Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-05-30
WONDERS WORKED
RESTORING GREENS
Course improved so Per Cent
in Month-NeW Holes
Coming Along.
BY WALTER r. McCALLUM.

Et1NIIEL4 cOmm1tted TO a
policy of improvement of
- the present golf course for
the club membership for
the next few years, with a ma
tional championship only dream
Of the future, officials of the Con-
gressional Country Club have en-
barked on plan Of golf course
rehabilitation which has already
brought order out of chaos and
has resulted within a month in
an improvement of so per cent in
the condition of the golf course.
It is no secret that the Congressional
Country Club course was in poor con-
dition during last Fall last Winter and
part OF the present Spring. This came
about by combination Of circun1-
stances. chief of which was the use of
too much copper sulphate on the put
ting greens to kill out clover. but which
instead resulted in killing most of the
putting green grass; and lack Of atten-
ton to the bare spots after the damage
had been done.
Get Quick Results.
Last April there was a change in su-
pervision of the golf course, which re-
suited in the securing by the club of
r. p. Hines, course supervisor for the
Manor Club. and placing Of jurisdiction
over the course employees for time in
the hands of Sandy Armour, the club
professional. Working at top speed to
bring about quick rehabilitation Of a
golf course which had been permitted
to lapse into lamentable condition,
Hines. Armour and their greens force
have worked literal miracles in bringing
the fine Congressional layout into prime
condition, and today, from a course
which was in very poor shape a month
ago, the Congressional course is in as
hne condition as any course about
Washington.
month ago nearly every putting
green was speckled with big bare spots,
utterly devoid OF grass, and that grass
which remained on the green's was long
and OF poor quality. Now an old golf
axiom mas it that a golf course is as
good as its putting greens. Faced with
such condition, Hines, Armour and
their green's force set out under the di-
rection OF Henry j. Richardson. chair
man of the Grounds Committee, to
bring that ailing golf course back into
condition as quickly as possible.
Members Made Happy.
Sparing no expense to achieve speedy
results. big force of men was put out
on the course with diSking machines,
followed by seeding machines to disk
and seed the fairwayS. Another large
force OF men went over every putting
gresn replacing the burned-out spots
with bent grass of the Washington
strain, repairing the approaches to the
greens and the area Immediately sur
rounding the putting surfaces, rehabili-
tating the tees and generally grooming
the course So satisfactory have been
their achievements that the entire
membership at Congressional is marvel
ing at the change. We played Con-
gressional yesterday and saw the re-
markable change that has come about
in the short space of a month. No
longer Is there a single bare spot on
the putting green's
The sod which covered the bare spots
has knit itself into the green's until
today, even though the greens have
been allowed to grow long in order to
achieve good stand Of the new grass,
putting surfaces about Washington.
The fairways are in excellent shape
and the course as a whole is rapidly
being brought into the condition of the
Congressional layout of several years
ago. The metamorphosis of Congress
sional from course in poor condition
to one in the we'll known pink is a
remarkable piece of work
Work on Few Holes.
Hand In hand with the DEVELOPMENT
of the course has gone some new con-
Struction work. intended chiefly to aid
the play to the new tenth and eleventh
holes which are to be opened in tSe
Fall. The new tenth Is coming alonS
in fine shape and the fairway to the
new eleventh is rapidly developing. A
large dam has been built just west of
the club house, over which the drive to
the tenth hole must carry and which
also will force a carry to the eighteenth
when the tee is moved to its new loca-
ton. which will be either directly east
of the present seventeenth green or be-
hind the present eighteenth tee in the
woods
Congressional members who made ex-
cuse3 for the condition Of their golf
course month ago now have no reason
to be other than proud of the rapid
comeback Of a golf course which was
badly run down.