Construction has begun!

Last week, Sanders Golf arrived to start construction on the new nine holes. Unfortunately, so did the weather. The beginning of the week was a little slow, but we were able get a few things accomplished once the sun came out.

All of the irrigation heads and valves that were installed on #8 and #9 during the original construction have been found and removed. All of these will be inspected and used if they are good. During the first construction, the greens and tees on #8 and #9 were basically built. The gravel and mix was installed along with the irrigation and drainage. The mix and gravel were contaminated, so it all needed to be removed. As you can see in the first picture, there were pine trees growing out of the green and bunker cavity.

On the existing holes, we were also busy. We finally finished applying our Round Up and pre-emergent herbicide. The tees and approaches were also painted this week. This gives them a nice look and it also helps to warm up the soil. This will help these areas green up quicker this Spring. After the winter that we have had, the bermudagrass needs every advantage that we can give it.

Construction Update

The turf care staff is about to be very busy! The construction crew will be here Monday to begin construction on the other nine holes. We will start off with some selective clearing on the borders of each hole. Chain saws and mini excavators will be used for this process. Tees and green surrounds will start taking shape very quickly. Once we get a hole approved by the architect, we will then start installing the irrigation on that hole.

We also have our aerification scheduled for March 31. The course will be closed for the day. Unless we have setbacks from Mother Nature, we will only be closed for one day. During this process, we will be pulling 5/8" cores from the greens and collars. These cores will be collected and topdressed with sand. Once the sand has dried, we drag the greens to fill the aerification holes with sand. Along with the aerification, there will be fertilizer and other amendments added. While we are closed, we will be making a bulk lime application to the entire golf course. Southern States makes this application for us. They are able to get on and off of the course in about four hours. With as much material that we are applying, it would take us about two days to finish.

I will be sure to keep everyone updated on the construction process. You can also follow me on twitter @jaywadeIII and Chad @WesthamGC_Turf. We will be posting as many pictures as we can all summer. Have a great weekend and hope that we are finished with winter!