A quick peek

 We have now begun sprigging the greens. Below are a few quick pictures of the process as they completed #1 

Greener every day...

  As the first set of fairways continue to fill in and the last three completed take root, work throughout the course continues to gain momentum.  Today we will be removing the covers from the greens to let them air out through this final stretch before they receive the Champion Bermudagrass sprigs.  Once the covers are off of the greens, the minor disruptions from the fumigation process will be smoothed out, the greens mix will be compacted and pre-plant soil amendments will be added.  Prior to sprigging the greens, the perimeters will be sodded.  This will protect the slopes from washing out from the increased irrigation, and defends the green against encroachment from the rough.  We are all very excited to get grass on the greens, and will be posting pictures and explanations as the process continues.

#1 From the tee

#1 Red tee

#1 Fairway being mowed

#7 From the green tee

#7 Fairway

#9 View from the red tee

#10 Blue tee

#10 Fairway

#17 Fairway

#18 Fairway

Good Weather and Good Progress!

  The weather this week has been very cooperative, and has allowed us to continue making progress throughout the course.  Fresh sprigs have been planted on the fairways of holes 11, 12, and 15 along with the Driving Range tees and the tees on #15.  The sprigging will continue next week with the next batch coming on Tuesday.

  The greens which have been stripped, tilled, and floated were fumigated yesterday.  This process will eliminate any nematodes or other plant pathogens in the greens providing a sterile growth medium for the new plants.  The covers on the greens will remain on for five days, and then they will be left open for five days to air out before planting.  Once the greens are ready to be planted the surrounds will be re-sodded, and the approaches will be sprigged allowing us to water the remaining areas together.

  Hole #3 has also seen a great deal of progress this week.  Irrigation heads are being installed in anticipation of planting, the drainage is nearly complete, and the drainage stone and soil mix have been added to the green!  The greens mix is now being graded and compacted before being fumigated on Friday so that it will be ready for grass along with the rest of the course.  While the green gets fumigated, the rest of the hole will be prepared for sprigs as well.  With the drainage and irrigation completed, the bunkers can be repaired and prepped for sod and sand.  The rest of the hole will be smoothed out with bulldozers and box blades to remove tire ruts and prepare for planting.

  In addition to the progress being made elsewhere, the first set of holes that were planted have now been mowed once and are filling in nicely.  The first cut on newly planted grass stimulates lateral growth, so the thin areas will continue filling in as we periodically reduce the mowing heights.

Adding drainage stone to #3 green

Drainage tile in #3 green

#3 green ready for greens mix

Adding greens sand mix

#3 greens mix

Fumigation Tractor

Fumigating the chipping green

#8 Green fumigated and covered

Irrigation running during the storm

  Throughout the day today we will be running irrigation on the greens despite the current weather.  This storm, while an inconvenience for much of the progress, provides an opportunity to flush the soils on the greens of any salts or contaminants that may have built up in the soil profile since their construction.  The soil profile of the greens is twelve inches deep, so a large amount of continuous water flow is necessary to effectively flush the contaminants through the profile and out of the subsurface drainage.

Flushing #10 green

Subsurface drainage 

Progress Update

  Over the past week, the seven acres of sprigs that were planted on May 27th have been watered constantly and they have sprouted roots and begun to turn green again.  Thankfully, the majority of the sprigs had taken root before the heavy rains came and everything held up well. The golf maintenance crew also completed the prep work on the remaining tees and fairways, and weather permitting, the next delivery of sprigs will be planted this week.

Shades of green on #9 fairway as the sprigs begin to grow and fill in

Sprigs filling in on #17

  Despite the weather, the reconstruction of #3 has continued to progress.  Last week the bulkhead wall being installed on the right side of the hole was completed and both drainage and irrigation installation commenced.  The elevation changes and the addition of the bulkhead wall coupled with new sub-surface drainage will serve to alleviate the flooding issues that caused that portion of the course to be closed periodically last year. 

Building the bulkhead wall on #3

Bulkhead wall completed, ready to be backfilled

Superintendent Mike Slack bulldozing soil on #3

 

Laying out irrigation lines on #3

6" irrigation main line #3