Golf Course Architecture - Issue 63, January 2021

72 large. That considerably complicated movement of equipment and personnel across the site during construction. In this and everything else, contractor McDonald and Sons demonstrated their experience. When coronavirus hit, work momentarily halted to see how the state of Maryland would regulate outdoor construction. Work soon proceeded, though under extreme caution, with labourers being assigned to individual pieces of equipment and extreme care taken on a daily basis regarding sanitary procedures and social distancing. The installation numbers are impressive. The new drainage included 156 basins and 38 miles of pipe, everything from two-inch perforated up to 36-inch solids. A new irrigation system designed by Larry Collins included an MCI pump station with a capacity to drive 4,000 gallon per minute across the entire 36-hole site. The new Toro system for the Blue course comprised 37 miles of pipe, 39 miles of communication wire, 460 quick couplers and 2,568 Toro Infinity sprinkler heads. Fairways went from 25 acres to 46, all of it sodded with a bentgrass blend that was half 007 and half Matchplay. The putting surfaces were all rebuilt to USGA standards at a variable depth, with a 12-inch sand subsurface that was thinned marginally at high spots and thickened marginally in the low areas. In the process the average green got enlarged, from 6,100 square feet to 7,200. They were then seeded to a bentgrass blend that was one part Piranha, one part Coho and two parts 007. The fairway expansion enabled Green to get very creative with his placement of bunkers, as there is now far more room laterally to create alternative paths from tee to green. Tighter mowing lines into the hazards also enhance their prominence, since a thick collar of rough has been removed from the entry side and balls can more readily roll into sand whereas before they had to f ly there. Bunker design called for a simpler, more classical presentation than had evolved on the course. There had been 98 bunkers, averaging 954 square feet for a total of 93,450; now there are 138 bunkers at an average size of 739 square feet for a total of 102,000. Drainage is handled by the installation of Better Billy Bunker lining. The look and variety of the bunker placement is enhanced by the cleaner look of the entire site. Congressional reduced its cart path system by about 20 per cent, in the process eliminating the harsh gray asphalt pavement and replacing it with a more exposed aggregate. Perhaps the most dramatic difference is the introduction of 31 acres of fine fescue native areas. The textural contrast with the formally maintained turfed areas now provides a powerful alternative to the old, wall- to-wall groomed look. Congressional at one point used to cross-hatch its fairways, and for the 1997 US Open walk-mowed them from tee to green. Now Wendt will rely upon a traditional block mowing to simplify the presentation. The par-72 course (par 70 for championship play) got stretched in “ Bunker design called for a simpler, more classical presentation than had evolved on the course” The Hermon Presbyterian Church overlooks the sixteenth green CONGRESS IONAL CC