"Operation Purple Martin"

Purple Martin Houses Installed on Course

 We have added two Purple Martin bird houses to #12 and #3. Purple Martins are the largest swallow in North America. These beautiful birds are declining in population for reasons that are not clearly known. Many believe that it is the result of competition for nesting with starlings. Purple Martins nest almost exclusively in housing provided by humans. This housing is designed specifically to allow Purple Martins in, and keep predators out. With proper setup and maintenance, these houses can promote colony formation. 

How Purple Martins Benefit Greenbrier CC

Purple Martins provide more benefit to us than just their majestic beauty and morning song. The main component  of a Purple Martin's diet is flying insects From mosquitoes to certain types of bees, these aerially agile birds can quickly dart through the air to catch many nuisance insects. The promotion of these birds will also aid in the completion of the final steps needed for GCC to become a fully certified member of Audubon International.

Source:  https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/purple-martin

#17 Drainage Project

The cart path on #17 has had an issue with standing water. This coupled with water sitting against the edge of the path has made getting through this corridor of the course very difficult. In digging around to see what existing drainage was present we determined that this project has been attempted before. Our #1 goal with this type of project is to make sure we fix the issue permanently. We found that the path of the outlet pipe has a number of trees causing issues by either blocking or breaking the existing pipe with their root systems. Another issue that the drainage system had was smashed pipe from cart traffic on the left side of the path. Our plan to solve these issues includes replacing smashed pipe on the hole side of the cart path and covering with dormant sod to protect it from cart traffic. This includes extending the line back toward the tee.