Hello and welcome to "The Greenkeeper"! Today is Friday, November 18th and this is our first look at ongoing course improvement projects. When we last met, Golf Course Services, Inc. were on site beginning the tee expansions on hole number 9. They have completed that work and have started the additions to hole number 7. I have taken several photos the past few days so let's have a look.
The process at hole number 9 involved removing all turf from the surrounding area. Soil was then added, shaped to match existing elevations, and compacted. Sand cap was installed for drainage. Sod harvested from the area was reused to stabilize the surrounds of the teeing areas. New sod was installed on the expanded portion of the actual teeing ground.
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| Turf Removed and Soil Added |
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| Shaping of Added Soil |
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| It's All About The Details |
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| Replacing Sand Cap |
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| Addition Ready for New Sod |
You may recall last time I mentioned the tee expansion project accomplishes three things: 1) We provide more usable tee space which is always important on par 3 holes. 2) The expansion aligns all four individual teeing grounds creating symmetry. 3) Widening the teeing surface of the three forward most teeing areas provides those players an angle previously unique to only those playing from the championship tee. Overall the work went smoothly and I think the finished product looks like it has always been there.
*The fact this area remains mostly shaded this time of year has made capturing the finished product adequately in a photo difficult, but I will keep trying.
Next GCS moved to number 7 and immediately started building two mounds just left of the fairway. Sod was removed from the area. Soil added and shaped per the architects specifications via the field drawings. The added soil was compacted for stability and then the harvested turf was reinstalled. This work was accomplished very quickly.
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| Turf Removed and Soil Added |
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| Shaped and Sod Being Replaced |
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| Finished Product |
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| Looks Like It Was Always Here |
These two additions now bring the total number of mounds in this cluster to five and I think the cluster looks more cohesive than before. I will share another photo of the entire cluster once the project is complete as currently it's hard to capture properly with the equipment and activity in the area building the two fairway bunkers.
Speaking of bunkers, here's a quick peak at the ongoing work as it too is coming together quickly. Our architect, Kris Spence will be here early next week for a scheduled site inspection.
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| Ground Breaking For First Bunker |
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| Rough Shaping |
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| Shaping |
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| More Shaping |
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| Starting To Take Shape |
You may have noticed the stubbed pipe for the drainage outfall. One of the added benefits to having GCS make these additions is the fact they were part of the construction team during the recent restoration. Not only do we have accurate as built drawings for irrigation and drainage to work from, but considering they installed most of those components they know where everything is. We were able to locate the existing drainage network for the existing bunker cluster and tie-in to it. Next up will be irrigation and drainage installation as well as turf and sand installation, but those are for next time. Until then...
See you on the course,
Matthew Wharton, CGCS, MG
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