LCC Grounds

Cricket/Baseball

2011-12-22T09:25:00.001-05:00

An article Tim found - with a picture of baseball Hall of Famer and LCC member George Wright.

http://baseballhall.mlblogs.com/2009/06/04/culture-clubs/

December 8, 2011 Pictures

2011-12-09T11:47:00.000-05:00

November 27, 2011

2011-12-01T09:59:00.002-05:00

The Clubhouse Court had some visitors last week including Angela and Jennifer Buras. The abnormally warm weather has kept the grass especially green this autumn. Let's hope for a gradual cool down, so the grass can get ready for winter.

Final Days of 2011 Grounds Work

2011-11-18T15:08:00.001-05:00

Lunch

2011-11-15T13:14:00.003-05:00

John G. made a delicious lunch for the staff.

Rolled pork roast with cranberry stuffing
Grilled spicy parsnips
Grilled carrots with honey glaze
Roasted new potatoes
Baked apples with cinnamon

Thanks John for a wonderful meal!

November 9, 2011 Pics

2011-11-09T13:04:00.003-05:00

London Plane, Jeff and Vic, Japanese Maple, Sugar Maple

Deep Tine

2011-11-07T12:54:00.004-05:00

Final aeration of the season. The deep tine aerator goes beyond the usual depth of 3-4 inches of a typical greens aerator. In the video, Jeff has the depth set at 8 inches. Having our own machine affords lots of flexibility, allowing us to take advantage of wonderful days like today - 60 and dry. It may sound counter intuitive, but the aeration and decompaction of the soil now will lead to healthier, firmer grass courts next season. MB

October Snow

2011-11-01T08:06:00.002-04:00

Good Sportsmanship

Clean up from the storm

Two days after the storm

Employee of the week!

2011-10-29T08:56:00.002-04:00

Vic wins a piece of the old hard court and a $10 gas card for earning 'Employee of the Week'.

Ice water
Nathan and Charlie hinding behind the windscreen.

Best Fall Ever!

2011-10-25T12:34:00.004-04:00

Yesterday was the first frost of the season. This has been one of the nicest Octobers that we can remember. After another beautiful sunrise the crew cleaned up cores and thatch off of the porch row...

Kids parade by the hard working employees.

One of Jeff's many protests.

Neil's stories are so funny Nathan and Jeff don't realize he isn't shoveling.

Nathan works while Neil enjoys Jeff's tangent about spear fishing and trapeze artists. (I'm not making this up. It was really discussed.)

Another great sunrise!

2011-10-22T06:58:00.000-04:00

Nate had some company while he was aerating the Clubhouse Court.

10/18/2011

2011-10-18T13:38:00.003-04:00

Trenching for a new irrigation system on the Middlesex Road embankment. Lots of verticutting and topdressing.

Pomfret

2011-10-14T08:05:00.002-04:00

Tim and I attended a sports turf workshop at the Pomfret School in Pomfret, CT. Despite the rain we had a wonderful day. Speakers from the UConn turf program, a tour of the facility and Tim's favorite - lunch in the cafeteria.

10/12/2011 Video

2011-10-12T12:39:00.003-04:00

Altough it is October 12th, there are still a lot of plants to be enjoyed around the club. All the pictures in the video are from this morning. Also, the grass is still green and the courts are playing well (rain expected tonight).

sunrise, 10/11/2011

2011-10-11T10:54:00.003-04:00

2011-10-07T11:16:00.004-04:00

One of the top reasons working at Longwood is fun is the people we get to meet and talk to.
Chef - Tony Bush
LCC Member - Luis Leguia
Director of Tennis - Larry wolf
Assistant Grounds Superintendent - Tim Burns

Pics

2011-10-05T14:04:00.001-04:00

Pictures from 10/4 and 10/5. Getting ready for badminton tonight and the flooded courts.

Aeration Tines

2011-10-01T07:58:00.002-04:00

Recent blog entries on aeration of the grass courts have shown the equipment we use. The machinery enables us to choose different tines for different situations. Coring or solid, length, diameter, steel hardness - all are factors in choosing the right tine.

2011-10-01T07:49:00.002-04:00

Lovey and Sharyif in laundry room. Tim and Brian Juneau (liquid fertilizer supplier). Kevin and Larry. John G. - I am sure you will have some good comments on these photos.

Overseeding

2011-09-26T08:09:00.010-04:00

The Dunster Road side of grass court 21 was overseeded with ryegrass last week. Pictured are Nate and Jeff preparing the seedbed, topderessing/overseeding and the ryegrass seedlings. We did this because this edge was worn thin from traffic throughout the season. Click on the title "Overseeding" for a short video explanation.

Earthworms

2011-09-26T08:03:00.002-04:00

Although earthworms are often said to be beneficial to soil and plant growth, they are not wanted on the grass courts. Here are some pictures of worm castings this morning. Being sticky and wet, they do not drag away or mow off easily.

Ivy

2011-09-23T14:48:00.000-04:00

Ivy finally making it's climb on the terrace fence.

Pruning

2011-09-21T11:19:00.003-04:00

The murky weather closed the courts for a little while, but we used the time to cut down three dead trees. This was an old hemlock along Middlesex Road.

Pics from Friday, September 16, 2011

2011-09-16T13:18:00.002-04:00

The lads working on the grass courts and the Hellenic College outing on courts 13-24.

USGA Animation

2011-09-14T14:50:00.005-04:00

We have been aerating the grass courts and there are always many questions on the procedure. Here is an USGA animation explaining aeration.

Beth Israel for Parkinson's

2011-09-14T14:07:00.002-04:00

Larry and Paul discussing how to fit 70 players on 14 of the 25 grass courts - outing for Parkinson's.

September Flowers

2011-09-13T15:01:00.003-04:00

Seviceberry Tree near parking lot and Lantana next to pool walkway.

Chambers Family

2011-09-03T15:22:00.005-04:00

Three items on the Chambers family. Ike (below left) and his son Charlie in about 1932. Ike had been head groundsman since 1884, with Charlie taking over that year. In 1955, Ike's other son Walter took over grounds duties. They are all pictured below - the scans are not that clear, but if you click on the individual pictures you can read the story and captions.

2011-09-02T07:18:00.002-04:00

Dr Andy Newell of the Sports Turf Research Institute (STRI) in Bingley, England is the consulting agronomist for Wimbledon and he recently sent me these pictures. The STRI does a lot of the testing of grass species and cultivars and from these tests Wimbledon selects the grasses to plant on the courts. We do a great deal of similar testing here at state universities including UMass. These trials test for many attributes - for Wimbledon wear tolerance is obviously important. There can be huge differences in wear tolerance among grasses that seem similar. The bottom picture shows the machine that applies wear to the grass for testing.

85 Championship

2011-09-02T07:09:00.002-04:00

The grass court championship for 85 year old's concluded with a grand final match.

Busy Day

2011-08-31T13:16:00.003-04:00

Busy day today - got the USTA 85 and 90's going and core aerated grass courts 19, 20, 21. Pictured are the semi-finals of the 85 age bracket.

Fixed

2011-08-31T13:04:00.003-04:00

The lads had the Route 9 courts fixed and the fence repaired in one day! (See last blog entry)

Irene

2011-08-29T13:02:00.005-04:00

Hurricane/tropical storm Irene is finished and LCC came through well.
The crew began cleaning up the debris on the courts, walkways and parking lot at 5 am.
Damage included the windscreen between the first two rows of clay courts, a tree limb falling on the fence and route 9 courts and massive wash- outs on clay courts 1, 2 and 3.

By 11 am most of the debris was picked up (thanks for your help Larry and Magnus!), the torn windscreen taken down (it will be replaced by next week), the tree limb cut and removed, the courts repaired and the USTA 85 and 90 championships have begun. Great work by the LCC grounds crew!

London Flowers and Trees, 2011

2011-08-25T13:07:00.003-04:00

Pictures from Kew Gardens, Hyde Park, Regents Park, St. James Park and Green Park.

Fall Aeration and Topdressing

2011-08-23T09:34:00.005-04:00

Autumn is coming and it is time to aerate and topdress the grass courts. We understand that it is disruptive and sometimes noisy, but it is necessary. The biggest challenge we have is when to do it. August and September are the optimum time to perform these operations, but this is also the time when there is a great deal of tournament and member play. Many golf courses actually close holes or entire facilities to get this done. At LCC we take a number of factors into consideration when choosing when and which courts to aerate and topdress:

Membership play - how many members do we expect to show up to play on grass?

The weather. If it is going to rain a lot, the terrace dries fastest so we may not want to close those courts for a day or two. Rain helps wash in topdressing and speeds recovery. Heat can damage the grass after aeration.

Tournaments. If they need many courts, we won't close too many.

Court conditions. Aerating can soften a court for a few days, so we take into consideration who will be playing.

Outings and groups. They all want to play in front of the clubhouse.

Need! Which courts need it the most.

So a big part of the job is not only performing our agronomic tasks, but also judging the best time to do it.

Below is a question posed to the USGA Green Section and a link to an article on aeration and topdressing.

Our greens were in great shape and now our golf course superintendent ruined them by punching holes all over them. I think she is being overprotective of them and just too stubborn to change her ways. Is this aeration all that important?

Aeration is an extremely important maintenance practice. Although it results in a temporary disruption of the green, aeration improves water penetration into the soil, reduces soil compaction, stimulates turfgrass root growth for a healthier plant, helps control thatch build-up, and improves overall growing conditions. Aeration generally is done once or twice per year, and sometimes more often if certain problems exist.

Think of it like going to the dentist for your twice-yearly check-up. The same holds true for aeration. You can skip a visit to the dentist, but you will contribute to problems over the long term. You can skip one of the semi-annual aerations, but this can result in a faster turf loss. Your superintendent isn't being overprotective. She is doing exactly what should be done to ensure long-term turf health.

http://turf.lib.msu.edu/2000s/2003/030301.pdf

Grounds Crew Classic V

2011-08-23T07:43:00.004-04:00

The grounds held their annual tennis tournament. The highlight was the opening ceremonies: Larry and Magnus entered on a parade float (a trailer attached to the tractor), national anthems of Sweeden and USA, presentation of this year's Grand Prix trophies to Kevin, Nate and Jeff. We played one match each, thunderstorms came in and we all went to Roggies in Cleveland Circle. Magnus's team was declared the winner.

USGA Update

2011-08-19T06:40:00.002-04:00

Click on the title "USGA Update" for the latest from the USGA northeast director. Good stuff about poa annua.

Different Ways

2011-08-17T07:52:00.004-04:00

Turf managers strive to have the best conditions possible for the players at their facility. Each facility has differences in types of grass, soil, player expectations, length of season, tournament schedules and resources. Since we are all different, we use different methods to reach our goals but we can definitely learn from each other.
The first picture below is Chris Woods of the English Cricket Board. Cricket pitches need to be firm like a tennis court and Chris is explaining how they do it at the top cricket facilities in the U.K. Here is Grahm Kimpton, head groundsman at the Queens Club, talking about his spring grass court work.

Neil Stubley explaining court renovations at Wimbledon.

And finally Neil Johnson doing some renovation work at LCC.

Grandfather/Grandaughter Championship

2011-08-16T11:10:00.002-04:00

The lads mowed a cool pattern for this USTA championship.

AELTC

2011-08-10T10:41:00.002-04:00

Got back last week from a visit to Wimbledon. I have lots to write about (and will in future entries) - the trip was so informative. Thanks to Eddie Seaward and Neil Stubley for being gracious hosts to the lone American. Pictured: me on Centre Court - took the picture with the camera timer, AELTC member play, Neil and the lads and Neil leading discussion on Court 2.

Grandfather/Grandaughter Championship

2011-08-10T10:27:00.003-04:00

The crew arrived this morning to prepare the courts for the newly established Grandfather/Grandaughter tournament. Last night the skies dropped a quick 2.5 inches of rain on the courts. Storm drains backed up and silt settled on clay courts 1-8. Pictured are Tim and Jon scraping away some of the silt.

Father/Daughter National Championship

2011-08-10T10:19:00.001-04:00

The tournament was hectic for the grounds crew as rain storms continued throughout the week. The clay courts were utilized for most play, but the grass finally dried for the finals.

Andrew and Meghara's Wedding

2011-08-07T20:08:00.005-04:00

The crew represented well at former groundsman (2005-2010) Andrew Walsh's wedding.

Great wedding and reception!

Mike proudly shows Mary Ann he can walk on grass with shoes. (Mike ensured crew sobriety by instituting a 5am Sunday start time).

Hingham Harbor.

Andrew and Meghara.

Two of the four bearded guests were lads from the LCC grounds crew.

Early Morning Photos and Jeff at work

2011-08-03T07:54:00.002-04:00

Morning sun on the Clubhouse

5 am view from and of the garage.

Jeff disapproves of his assignment from Tim.

Job well done.

Tom's Last Day/ A tribute to Tom!

2011-07-30T10:31:00.001-04:00

Thank you Tom for your help this summer.

Here are some great moments in the history of Tom!

Tom waters the rocks trying to get them to grow.

Work is the time in between naps.

Tom Ford and Tom Ford compete in the 2011 Father/Son.

Familiar Tom pose.

Additional Father/ Son Pics

2011-07-26T07:59:00.001-04:00

Jeff, Steve and Mike talking about court preparation and English biscuits.

Charlie's Birthday

2011-07-26T07:50:00.002-04:00

The crew celebrated Charlie's birthday with a cake. Thanks to Tim, the cake has a hose with water coming out - Charlie's favorite grounds task!

UMass Field Day-July 21, 2011

2011-07-22T11:29:00.002-04:00

The annual UMass Turfgrass Field Day once again supplied a great deal of current information on turfgrass research. Tim and Nate discussing grass tennis court construction with Drs. Ebdon and Dest.

Who's In The Picture?

2011-07-22T11:18:00.002-04:00

It's Larry and Magnus!. As people walked by the Pro Shop last week, they mentioned that with a quick look the manikin resembled Magnus.

F/S Prep

2011-07-19T06:06:00.002-04:00

A busy day of preparation for the national father/son championships. Rain was forecast for most of the day so the crew needed to have both the grass and clay courts ready for the competition. The day was definitely a challenge as irrigation was held back on the clay and grass courts due to the impending rain. Instead we just had hot conditions with a few sprinkles. Charlie and Wilson working on the clay courts. Neil mowing early in the morning.

First Day Father/Son

2011-07-19T06:02:00.000-04:00

Sunday Morning

2011-07-17T08:31:00.003-04:00

Getting ready for the Father/Son Championship on 7/17/11 - Nate and Tim marking, Jeff and Neil mowing.

Day Lilies

2011-07-15T08:37:00.003-04:00

To improve the aesthetics of the Middlesex Road embankment we have pruned the trees, seeded some new grass, added some shrubs and planted some day lilies. The environment for the day lilies is just right as they have done very well in the area.

Beautiful Day!

2011-07-14T11:19:00.003-04:00

After a 1/2 inch of rain last night, the crew did a fine job getting the clay courts ready for early morning play. Wilson rolling the courts.

Jeff lining the grass courts on a perfect day!

Flowers, 2011

2011-07-12T14:12:00.002-04:00

Serve

2011-07-12T08:44:00.000-04:00

Image from the weekend doubles tournament.

Sunrise, July 10, 2011

2011-07-10T08:36:00.002-04:00

Photos by Tim Burns.

Postcards

2011-07-10T08:33:00.001-04:00

Two Longwood post cards Magnus found on EBay.

BPTL

2011-07-08T08:31:00.002-04:00

Summer Day...

2011-07-06T11:23:00.004-04:00

Jon finishes watering the gardens.

Neil and Jeff stand about as Nathan diligently works.

Victor cleaning the strip drains on the grass.

Where Green's the Color of the Day

2011-07-04T16:17:00.002-04:00

Click on the title above for a Wall Street Journal article on West Side Tennis Club's grass courts.

Peak Parking Lot Plants

2011-07-02T10:27:00.006-04:00

Many of the plants in the parking lot area are in peak form - hydrangea (above), lily, iris, American elm, hard fesue grass and "baby love" roses.

GCGP

2011-07-02T06:49:00.002-04:00

Lead by tennis pro Magnus, the grounds crew began its 2011 tennis season. Magnus has set up a "Grounds Crew Grand Prix" scoring system. Below are the results after the first week.

Women's Member Guest, 6/22/2011

2011-06-22T14:42:00.001-04:00

Early Morning Tennis

2011-06-22T08:45:00.002-04:00

Early morning play is continuing to be a success - more and more play. This morning member play began at 5am! At 8 am the teaching courts (usually used for early play) were full and clay courts 5-8 were used for the spillover.

Spray Damage

2011-06-22T08:34:00.002-04:00

Over spray from sunscreen and insect repellents damage the grass courts. Already this season we have seen many tan/brown areas where spray was used. How do we know it is sunscreen spray and not something the crew is inadvertently doing? We can see green footprints (healthy grass) where the spray hit the person rather than the grass - so please be careful with the sunscreen spray.

Early Morning Pictures, 6/21/2011

2011-06-21T06:08:00.003-04:00

Pictures from 5 am to 6 am, June 21, 2011

Quickstart On Grass

2011-06-16T14:04:00.003-04:00

Quickstart

2011-06-15T09:27:00.002-04:00

May be the first Quickstart grass courts.

Random Pictures

2011-06-11T09:46:00.002-04:00

Sears Cup action, slime mold on some mulch and Charlie fixing a valve box.

Prepping Clay Courts

2011-06-10T06:42:00.002-04:00

A 1/2 inch of rain last night. Below the crew at 5 am prepping the clay courts for the 10 am Sears Cup - redistributing topdressing, patching holes, brushing and rolling.

Hawk

2011-06-07T10:49:00.002-04:00

Hawk on the LCC flagpole this morning. Photos by Tim Burns.

June Flowers Begin

2011-06-01T15:21:00.002-04:00

Grass Courts Clubhouse - 12

2011-06-01T15:14:00.002-04:00

Jeff and Neil pounded holes for the net posts on 7 courts today (all courts are now done). Below Tim is taking a crack at it - for two reasons. One to take credit for all the hard work the other two guys did and two, he was banned from using sledge hammers back in 1999. This was due to him braking a sledge hammer handle. I lifted the ban today, so he jumped right in! Also a picture of Neil and Jeff dancing together.

May 30, 2011 Video

2011-05-30T10:57:00.002-04:00

Saturday Morning

2011-05-28T08:42:00.001-04:00

Iris and rhododendron.

Mow

2011-05-24T13:15:00.002-04:00

Rained again last night! Neil walking a few miles and losing a few pounds using the walk behind mower - we are resrticting heavy equipment on the grass due to all the rain.

Saturday Morning Pics

2011-05-21T08:51:00.001-04:00

5/20/2011 Landscape & Larry

2011-05-20T13:58:00.002-04:00

Pictures 5/19/11

2011-05-18T14:50:00.001-04:00

Another rainy day, but we are still busy.

May 16, 2011 - Drizzle All Day

2011-05-16T13:52:00.008-04:00

It is wet and cold at LCC. A few courts are playable, but it's quiet. What is the grounds crew up to today?

Tim explaining to Neil why he hasn't been getting any work done. Tim and Holly had a baby girl last week, so Tim has been pretty busy! Congratulations Tim and Holly!

Wilson cleaning at the cafe, getting ready for the pool opening.

Charlie moving a hose connection box.

Nate and Neil landscaping around the lights electric box.

Jeff planting annuals in the snack bar window boxes.

Fun Facts on the Weather This Spring, 5/12/11

2011-05-12T13:15:00.000-04:00

Poa annua

2011-05-10T14:58:00.004-04:00

The Poa annua on the grass courts is in the flowering stage right now. See this post for an explanation:
http://lccgrounds.blogspot.com/2009/05/flowering-grass.html

Also a little bit of fungus has popped up. We used the "don't do anything and wait" fungicide and it worked well. The brown ring spot was gone in a few days as the grass grew out of the damage - no action needed.

Grass Courts

2011-05-06T13:33:00.000-04:00

Layout of the grass courts has started early this year.

Pictures - 5/5/11

2011-05-05T11:19:00.002-04:00

Spring Aeration

2011-05-02T13:40:00.003-04:00

Busy day for aerating. Tim on the greens aerator pulling 3 inch deep soil plugs and Jeff using the Vertidrain going about 9 inches down with solid tines.

Tulips

2011-05-02T13:37:00.000-04:00

Dartmouth

2011-04-28T08:46:00.006-04:00

On April 27, 2011 I visited Dartmouth College for a one day seminar for the NH and VT Parks Associations. The main focus of the day was turfgrass and I was there representing the New England Sports Turf Managers Association giving a brief talk on educational opportunities in the field of turfgrass science. The highlight of the day had nothing to do with turfgrass - it was having a tour of the campus with Dartmouth's arborist. He went over a lot of details about the history of trees on the campus, how they maintain them and new tree selection. Fascinating!

Living Windscreen

2011-04-20T13:57:00.002-04:00

The crew planting English and Baltic Ivy along the new fence by the back driveway. The plan is for these plants to grow up the fence and function as a screen between the terrace grass courts and the driveway.

First Again

2011-04-20T13:54:00.000-04:00

Dick M. hitting the first balls of the 2011 season.

Grass Changing Fast

2011-04-15T08:17:00.002-04:00

When the snow finally melted in March, the grass courts were solid green from the winter long insulation of the snow. Then the exposed Poa annua began yellowing on the leaf tips and the bentgrass turned reddish purple (this is from lack of phosphorus in the cool temps - picture directly below) Then the weather started to warm a bit and the bentgrass turned back to green and began growing while the Poa annua remained yellow. Finally this week, the Poa annua started greening up (bottom picture.) Like almost every year, there are ever changing colors and growth spurts of the different species of grass on our courts. Next month will be no different, with the Poa annua producing seed.

Fun Shirt Friday Continues

2011-04-15T08:13:00.001-04:00

Nate and his Darth Vadar fun shirt Friday T shirt.

Light Installation Punch List

2011-04-15T08:06:00.003-04:00

The lights are in, but there is still some work to be done to finish off the project. A few of the items on the punch list are: regrading and sodding the lawn, leveling the brick sidewalk and relocating some of the irrigation heads.

"Eat Lunch Like a Prince"

2011-04-11T07:56:00.004-04:00

The crew has been working hard getting the clay courts ready for opening day and on Friday they were rewarded with a delicious hot lunch prepared by John G. (see menu below). As usual the cooking was great and much appreciated - thanks John!

Le Menu: Poulet de citron. Pommes de terre bourrées cuites au four. Haricots verts avec des amandes.

Race to Beat the Rain

2011-04-04T11:05:00.002-04:00

Above is what the grounds looked like on Friday April 1, 2011. Today rain was expected to start in the morning and another valuable day for renovating the clay courts was going to be ruined. Opening day is only 12 days away! The crew got out early and cleaned and spread court topdressing on three courts before the rain. Expecting to not be able to do anything on the courts today, it's a huge bonus. The crew worked really hard, knowing rain was on the way and it did start raining mid-morning. In the last two pictures you can check out Charlie's work. He is spreading topdressing unevenly to correct for wear areas in the court. This is where experience and the art of maintaining a clay court come into play.

Freeze/Thaw Continued

2011-03-30T07:33:00.002-04:00

The cold night temperatures are still with us, but we still got 6 clay courts cleaned and spread with new Har Tru yesterday. Every day for the last week has been pretty much the same. The courts are frozen in the morning, thaw out and get soupy and then dry a bit. Yesterday we turned on our water system, so this morning we tried putting some water on the courts to help speed the thawing - we'll see if it helps. Pictured below is the almost finished Route 9 courts and the crew cleaning the courts early in the morning while the surface was still frozen.

Freeze/Thaw

2011-03-28T12:20:00.003-04:00

The weather has not been cooperating for renovation of the clay courts. Frozen courts each morning, thawed/wet courts every afternoon. Let's hope for a different weather pattern so we can get the courts ready for opening day!

New Junior Courts at LCC

2011-03-28T11:23:00.013-04:00

A new feature on the Longwood grounds this year will be junior sized courts that are superimposed on the Route 9 clay courts. This means that standard lines will still be on these courts for adult play along with green lines that will define three 60 foot long junior courts and two 36 foot courts and two 36 foot grass courts. Included in this post are some videos explaining the smaller courts and some pictures of what our clay courts will look like. Also some commentary by LCC's Director of Junior Tennis, Tim Smith.

Tim Smith: The addition of court spaces for the 2011 season is driven by a rule change made at the highest levels of the game. More than 260 delegates, partners and staff attended the International Tennis Federation’s 2010 Annual General Meeting, held in Washington, D.C., and hosted by the USTA.   Among the initiatives approved by the ITF membership was a rule change for all 10-and-under competition that will mandate modified courts and the use of slower balls as part of the ITF’s Tennis 10s campaign. This decision will fundamentally change the landscape of tennis in the United States. With this change Longwood will be in line with Harvard University and other established tennis leaders in our region, who have or will be adding court spaces to their facilities in the near future. Longwood was a pilot site for this initiative back in 2007 and we have been using the modified balls to great success with the junior program. We have seen a marked increase in the learning curve for our junior players – they develop confidence from being able to rally with success, appropriate swing patterns, grips and better control. The court space addition is the natural progression for the club. More information can be found at 10andundertennis.com

Ready for the Season

2011-03-24T09:00:00.003-04:00

The Har Tru topdressing is here and we are ready to renovate the clay courts. Unfortunately the weather is not cooperating this week. So what has the crew been working on? Besides lots of grounds cleanup, tree and shrub pruning and hanging windscreens we have been attacking the yearly task of painting the net posts. It may not sound like a big job, but it is. 44 courts means there are 88 net posts that take a beating from the elements each season. All 88 need to be scraped of rust and loose metal. We then apply two coats of primer and two coats of LCC's green paint (Benjamin Moore "Chrome Green"). So far all the posts for the clay courts are done, we are now onto the grass net posts.

Spring is Here

2011-03-22T07:32:00.004-04:00

Spring is here and assessment for winter damage to the grass courts shows that we are in pretty good shape. We have avoided many of the problems some of the area golf courses have had due to the harsh winter.

Click here for a blog entry on this by Dr Kaminski of Penn State

We are not ready to state that we have got through this year without any winter damage (we don't want to jinx ourselves). The grass is still vunerable to drastic dips in temperature - you never know what the weather will be like in March. If the rest of March is fairly normal we can say that we had a very good winter, with minimal winter injury!