Elcona Country Club has completed construction of its renovated upper practice tee, marking another step in the club’s continuing effort to improve playing conditions, infrastructure and long-term turf performance.
The renovation began shortly after Labor Day with two herbicide applications to eliminate the multiple varieties of grass growing on the existing tee. The maintenance team then spread more than 115 tons of sand across the surface to amend the soil and improve drainage.
On September 23, Performance Sports Turf of the Detroit area transformed the prepared site into a new practice surface during an intensive 11-hour construction process.
The completed tee was seeded with HGT bluegrass, a turf variety gaining popularity for use on practice facilities because of its improved divot-recovery characteristics and reduced water and maintenance requirements.
“Our practice tee renovation really went well,” said Ryan Cummings, CGCS, golf course superintendent at Elcona Country Club. “Performance Sports Turf did a fantastic job.”
Grass germination was expected to begin within four to six days of the September 30 project update. With favorable fall temperatures, the club anticipates that the new tee will be fully established by April 2027.
To give the turf sufficient time to develop a dense, mature playing surface, the upper practice tee will remain closed until April. Members and guests are being asked to keep carts outside the roped areas, use the designated path when traveling to the smaller tee and avoid walking on the newly seeded surface.
“The area needs to be left alone to fully mature into a level playing surface that will benefit members for years to come,” Cummings said.
Fall Maintenance Program Underway
The practice-tee project coincides with Elcona’s transition into its fall agronomic program. As temperatures decline and leaves begin to fall, the maintenance team shifts its attention toward aerification, seasonal cleanup and preparing the golf course for winter.
Staffing levels are also lower during the fall than during the peak summer season. As a result, routine practices such as course setup and bunker raking may move to an as-needed schedule beginning in October while employees balance daily playing conditions with essential seasonal work.
Elcona began fall aerification on September 8 with tee coring. Despite several equipment issues, the maintenance team completed the process in late September, with the treated areas reportedly recovering well.
The team used a core sweeper to improve the efficiency of the cleanup process. The equipment reduced the job from approximately five hours involving six employees to 2½ hours with three employees—cutting both labor requirements and the amount of time the work affected the course.
Greens are scheduled to be core aerified on October 8 for the front nine and October 9 for the back nine, weather permitting. The decision to pull cores represents a change from previous years, when the maintenance team primarily created holes without removing material.
Cummings said soil-testing results and the increasing amount of time required for some greens to drain following rainfall contributed to the change in aerification strategy.
Fairways will also be solid-tined throughout October as staffing and weather permit. Golfers are being asked to remain alert when approaching employees operating aerification equipment and allow crews sufficient time to move safely out of the line of play.
Expanding Course Communication
Cummings has also moved his course-maintenance blog, Rub of the Green, to Substack. The new platform will continue providing members and other interested readers with updates about maintenance practices, capital improvements and conditions across the golf course.
Elcona Country Club is located in Bristol, Indiana. The club’s golf course was designed by William Diddle and later renovated by Arthur Hills. It is also recognized as a Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary. Elcona Country Club
Source: This article was developed from Ryan Cummings’ September 30, 2026, Rub of the Green course update. Read the original Course Notes post.
