Course Alterations for 2017

As the golfing season is upon us with the first round of the Masters on TV this afternoon.  While we were installing the irrigation system this Winter we also took the chance to make some course alterations.
The first thing that we did was course yardage.  This has been one of our most common complaints in the past.  Well, we have added yardage tags to 350 sprinkler heads.  I feel like we are so well marked that we might remove the blue red and black pavers in the fairways and posts at the path. 
Hole Number 6 had the most noticeable changes.  First off the left greenside bunker has been filled in.  I still believe that it was one of the hardest situational shots on the course, unless you were smart enough to putt out of it.  Next the front right greenside  bunker is in the process of a face-lift.  We have removed the steep face and are in the process of regarding the base.  We will drain it, line it and add some new sand and were good to go.  Then we opened up the exit area back to the path.  It used to be about 5 yards wide between berms.  Now you could drive the space shuttle through the exit area of the hole.  I hope this allows for better traffic wear patterns.
On hole 8 we had the, while structurally sound, clunky bridge that I built removed.  In its place is a concrete cart path bridge that wont knock out your teeth when you drive over it.  We also removed the old grass bunker left of the fairway. 
On hole 10 we extended the rock walls surrounding the fairways.  Also, we filled in the 3 grass bunkers on the left side of the fairways.  Lastly we added a more friendly Ladies tee that is waiting for sod. 
On Hole 12 we got rid of the dip in the cart path that went through the creek bed.  We replaced it with a new cart path bridge. 
On hole #14 we removed the left side fairway bunker.
On hole #17 we removed the old grass bunker on the right side of the fairway.  It will finish its transition into a new Ladies tee.
On hole 18 you will notice that you are driving through the water in the spillway.  That is because of the new stream that has been routed through the 18th hole. 
Hopefully I have not forgot any of the new features but it is entirely possible that I have.

Irrigation Renovation Update 4-6-17

Well, we are in the home stretch, although there is still a lot of work to be done.  The guys with Nutt Construction have done a great job with a monster of an install job.  They have been flushing out the lines for the last two weeks.  This has to be done to remove the debris from the interior of the lines.  This could be dirt rock or PVC shavings that somehow got in the pipes and could stop up a head when it tries to go from ON to OFF.  They were flushing out the Turf Nursery Area and the res/com system around the club grounds today and those were the last two areas to flush. 
I have been running water for about a week now.  I am trying to find bugs in the system, test capabilities and find programming thresholds and faults.  Every morning I am riding the course looking for weeping heads, heads that are stuck on or other anomalies that may have taken place from the night previous.  Hopefully the punch list made each morning will diminish with time.  I have heard from some residents about sprinklers hitting decks or patios.  If you have one of these issues please contact me and let me know.  I will not get to see every one of the 1,700 heads run.  I have moved our watering times to 10:00 PM so there will be less likelihood of something hitting a deck when you might be eating dinner.  I have had programs running at 7:00 PM and 6:00 AM so that I can see or get feedback on the process but it is time to put them on in the dark. 
The parking lot is starting to get vacated just in time for tournament season.  We still have a lot of pipe to get out and some other items.  Thank you to the neighbors who were very patient with us while we stopped traffic to load the Semi trucks on Calumet Trace with equipment, you were very patient with us. 
While the project is winding down there is still a lot to do.  there are a lot of areas that have been torn up and need to be repaired.  We have been re seeding areas this week and are waiting on some sod to come in any day now.  We will still have a small construction crew here for another 3-4 weeks cleaning up and helping fix scars and smoothing out rough areas.
Once again, Thank You to Nutt Construction, Aqua Turf International Consulting, Rainbird Golf Products, Keeling Co., Ole South Excavation, the Residents of Indian Hills Subdivision and All of our golfers.  

Irrigation Renovation Update March 8th

 Currently all irrigation has been installed on the playing surface of the golf course.  Hole #7 was the last hole to be installed and that was completed on Friday.  The driving range was completed Sunday and back open for play on Monday.
There are only 2 areas left to irrigate.  The club grounds with a res/com system and the nursery area which is about the size of a par 4. The nursery area runs parallel #2 on the other side of the rail road tracks. Apparently this area was once intended to be part of the course but for one reason or another it was abandoned.  It has been a bone yard or a dumping ground for the last 30 years. The whole thing was an over grown cedar thicket.  So we had it cleared out with a grinding machine. We found that there had been some clearing and shaping that took place somewhere in the past.  Piles of boulders and piles of quality tee soil piled up in areas. It was really pretty cool to uncover. I would love to eventually have a full sod nursery with An acre of bent, fescue, bermuda, and zoysia at some point in the future.
The pump is in place and the pump house is dried in.  Brick is scheduled for the exterior on Monday and the electricity will hopefully be run this week.  Would love to be blowing out installed lines in a week.
We have some cleanup still going on on the front nine. I would hope to get all 18 holes back open for play on next Saturday. We still have a lot of concrete cuts to pour and rolling to do though.

Irrigation system update 1-20-17

Well the first part of 2017 has not been kind to us between the rock and the rain.  Last night we got 1.5" of rainfall onto an already saturated golf course.  The last 8 months have truly been feast or famine with regards to precipitation. 
On the plus side we are officially making the flip from front nine to the back nine for golf play tomorrow.  Unfortunately, we are forecast to get 0.5" of rainfall both days this weekend.  On the negative side we will be primarily Cart Path Only for the next 2 months.
We started piping on the front nine this week.  We have run into some rock on #8, as expected, and it has slowed the main line progress a little.  On the flip side the heads and lateral lines have been installed on #8 and most of #9.  The 2nd 10" main line that goes by the practice green got stalled by a big rock that we were not expecting.
In the positive column we have the completed wet well which looks like a small rock mountain.  I am hoping to pour a pad on it next week.  That's just one step closer to installing the, still unnamed, pump station. 
Also, we got the first and largest road bore completed yesterday.  It is the main trunk line, 12", from the pump station to #13.  We have 4 more to complete. 
We changed some of the concrete entrances and exits to roadways.  They used to be a 45 degree curb and gutter to cart path.  Now they are a more gentle transition from road to path and vice versa.  Also, we have been repairing some areas of the path that were really bad in the past. 

Irrigation installation progress report week 3

The goal for week three was to complete the section from hole #10 through hole #13.  I believe that that goal was reached.  #13 is about 85% complete but the crew was able to get all of the main lines trenched and laid on n#14 which was not in the projection.  That trade off leads me to believe that the target was met .
We were getting ready to start on the wet well structure last week but a chance of rain came in and delayed the start of that project.  Thanksgiving didn't help the timeline either.  And now we have serious chances for rain this week, which we need desperately.  We may not get to dig for the wet well until late this week.
The crew really hit a stumbling block on #10 with all of the rock.  Without that issue I think that they would have blown their timeline out of the water.  They should be in good soil for the remainder of the back nine so it should move pretty rapidly.
This morning our consultant,Trevor Holman, is laying out the head spacing on hole #14.  He will probably finish marking the back nine holes this week

Irrigation renovation progress report Week 2

Finally we have moved on to hole 11.  I'm not sure who was happier the construction crew or me to move out of the rockiest soil on the course.  Sure enough as soon as we passed the teeing area on 11 the large trencher started eating soil like nobody's business.  I watched it trench about 70 yards of 3 foot deep trench in about 10 minutes.  It had previously taken us a day to get that far.  So conditions have gotten much better.  We are still running into a boulder here and there but they are to be expected by looking at the surface indicators, lack of grass or droughty looking area. 

The current location of the crew with mainline is #12.  The lateral crews are wrapping up the fairway on the 11th hole.
The machine appears to be gaining some steam.  I hope that we start to see about a hole and a half completed per week.  When I use the term completed I am referring to pipe in the ground with heads in place.  There is still work to be done on the completed holes.  Debris piles must be removed, boulders removed, cart path cuts have to be re-poured, plow lines have to be rolled out, and many other cleanup projects must be completed. 
Projections for next week.  I hope to see #12 Tee, Fairway and Natural Area completed.  Also I am hopeful to see some work done on #13 Fairway and Green also.  This is a large completion list for our progress so far but the closer we move toward #14 the higher quality the soil will be. 
Also I am sure if you have visited the course in the last few days you have noticed the pond on #18 getting very low.  We are pumping it down in order to install the new wet well and intake line that are the base for our awesome new pump station.

New Bunkers

We have just finished sodding the latest group in the bunker renovation project. This group consists of #'s 17 and 18. On #17 the back green side bunker has been filled in and mounded over. The front green side bunker on #17 has been reduced in size and made much flatter. On #18 we renovated the front two bunkers and removed the back green side bunker. The front right bunker got considerably smaller while the front left is about the same size. There are pictures of #18 green surround below.

There was also a bunker eliminated in this round of work. #1 green side bunker has been removed. It is now rough height Bermudagrass. It is basically a catchers mitt now. If you come up short in that area now you will have a very difficult up and down. I did like the placement of the bunker on #1, but the slope was just too dramatic for a bunker here.

We also laid a lot of sod in other areas while we were finishing up the renovated and removed bunkers. We re sodded the exit from #6 fairway back to the cart path. This area has been a continual "thorn in the side " for us. We also sodded the removed bunker on #11 fairway, the exit to the cart path from the fairway on #12, and we also did some cleanup work behind the pump house on #18 where we did some repair work this winter.

We have already started working on the next round of bunker renovations. #'s 3 and 5 have already been shelled out and we are ready to begin cutting drain lines in them. we hope to button them up soon.

State of the Union Address

It's been a while since I posted any information on here this year. I apologize for the delay. We have had a really busy year on the golf course, the season is by no means over but it is on the decline. We have had many things going on with the course this season, both good and bad. We also have some changes that are still in progress.

The new bunkers that we built last winter were finally opened this spring. It is so nice to hit out of some actual sand when you get in a bunker. We have had nothing but compliments on them. We are getting ready to start working on some more of the problem bunkers on the course by either removing them or rebuilding them. I hope to redo 3-4 bunkers this winter and remove about 5 more. Hopefully one day we will finally finfsh the bunker project.

Irrigation has been a large headache this season. If you have ever spoken to me concerning our system, I probably said," It's our system and it is what it is". This is not a negative statement, we have a 25+ year old irrigation system, and that's what we have. It is not going to work like a brand new one, but it will get the job done for now. I spent the majority of the first part of the summer chasing heads around the course trying to get them to shut down or come on. I ended up replacing about 22 old sprinkler heads this season with new ones. We still have a few to go (850 heads on the course, replaced about 115 = about 15%).

The ponds on #11 and 12 have been an issue again. The fountains have been turned off. They are too small to operate in water that dirty. I wish they were the answer but they are not. There is a question to ask, why does #12 look so bad and #13 look so good? The answer is pond construction. The ponds are attached and #13 is filled with water from #12. #12 Pond is about 4 feet deep and #13 pond is at least 10 feet deep. In the deeper a pond it is less likely that sunlight will reach the bottom floor of the pond, and create breeding grounds for algae. I do not know if we will be able to fix the problem with #11 and 12 without starting over with new ponds.

We are in the middle of creating new natural areas. We have about 6 acres of new natural areas in the initial growth stage on #'s 8,9,10,11,12,13 and 18. The seedlings are just emerging from the seed, and we are getting ready to fertilize these areas. Most of the areas are irrigated. We are running programs with our irrigation system to make sure that these areas are watered thoroughly and have plenty of moisture for grow in. The bulk of these areas are on #11-13. When these areas have matured this area of the course will not play much differently, but will be more vsually appealing from the tee. Please keep all traffic out of these areas, and play them as ground under repair for the time being untill we establish a hazard ruling on these areas.

We have just finished aerifying the greens for the fall. I am really happy about the sand application that we made. I believe that it was the perfect amount. I played 9 holes the day after we finished, and truthfully thay are not bad to play on. Putts were not jumping around and breaks are minimal. Remember that aerified greens make your short game much better. We are already mowing the greens for the first time since punching them. I think we will get a great heal out of them.

I know this was a lot of information for one post, and there weren't a bunch of happy pictures to look at. I will do my best to get some pictures next time. And I will do my best to get more information back out to you the golfer.

It's Winter

Well it appears that the almanac was wrong. All I heard this fall was how the winter was supposed to be mild this year. That appears to be a load of hogwash. Between some of the bitter cold temperatures we have had and the last snow fall that lasted for 8 days we really haven't been able to accomplish much outside. We are supposed to be spraying roundup and a pre emergent herbicide on the course right now. Usually I start this practice on Jan. 1st, but, thankfully, I had our Chemical Technician start spraying Tees and Fairways back in December. since January we have only had 2 days that we have really been able to spray. For those two days we spent our time cutting in the greens edges, slopes and other tight areas on the course with roundup. Below is a picture of us cutting in #1 Green.

We have also had the chance back in December to start working on the Bunker Elimination Project. We have back filled the following bunkers; #2 green side, All of #3 fairway bunkers, the front right and back green side bunkers on #10. We have also started to define the bunkers that we are going to rebuild;#7 #10 front left green side, #12 green side, #13 green side.

Jim Mcelyea and I have created a kind of "Storyboard" that shows the projects and improvements that we would like to make to the course over the next few years. Hopefully this is a helpful communication tool for us both. It is located in the Golf Shop by the counter for anyone who would like to view it.

I have a few pictures posted below of the work we have been doing lately.

The future shape of # 7 Bunker.

The future shape of # 10 front left Bunker.

The future shape of # 12 green side Bunker.

The future shape of # 13 Bunker.

This is the result of our fescue natural areas that we planted back in September on # 3 and #4.

Bunker Renovation

I want to address one of the biggest complaints that I receive about the golf course. “When are you going to do something about those bunkers?” Well the time has come. I have proposed a “master plan” to rebuild and remove bunkers on the course. Some of the bunkers on the course are no longer a real hazard. Many fairway bunkers are too short off of the tee. If they drained well and didn’t have rocks in them it would be a moot point, but they are in poor shape and either need to be fixed or removed. Removed is the more practical option for this situation. For those bunkers that are still integral to the design of the golf course, the “master plan” calls for a phase rebuild project. What this means is that over a period of 4-5 years we hope to renovate all of our bunkers, that will remain, that are not in good shape. The order to this work will be the worst bunkers get fixed first and the most playable will be fixed last. I have; #10 front left green side, #12 green side, #13 green side, #7 green side on the list for renovation in February of 2011. These bunkers are scheduled for elimination in December of 2010; #2, all of #3 fairway bunkers, #10 front right and back green side bunkers, #11 right fairway bunker, #17 back green side bunker.

The process of fixing a bunker is not as easy as most people think. I often get the question, “Can’t you just put some sand in the bunkers?” Simple answer, No. Full answer, we can’t do that because the pretty, expensive, playable sand that we put in the bunker will integrate with the soil like sand that we have in our bunkers now and be ruined in the first heavy rainfall we get. There are steps to properly rebuilding a bunker. The first step I take is finding the drainage out fall area. Without proper drainage bunkers become ponds quickly. After the outfall area is found we will redefine the edges of the bunker. We will have no more steep sloped faces on our bunkers. The steep faces are too labor intensive. The next step is creating the drain system; there are many different methods to drainage. I am going to go with the tried and true method of herring bone drainage. It is the same style that we used on # 11 fairway bunker and it has preformed beautifully. After the drainage is cut and cleaned the liners can be installed. Liners are a method of diverting water without diverting sand with it, and they are a barrier between sand and soil to prevent contamination of the sand.

The elimination process will consist of filling the existing bunker with topsoil to conform to the existing topography. Then in the spring we will come back with bermudagrass sod and cover the topsoil areas.

This project will be a major improvement to the golf course and will also greatly enhance play.

I can't wait to get started on it!