Tee Construction Underway on #9

The blue tee is now ready for sod on #9.  We will be attempting to finish the black tee on Wed and then the white tee on Thursday and Friday.  With all the rain and snow, we have been tarping the areas to keep them dry and allow us to make progress.

New Tees #9

The 9th hole is going to play a little differently this coming year as the tees were all shifted to the right across the cart path.  The hole is now going to be a slight dogleg right and we have added a new black tee that will play about 550 yards.  All other tees will play the same yardage as in the past, just from a different location.  By making this change, it opens up many possibilities for the 2nd hole in the future.  The old tees will be used until the new ones are ready to be opened.  Also, the senior and ladies tees will also be rebuilt and made a bit bigger.  The top picture is the view from the black tee of the tee shot.  The bottom picture is the ditch that was relocated on the 3rd hole now meanders past the tees.

3rd Hole Getting Ready for Sod

Despite less than desirable weather, we have been making progress on the 3rd hole this winter.   The 8 new bunkers are all drained and have liners installed and will have sand added in the next week or so, followed by sod once the soil dries up.  We also shifted the ditch that moves our well water from the cart path area down along the fairway so we can now use it to also drain our fairway.  By relocating the ditch, we now alleviated the fescue and ditch ruling issues we had in the past.  The fairway is also going to be shifted to the right to make the hole a slight dogleg.

A Part of Arcola is Gone

The 150 year old oak tree by the clubhouse was removed several weeks ago due to a rotted root structure found by a certified arborist that was brought in to inspect the tree.  For the most part, the tree itself was healthy but its root system was so rotted, it is amazing it has stood for as long as it did.  The tree was here before the clubhouse was ever built and has endured years of Mother Nature, but stress cracks found on the tree show it has been moving of late.  Being proactive, we definitely averted a disaster by removing this tree on our terms and not when a certain wind gust decided to take it down for us.  Here you will see my daughter inside the cavity of the stump, where roots should be.  We probably could have fit 3 more kids her size in there.