Paving Our Way To Better Bunkers!

With a large pun intended, we are paving our way to better bunkers.  Today, our hard working staff installed a permeable asphalt at a depth of 2.5 inches on our newly constructed bunkers.  In total, the staff hand spread 70 tons of asphalt in one day!  The asphalt liner separates the clay bunker bottom as well as the drain lines full of stone away from the sand, offering a crisp clean bunker to play out of.  In addition to this, the asphalt, being permeable, allows water to drain quickly eliminating total washouts from heavy storms.  These new bunkers will save time and money in future maintenance and will be great to play from. Sand installation will start tomorrow and likely be completed by the end of the weekend.  With additional sod coming this Friday to finish the surrounds on 7 South and 4 North, the project will be complete just in time for next weeks member guest event! Enjoy- 

Preparing the bunker for heavy traffic during asphalt hauling

The loader gets asphalt in small amounts from the main truck

Asphalt is then loaded into hauling vehicles for transport to the bunker

Hard working staff rakes and shovels the asphalt into place and checks often for a depth of 2.5"

The finished product offers a unique look to your bunker before sand installation

The new right-side fairway bunker on 1 North with the new approach in the background

New green side bunker on 7 South ready for sand

Renovation Update: 8/27/14

7 South is almost complete. The finishing bluegrass sod is being delivered and laid this Friday.

1 West Tee Surround Sod

1 West tee surround sodded today

Renovation Update - Tuesday, August 19th

1 South - Sod is close to being finished 

Renovation Update - Saturday, August 16th

Great progress has been made in the last week with only a few minor setbacks due to weather.  1 North was completed and work began on 1 South.  As of today, 1 South is completely done being shaped and the left green side bunker is sodded. The remainder of the hole will be sodded this Monday. Work has also started on 7 South with sod being removed from the green surround and rough shaping of the new bunker. Enjoy the rest of the weekend-

Rough shaping of new bunker left of 1 South green

Left bunker on 1 South green shaped and detailed

Drainage being added to 1 South green side bunker

Ready for Matrix liner and sand on the left green side bunker on 1 South

Renovation Update - Sunday, August 10th

1 North renovation is going well and we've lucky to have such good weather to work with.  Everything on the left and right side of the green is now complete with the exception of the bunker liner and sand.  When all the bunkers on all four holes are shaped and ready, then the liner and sand will be installed. The reason for this is because the asphalt mix is only made in large batches and must be used immediately while it's still hot. Currently we are finishing installing the drain lines in the right side fairway bunkers as well as hauling soil in for the brand new fairway bunker on the left side.  Below are some photos of the work so far. Enjoy the weekend-

Left greenside pot bunker on 1 North ready for liner and sand

Right side fairway bunkers on 1 North being shaped and sodded

1 North Renovation Update

Construction has started on 1 North and we've made great progress already. The fairway bunkers are already roughed in on the right side and the 2 front greenside bunkers have been removed and it was graded for the new bentrgass area.  The new front left greenside bunker has also been roughed in and area for the new left fairway bunker has been stripped and is awaiting the dozer.  Drain lines are currently being installed and bent sod is being laid on the new roll-off area on the front right of the green.  All this has been accomplished after ground breaking Tuesday at 2:15pm.  Enjoy the pictures below of parts of the process so far and stay tuned for more soon.

Old sand and sod removed

All old sand and turf removed from the old bunkers

Rough shaping new bunkers and hand picking rocks/debris 

Hauling new soil in to fill old bunker cavities and prepare for shaping on the right side of #1 North green

Shaping new right side fairway bunker 30 yards from the green on 1 North. Brian Huntley close by during shaping for accuracy 

Bentgrass sod being installed on the new roll-off area in front of 1 North green.

Irrigation Audit -Toro vs. Rainbird

Irrigation is not, and will never be, 100% perfect when it comes to overall coverage and uniformity, even when it's brand new. Doing an irrigation audit can help indicate if pressure needs to be adjusted on the current heads or if different nozzles or spacing are needed to achieve more uniform coverage.  Recently we did an irrigation audit on 8 South green but not to see if pressure or nozzles were correct, but rather to test our brand new Toro heads against Rainbird heads.  Why did we do this? This information will be valuable as we continue to plan for a new irrigation system in the for the entire property.  Testing the product in this fashion is a nice apples to apples comparison.  The Toro test is complete and next week we will be installing Rainbird heads on the same green to compare the results on coverage.  

Catch containers are evenly spaced across the green

All heads are run for a specified time

Each containers contents are measured and recorded. Calculations are completed after all containers are measured for the overall result in coverage.