And that's a wrap....



I think we saved the best for last

On Monday afternoon, the final piece of sod hit the ground on the golf course renovation project. Over the past 14 months myself, my staff, and the crew from McDonald and Sons have put a lot of time, effort, blood, and sweat (although not as much when the temp is in the 30's) into seeing this project through.  I couldn't be more pleased with the over all outcome. I'd like to thank the membership for their support and patience as we trudged through this process. I know it was frustrating at times, I just hope it was worth the inconvenience to experience the finished product.




The new green on the short game practice area.

One of the fruits of our labor will come to fruition in a couple of weeks. We will be opening the short game practice area on April 5th in connection with the short game school. The area will remain open from that point forward. We are opening this area before the main tee because you should not be taking full divots with the short chips and pitches you will be hitting in this area.  We will open the tee when we start to see some growth, this is all temperature dependent, so stay tuned!

Even with all the excitement of construction over, I will continue to update this blog from time to time. Check back in periodically to keep up with what we are doing for your course.

"The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated"

IT'S ALIVE!!!

 

With all the cold weather this winter I was a bit concerned about the bermudagrass on the range tee and short game area. I decided to take a plug and put it in my office and see what happened. This is what it looks like after a week under a lamp for 24 hours a day. I still have some concern because of the void in the middle bottom of the picture. While some may not have survived, I think that we will be able to grow in any voids. While this is just one sample, I am pleased to see green up and hope that the rest will react the same.

#6 and #8 update

6 green

This is the look of 6 green from about 100 yards out. It is hard to see but the bunkers are taking shape. The left side bunker is in. The front bunker goes from the machine closest to the camera, across the front of the green leaving a narrow walk way onto the green. There is also a green side bunker just to the left of the machine in the back ground. That large mound of dirt next to the smaller machine will be moved. The hope is to have these bunkers built, sand installed, and maybe some grass around them by the end of the weekend.



8 green in the snow on Friday.

Here is the look from just in front of the red tee on 8. The camera cut off part of the hole, but captures the greenside. You can see the new fairway bunker on the lower left of the frame. Moving clockwise, there is the new greenside bunker taking shape. There is a lot happening on the right side of the frame. There are three bunkers going up to hill to the green where the tree use to stand. On the very bottom of the picture there is the top of a machine, this is where a another fairway bunker will be placed. The two old fairway bunkers on the left that are out of the frame will be removed and replaced with some mounding to deflect balls from going out of bounds.

Hey look, it's snowing again!?!?

Here we go again....

Just in case you have not had enough of winter, it's snowing again. Oh joy! (I hope you can feel the sarcasm) Now that we have finally return to getting work completed on course, Mother Nature shows up to wreck our plans. Although we had nearly a half of an inch of rain overnight, hopefully we stay on the lower end of the snow and ice accumulation range and get back to work sooner rather than later.

Last week we were able to get a full week of work and make great progress. I'm sorry I do not have any pictures, but check back later in the week. All the work on numbers 1 and 10 was completed. Some sod was laid on the right side of 1 and around the bunkers on 10. Once we get back and are able to get sod, the rest will be sodded. The work on 7 has been completed as well. The bunkers were built, drained, sanded and have some sod around them. All the bunkers that were completed had a ring of 3-4 pieces of sod to protect the sand from getting mud and other debris in them. It may look a bit odd but there is a rhyme and reason for doing it that way.

The bulk of the visual work was done on 6. The entire green surround was stripped, old bunkers removed, new bunkers and features added, and bunker drainage outfalls installed to get the rain and snow water out. Once we can get back to work Andrew will return and we will be able to move forward with the final tweaks. At that point we will move on to 8. They also started constructing the new forward red tee on number 6. One of the biggest complaints was the big slice needed off the red tee to reach the fairway. The new tee is more centrally located setting up the player much better.

The boys are back in town!!

In my best Thin Lizzy voice, the construction crew is back to complete the work on the remaining 5 holes. With any luck and cooperation from the weather, they will be out of here by the end of March. 

If there are any bird watchers out there, we've had some special visitors the past couple of days. These two juvenile Tundra Swans have taken up residence in the ponds on 15. They must have liked the "tundra" we've had here this winter. From the research I've done on the internet, they are just passing through to their summer grounds from coastal regions in the southeast. 

Turning it green!

If you have not been able to get out and enjoy this beautiful weather, the guys have turned the place green the last 4 days. They have put down approximately 2 acres of grass. Hopefully the rain will hold off and they can get a couple more holes finished. 

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.