By Tara Fischer

Staff Writer

The Ocean Pines Association continues to work on improvements at the community’s golf course, including an irrigation system project, and tee box and fairway enhancement.

At the OPA’s Board of Directors meeting on Saturday, Nov. 22, Ocean Pines’ General Manager John Viola updated the board and association members on the progress to replace the golf course’s 50-year-old failing irrigation system.

The endeavor was officially begun last year. Phase one included work on hole one, the fourth tee, hole nine, the practice range, and the pump station, for a total cost of $934,000.

Now, the second leg of that project is about to begin. This portion, with construction to start before the end of November, will include holes four, five, six, seven, and eight. The work will be finalized around March and will cost $810,500.

Viola added that the golf maintenance team is preparing the 19th green to be opened for use during the time when the irrigation upgrades are taking place.

Furthermore, renovations are scheduled for tee boxes at holes one, two, seven, and eight. Staff will strip the existing sod in these areas and instead lay Iron Cutter Bermuda grass turf.

The general manager said the decision to move forward with this enhancement was because of increased stress on the tees due to “a lot of rounds, more rounds than any other year.”

According to Viola, the golf team installed this type of turf on a tee box a few years ago and observed an improvement in its durability. As such, the association will continue to use this new sod on other areas throughout the course.

The tee boxes are not the only golf sections to receive the turf update.

Some issues on the golf course fairways arose at the end of August and early September, when excess rain produced puddles that boiled and killed the turf. Viola maintained that this is common on the Eastern Shore at the end of summer, and that the golf staff was proactive, aerating and seeding promptly to preserve the course’s conditions.

To prevent the damage from occurring next season, the Iron cutter Bermuda grass turf will also be installed at some of the fairways, in addition to the tee boxes.

Also in an effort to keep the Ocean Pines links pristine, golfers should prepare for the course to close for a few days sometime in September next year, to give maintenance staff time to aerate and sand the green.

“It takes some time for that sand to get in the ground, especially if it doesn’t rain,” Viola said. “That adds to the golfer’s unpleasantness. I think a couple of days there will help.”