Bunker update

     Art Schaupeter was out today making adjustments to the bunkers on holes 10, 11, 13, 14, and 16.  Now we are getting down and dirty.  Next week we will have the exact location and shape of each bunker.  We are getting real close to having these holes completed.  Art will be back next Thursday for final approval for these 5 holes.

 Art inspecting # 11

 Art and Schaefer-Meyer construction crew talking over # 14

# 16

New tee

    We  mowed our new # 9 white tee/nursery green today.  We mowed it at 3/4", we will slowly bring the height down to 9/16 " for the tee portion and 1/8'' for the green portion.  This will happen over several months.  I hope to have tee playable by the end of May.

Bunker update

     Today Schaefer-Meyer worked on holes 11, 14 and 16.  They cut in new bunker on 11, and shaped bunkers on 14 and 16 greens.  Tomorrow they will be working on the fairway bunker on hole 16.  Art Schaupeter will be here tomorrow to inspect work and make any changes.  Once the bunkers are where Art wants them Schaefer-Meyer can start to installing the drainage.

 Cutting in new Bunker # 11

 Shaping # 14

# 16

Bunker update

     This is day 9 of our bunker reconstruction.  Sorry I did not get a tweet out today I was just too busy to stop and do it.  Things are starting to shape up.  They have 10 and 13 ready for Art to look at on Friday.  He will make final changes if needed.  Once the bunker is way he wants it they will begin to install drain lines.  They will be working on 11, 14 and 16 tomorrow and Friday to get ready for Art's inspection.  Here are a few pictures of 10 and 13.

 Bunker # 13

 Right bunker # 10

Left bunker #10

Bunker update

     Today Schaefer-Meyer cleaned up the sod from 16 rough and 10 green.  They dug out the drainage on 10 green.  They started to do a little shaping to # 13 bunker.  Tomorrow they will have full crew doing nothing but shaping.  Art Schaupeter will be here Friday to make any changes to the bunker shaping.

Sod removed digging out drain lines # 10.

Removing sod from # 16 rough

# 16 sod all gone

Shaping # 13

Bunker update

     Today Schaefer-Meyer was working on holes 13, 14, and 16.  They removed all old drains and pulled sod out that they cut last Friday.  They did a little shaping of the bunker.  They need to make sure bunkers will drain if we get rain before they can finalize the exact location of new bunker.  Bunker floors needs to slope towards drain outlet.  Art Schaupeter will be here on Friday to make final changes to shaping on these 4 holes.  You will see that a lot of sod has been cut around all bunkers, some sod was cut all the way to edge of greens.  They have to over cut sod so they can do the reshaping.  They will be taking and adding soil where they need it or don't need it.  Bunkers will not be at the edge of greens.  A lot of them will be a little closer than they were.  Art will gives us the room we need to mow and maintain our greens and surrounds.  The hard part of all of this reconstruction is to make the new bunker match our current green location.  Art's job is to make sure everything transitions from green to perimeter to bunker to rough.  When they are done you would have thought this is the way it was designed from the beginning.

Digging out old drain lines.  They load material in Skid Loader then take it to Dump Truck to be hauled away

# 13 roughed in

 

Working on rough shaping # 14



# 16 roughed in

Over seeding roughs

     With the rain last week it has made it possible to get into some roughs  that were too dry.  We have been busy seeding 2, 8, 10, 12, 16, 17 and 18 roughs.  These areas do not have any irrigation in them.  They became extremely dry with the lack of rain in October.  We are using a 4 way Turf Type Tall Fescue mix with a small percentage of Kentucky Bluegrass.   Here is a short video of our Aeravator seeding rough on # 12.

Aeravator pokes hole by using shattering action to open holes. Seed fall right behind tines. Seeds that  fall into hole will germinate.

Bunker update

     Today Schaefer-Meyer was here cutting sod on holes 10, 13, 14, and 16.  These are the holes Art Schaupeter marked out for Schaefer-Meyer to start shaping.  We received 1.5 inches of much needed rain on Wednesday so they could not do any shaping.  They will be here on Monday to start digging out drains and begin to shape the new bunkers on these 4 holes.  All of the sod that was cut today was left in place.  I have marked all areas with white paint.  Play as ground under repair.  They will pick up sod when they begin to shape that area.  They will complete 3 or 4 holes at one time before moving on to the next group of holes.  Schaefer-Meyer will shape, install drain and liner, place sand in new bunker and then sod all disturbed ground.   Art Schaupeter will be here to make any necessary changes before hole is completed.  Schaefer-Meyer cannot move on until Art gives them the ok.  Below is a couple of pictures of hole 10 and 16.  Please be careful retrieving your ball in the cut sod area.  You will see we have some big areas that sod is going to be removed.  A lot of it is on slopes so it could be easy to fall if sod gives way or slips as you are walking on it.

 Cutting Sod # 10

 # 16 finished

Bunker reconstruction update

They are cleaning out the last 2 bunkers today.  Left bunker # 2 and # 8.  After they are cleaned they will be back on holes 10, 11, 13, 14, and 16 digging up old drains and reshaping the new bunkers.  Come back for construction update.  You can also follow me on twitter @ed_wachter  Every morning I will tweet what holes we are working on that day.      

 Taking sand out of left bunker #2

Getting ready to remove sand from #8

Course Damage

     Someone yesterday afternoon was being mischievous on the golf course.  This morning we found a divot taken out of the Putting Green,  a cart did donuts in the middle of # 2 fairway and some one gouged the flag stick into the green on # 5.  This is very upsetting.  This person or persons needs a refresher course of Golf Course Etiquette.  Please if you see any bad behavior on your course report it immediately.

 Divot from Putting green. 

Donuts in the middle of 2 fairway about 50 yards from green.  Looks to me at some point the cart was on 2 wheels.  They drove the cart all the way to front apron of 2 green.

Bunker project

Today Schaefer-Meyer is cleaning out last 3 holes.  1, 2, and 18.  Next week they will be shaping.  Picture below is shot of right bunker on # 1.

Construction Update

Schaefer-Meyer has been busy cleaning out old sand in our bunkers holes 4, 5, 6, 10, 13, 14, and 16 have all been cleaned.  The next step is to clean out all old drainage,  pack subgrade and start to locate and shape the new bunkers.  Most of our new bunkers will be moved just a little bit.  Our Architect Art Schaupeter was out today going over  holes 10, 11, 13, 14 and 16 with Schaefer-Meyers construction crew.  He was marking new bunkers positions and going over where to  cut and fill.  Let me tell you I am very excited.  This project is going to make huge improvements to our course from  playability to aesthetics.  I cannot wait to see the final product.  Here are a few pictures of the construction progress.

 Schaefer-Meyer checking out #13

First bucket of sand removed from #13 bunker

 # 14 before

 #14 after sand is removed

 #16 before

#16 after sand removed and small pot bunker.

13 steps

The steps on 13 have been removed and sodded with Turf Type Tall Fescue.  Looks much better.

Bunker renovation has began

#13 Bunker is the start of our renovation.

Bunker Project

     Schaefer Meyer will be here on Tuesday October 11th to start on the bunkers.  They have told me  they will start furthest from the club.  So 11 and 13 will be done first and they will work back towards Clubhouse and Maintenance building.  The reasoning is  if we get rain it is harder to get further away and easier to work closer to Clubhouse and Maintenance Building.  Hopefully the dry weather will stay with us for few more weeks.  I will be posting updates throughout the entire project.  So check back to see progress if you cannot make it out.

Seeding Roughs

     We have been busy seeding our roughs.  We are using a 4 way Turf Type Tall  Fescue (TTTF) mix with a little bit of Kentucky Bluegrass.  The TTTF is a bunch type grass.  It grows from a single point outwards.  The Kentucky Bluegrass spreads by rhizomes it will fill in voided areas.  Rhizomes are under ground stems that grow horizontally they send out new roots and shoots.  So you can have many new plants originate from one bluegrass plant.  The two grass varieties work great together.  A bunch type grass with a rhizomatous species that can fill in voids.  We are using our Aeravator to aerate and drop seed at the same time.  Any seed that falls into the aerifying hole will germinate.  We are working around our green surrounds then we will move to roughs.  Holes will be visible for about 2 weeks.

 Dan over seeding with Aeravator.

Holes left after the Aeravator.

#9 white tee

     Seed has germinated on our new tee/nursery green.  We will wait until grass is over 1/2 inch tall before we will mow it.  We will maintain front 1/3 at tee height and back 2/3 as green.  It will take about 8 months before we can play on it.  It is all related to the weather on how fast it will open.

 Looking from back of tee.

This is a close up of the same picture above.