bunker edges.  We are using a bluegrass blend on the floors of the bunkers - sod is being provided by Delea Sod of Northport, NY.  Our staff is meticulously laying down the sod in each bunker.  Once the project is completed, we plan on updating the blog to discuss our challenges, issues, and successes faced throughout the restoration.

360 Staff Installing Sod Liners at # 9 Fairway

 

Hole # 9 Green - Completed Sod Liner

  

It's a Small, Small World

360 Golf's Staff @ Metropolis Country Club 

Metropolis Country Club - TurfHound Installation by 360 Golf

Funny thing that the PGA Golf Show was in Orlando this year in Walt Disney World's backyard.  Unfortunately, we weren't able to attend, but we did hear through the grapevine that somehow, some of our work did.  It appears that an exhibitor downloaded some of our photos relating to a TurfHound installation we completed from our website and claimed the work as their own.

This is a first for us.  In a way, the fact that our competitors feel that our work is so good, they want to take credit for it, lets us know that we produce a valuable product.  But it also puts to doubt our integrity, as people who are not familiar with our company may think we are the ones showcasing work that is not our own.  In this case, we were lucky.  The person who saw the pictures actually followed through with the Club to verify who performed the work and let us know what had happened.  But for those instances we are not informed about, we would like to assure our current and potential clients that every picture that is not an obvious stock photo on our website, is work that 360 Golf completed.  Even the picture in the 'About' section is a picture of a bunker at Marine Park that we shaped last year.  We would never utilize work completed by others as our own.  We believe that honesty and integrity will always win in the end.  So if you find yourself looking for a vendor to complete a project, thoroughly check their references, ask questions, and if possible, take a site visit of their completed projects.  In the end, it will help ensure who you hire is actually qualified to complete the work. And for those companies that think that they are getting away with something by stealing other people's work, just remember it's a small, small world and word travels fast.   

Blizzard alert: Northeast snowstorm could be among the worst of all time

Blizzard alert: Northeast snowstorm could be among the worst of all time

The weather these past few months has certainly created a lot of challenges for us.  We were very fortunate back in October as Hurricane Sandy did not cause us any major damages to our equipment or work, but the aftermath caused major challenges for us during our projects at Cherry Valley Club in Garden City, NY and Country Club of Darien in CT.  Getting around the NY metro region was very difficult, not only for us, but for our customers.  It is so hard to predict how exactly long it will take to complete a project, but when Mother Nature reeks havoc to entire region shutting down roads, electricity, and fuel supply it adds another level of stress as well as cost to the project.  With profit margins especially tight in this economic environment, we definitely do not welcome a forecast that starts with 'could be the worst of all time'. 

Decision Time - Selecting the Right Bunker Liner

360 Golf, Inc. has now started the initial stages of a extensive bunker renovation at the Pine Hollow Country Club located on the North Shore of Long Island in East Norwich, NY.  Our crews have been working through the extreme cold weather excavating the existing bunker sand stockpiling it for future use.

Excavation of Bunker Sand - Hole # 10 Green Complex - Pine Hollow CC

The club's representatives have retained John Harvey of A. John Harvey Golf Design to oversee the design aspects of the renovation.  The goal of this project is to restore this William Michell / (R) Gil Hanse design by keeping all original design intents and just tweaking some of the bunker horizon lines.  Our process will include the re-edging of bunkers, the installation of interior and exterior bunker drainage, the installation of a bunker liner system, the renovation of existing tee surfaces, and the addition of new tee complexes on 4-5 holes in late 2013.

John Harvey of A. John Harvey Golf Design marking out new bunker edges at Pine Hollow CC - East Norwich, NY

Hole #9 FWY Bunkers ready for re-edging

At this stage of the project we are awaiting the Club's decision as to what type of bunker liner should be installed.  This process of researching every option on the market has created a short list of two bunker liner selections.   The first option is to utilize a grass liner system.  USGA's David Oatis and the Club's Superintendent, Gerry Kunckle, have found that the use of a grass liner system has been the most successful in Pine Hollow's sandy / gravelly / stony loam environment. The second option is to utilize synthetic liner system.   John Harvey has found the synthetic liner by SandMat with the installation of Trident Stakes has been the most effective in his experiences in the New York Metropolitan  Area.  A hybrid approach might also be taken in consideriation which would be the use of a synthetic bunker liner on steep faces and grass liners in the bottom of the bunkers.  The decision will be made within the next week on how to proceed with the project.

We will be continuing the bunker renovation through this winter and spring at Pine Hollow CC and will update in future posts the final bunker liner decision, the installation process and completed pictures.  In the meantime, please feel free to contribute your experiences, recommendations, or issues with various liner systems to chad@360golfonline.com.


 

Happy New Year!

Welcome to 360 Golf's new blog and redesigned website at 360golfonline.com.  We are starting off this year with a bunker restoration project at Pine Hollow Country Club located in East Norwich, NY and a pond dredging project at Aspetuck Country Club in Weston, CT.  Mother Nature is already throwing the elements at us as this week has reached temperatures in the teens.  Fortunately for us we have some of the most dedicated staff in the business working to get the job done. 

Dredging at Aspetuck Country Club