#8 Bunker Renovation

On Monday, the maintenance staff started the last bunker renovation of the off-season on #8.  The bunkers on #8 were very old and in sad shape.  The little amount of sand we had in them was contaminated with rocks and soil.  The new design will minimize labor while enhancing the links aspect of the hole.  The new bunkers will be deep, pot bunkers with fairway height turf surrounding them on all sides.  This should increase the possibility of rolling your ball into the hazard thus maintaining integrity of this short par 3.  I've been looking forward to starting this project for a few weeks and am please with the progress so far.
The first step in the process was to get the rough shaping done with the skid loader.  This equipment made short work of this part of the project and was well worth the expense.

Then we installed the drainage coming from the bunkers to the basin.

Once the drainage was installed, the trenches were back filled and graded again

The next step was to create the new bunker edge and compact the soil inside the bunker to create a strong smooth bunker floor.

If the rain doesn't hold us off today, we should get the sod installed and get our drainage dug in today.  I hope to be ready for sand by tomorrow afternoon.
  

#7 Bunker Renovation

The bunker on #7 officially open for play starting this morning.  Our staff worked very hard yesterday shoveling and raking all 80 tons of bunker sand into place.  Once we got all our sand depths correct, we hand watered the sand to help pack it down, then smoothed it out with a landscape rake.  The guys went through this morning and hand raked it to get it ready for the day.
Please remember that this bunker will be soft for a few weeks while it continues to settle in and firm up.

#7 Bunker Renovation

Despite multiple delays from weather and other projects the maintenance staff is beginning to pick up momentum on the bunker renovation on #7.  The additional trenches were cut in to increase the drainage capacity and flush outs were installed.  Over the last few days all the new pipe and gravel have been installed.

This renovation is a little different than the others we've completed this winter, in that it will be ready for play as soon as we are finished installing the new sand.  Since no grading or sod was needed, the new sand will be packed down and then it can be opened for play.  New bunker sand will be delivered in the morning and the crew should be able to wrap up this project by tomorrow afternoon.

#16 Bridge project

JonesPlan came in last Thursday and finished all grading and prep work so we could begin laying sod on Friday.
Before we started the sod project, we installed some stone steps to encourage the golfers to stop their carts in the widened section of cart path.  Hopefully this will keep people from parking too close to the bridge and blocking the path.  Once we finished installing the steps, we laid the remaining sod and seeded the native areas along the pond bank.  The straw should help stabilize the soil along the bank and help retain moisture until the seed germinates.
Since all the sod has been laid, the project is officially finished, we just need to keep the sod and seed moist for a few weeks until they green up.  This area will remain ground under repair during this time.

#16 Bridge Project

Over the last few days the crew has been constructing forms and pouring curbs.  The crew worked overtime yesterday to ensure that the curbs were finished properly.  Now that the curbs are done, we will spend the next couple of days removing the forms and grading for sod.

#16 Bridge Project

Since the bridge was lifted into position last week, the turf maintenance team has been working very hard pouring concrete for the paths leading up to, and away from, the bridge on #16 green.  Wooden forms were installed and steel was used to reinforce the cart path.
Now that all the concrete has been poured, the next step in the process is the installation of the curbing. We will begin drilling rods into the edge of the path and installing our forms tomorrow. The plan is to pour the concrete tomorrow afternoon. Once everything is dry we will begin grading the soil. alongside the path and install sod.