Getting Closer to the Renovation

 

We are only a few weeks away from the official start to the renovation.  We have been busy trying to knock a few projects out to ensure we get more work done out of our budget this fall.  Above you will see the view from the new white tee on the new number 9.  A lot of mounding had to be removed to construct the tees and open up the view of the soon to be new 9th fairway.  A much shorter walk from 8 tee and a strong finishing hole for sure. 

The second picture is the new fairway line that was painted out by Andy Staples two weeks ago.  We must start cutting the rough back and start topdressing, seeding and spraying out the undesirable grasses now while we have another month of great growing weather for seed.  It is our hope we get this fairway expansion to match the rest of the fairway by summer of 2026.  By scalping it saves us a significant amount of money vs sodding.

Stress Evident on the Course

 

With no significant rainfall in over 2 weeks, temperatures in the upper 90s and increased cart traffic on the course this year and the stress is evident everywhere.  We have always used less water in years past throughout the course to allow the course to play firmer, but this year our lack of irrigation accuracy has exposed our weaknesses.  Not to mention outings and outside events crammed on top of each other and the course already looks tired and we are just entering August.  In the pictures above you will see where carts funnel and regardless how we irrigate, the turf cannot tolerate it.  We also have these same stresses on fairways where carts enter and exit and around fairway bunkers, where traffic is funneled.  The only solution is to increase our water usage to "hide" these stresses, but this can jeopardize our Water Allocation Permit and more importantly our turf health and playability.  While we did get over a half inch of rain last night, the forecast called for 1-3" which would have been good for everything including filling our ponds.  We will be back at irrigating again in another day or so with lower temperatures and lower humidity on the horizon.  The new irrigation system will definitely help us next year with more accurate coverage and control capabilities.