Range update!!!!

Holy mackerel! Has it really been 3 weeks since we started the range project? With member-member and aerification time has flown by. The next thing you know it will be Christmas. Barring anything unforeseen, the project will be completed by the end of next week. The crew will be wrapping up by laying sod and doing a few odds and ends.

Short game area

This is the view from bridge of the short game area. In the immediate foreground is the practice bunker. The grey looking area is the chipping green. This bunker can accommodate 6 players hitting to an actual green, to give you the on course feel to your practice session. We will be seeding the chipping green in the coming weeks and it will be ready for play in 6-8 weeks. There will be fairway height grass all the way back to the bridge from 12 green. Adjacent to the right of the chipping green, the flat area is the championship/blue tee. Where the cart is parked in the middle of the picture is where the new white/blue tee is located. The other flat area (not pictured) is the new gold tee. These tees will be sodded within the next 10 days and will be ready in a few weeks.

Fairway practice bunker

 The one piece of feedback we got for the range was the need for a bunker to practice fairway bunker shots.   This will give players a 40-50 yard shot into the chipping green. In turn, you will be able to turn the other direction and hit onto the range for practice of any distance you chose. This will cover any situation that you may encounter during your round. The area between the bunker and the green will all be fairway grass. Fairway also extends off the left hand margin of the picture. This coupled with the area between the creek and green gives players multiple angles and distances up to 50 yards to hone their short game.

close up of grass, not very exciting.

 The main tee was sodded about 10 days ago and is coming right along.  The new tee is comprised of bermudagrass. This is different than the grass on course but was chosen for its ability to recover from divots. The sod's roots have tacked, and as you can see above the seams have started to knit. We are hoping to mow it for the first time either late this week or the first of next week. At this point we are looking to have the tee open around the middle of September. Soon we will open the mats to allow wood and long iron practice. The far end of the range will remain open until the grass tee is ready to have someplace to hit mid to short irons off turf.

More of an on course feel.

In front of the tee is rough height grass. This is to give the practice experience a more realistic on course feel. With any sport, simulating real "in game" situations will help improve your experience and sharpen your skills.     The project has progressed well and I believe the new range will be a great amenity for the club for years to come.

Not all grass was created equal.

As we are hopefully coming to the end of the dog days of summer, the different types of grasses on the course are becoming more visible. Through the summer the greens have held up well with the exception of a few areas on the new expansions. Other areas have not been as fortunate.

Not exactly desirable conditions.

The picture above was taken in the fairway on #12 in one of the birdbath low areas that held water most of the spring and summer. The green grass where the ball is sitting is 100% bentgrass. The surrounding dead area was 100% Poa Annua. Bentgrass has a better ability to withstand wet feet and does a better job of deep rooting than Poa. One thing to remember Poa Annua's common name is Annual Bluegrass. It is an annual plant. Just like the geraniums and impatiences you plant every year, they die at the end of the season. These areas will be seeded in the coming weeks with bentgrass to prevent this from happening in the future.

New rough sod at the beginning of #1 fairway.

The same situation has been apparent in the rough as well. The photo above is of the newly sodded area in front of #1 fairway. The foreground is the old hodgepodge of grasses and the new sod that is mostly fescue is in the distance.  In a rough grass situation, fescue stands up to heat, drought, and wet conditions better that Poa or ryegrass and is more disease resistant as well. Like the fairways, thin areas in the rough will be seeded soon with fescue to deliver a better stand of turf in the future.

Best looking spot on the range tee.

I found this area on the range tee to be interesting. As anyone who has practiced recently will tell you, the range tee has taken the summer on the chin. The few areas that are green, and not weeds, were bentgrass, bermudagrass, or like above, a mixture of both. 

Speaking of the range tee, we will start construction on Monday, August 5th. The grass we have selected to cover the tee is a new variety of bermudagrass that is more cold tolerant and has a finer texture. The reasons we chose to go with bermuda are, it is growing like gangbusters when the tee is being used the most (May-October). Bermuda stands up to wet conditions very well. The first course I worked on was all bermudagrass except for the greens. I remember having runners growing out into the ponds. The final reason was bermuda's ability of recover from divots. The picture below was taken when I visited the sod farm this week. This area was harvested the first of May. The deep green area in the middle was bare ground, 36 inches wide. The margins of the picture was where grass was left for it to recover the harvested area. If you'd like to read more about the variety of bermudagrass we've selected, click here and here!!

Picture from sod farm.