Progress on the 2nd Hole

The top picture is the before of the view of the 2nd hole from the proposed black tee.  The bottom picture is the view from the new black tee with all the trees that have been removed and the old 9th tees to the left have been removed as well.  We just have to finish up the ladies tee this week and then around the last week in September we will start work on the green complex of #2 followed by the green complex of #1.

Still Cleaning Up From Sandy

Today, we removed several trees damaged by Sandy last fall behind the 7th tee.  The top picture shows 2 maples uprooted and stuck in each others canopies behind the black tee and the bottom picture shows 3 dead poplar trees that were removed at the same time.  This is the first time we could access this area since last year now that we installed drainage and cart paths.  This will help clean up this unsightly area.

10th Approach Recovery Work

With the difficult stretch in July, we learned that we had some irrigation and drainage deficiencies on our 10th approach, not to mention it is in a pocketed location with a highway to the right.   Today we added 3 new drain laterals down the approach and we also improved the irrigation coverage as well.   Tomorrow, Tuesday we will be finishing any last minute sodding that needs to be done.  This will help firm up the approach in the future and lessen chances of thinning turf as well.

Aerification of Fine Turf Areas to Finish Today

This week, we completed the aerification of tees, approaches and fairways.  Last week, we aerified greens on Monday and then finished topdressing them on Tuesday.  The recovery has gone quite well considering we did a conventional 1/2" aerification followed by a deep tine and then a dryject.  There was a lot of sand on the greens when all was said and done and the holes all were completely filled.  Right now, the greens are about 80% healed and yesterday was the first time we used our normal greens mowers to mow.  We have been using old mowers to pick sand for the past 4 days.  I suspect the greens should be 100% healed by the weekend.
The biggest problem dealing with aerification is the sand topdressing.  Working it in the holes is labor intensive as we did a single brush followed by pack blowers to work sand around the greens.  Once this is done, it takes several mowings to remove excess sand and mowing in the mornings can become very messy.  We try to mow in the afternoons so the sand is dry and does not make a mess but this past weekend was a mess with the heavy dew and sand accumulation on rollers etc..  We are just about past this now as our new hand mowers went out yesterday to do the first mowing of grass and this will continue moving forward.
Our fairway topdressing will take place following the club championship when we verticut all the fairways.  We wait to do this as it is a stressful practice and the temperatures should be much cooler by then.

#2 New Tees

The newly relocated tee complex on #2 is almost ready for sod.  If all goes well the rest of the week we should be sodding it on Monday August 26th.  The blue tees plays about 7 yards longer at 215 yards and the new black tee (where picture was taken from) will play about 240 yards.  Of course additional tree work is needed on the hole and the entire green complex will be renovated as well.  The idea of relocating the tee was to create a better angle to play the hole from and gives us more options with bunkering around the green.  If all goes well, these tee should be open by mid September.

New Tees on 12 Completed

The new tee complex on 12 was sodded about 2 weeks ago and has already been mowed 3 times.  The new tees are located right of the existing tees which allowed us to do them during the summer without impacting play.  Once we open the new tees, we will use the old tee sod for fairway expansions or chipping areas and the dirt will be used for new bunkers.

New Member of the Arcola Maintenance Team

Here is Newman.....our newest member on the maintenance staff.  Newman is only 9 weeks old and will be Robbies understudy for the next few years.  Robbie is almost 9 years old and we figured now would be a good time to get a puppy that could learn from him.  Newman is already riding the course and seeing what we do on a daily basis, so we are hoping she will adapt well to her new home.

Greens Aerification Completed

The greens aerification started on Sunday evening.  This year the greens got aerified with 1/2" solid tines on 1.5" spacing, followed by a deep tine and then a dryject.  There are a lot of holes and sand in the greens which is beneficial.  Now the goal is to get them healed as soon as possible.  Even though our mowing heights have been very low this year, we were never able to generate good green speeds, but that should change once the aerification heals.

New Tees Ready for Sod on #12

The new tee boxes on 12 are ready for sod and we are hoping to have them sodded on Monday and Tuesday.  Now that the weather has given us a little reprieve, we have been able to finish up these tees and start the new tees on #2.  Once the tees are ready to open, we will close the old tees, use the tee sod for other areas on the course and use the dirt for new bunkers on the next 5 holes we are doing.  A special thanks to my crew for doing a great job on the tees.