The Rehab Begins

 Like most renovations and irrigation system installs, growing pains will follow.  Drains get cut, veins in the soil get opened or closed etc.  Now that we have endured drought and extreme rainfall, we are identifying areas that need attention.  Each week we try to pick off an easy fix.

The area between 15 and 16 is suddenly wet and thin.  Our staff went in and installed some drainage and resodded using sod from our old par 3 tee surrounds.  Little expense, huge improvement.

Babying Fairway Expansions

 

The fairway contouring started in the summer of 2025 when we scalped down future fairway lines.  Here is the old 1st hole, which is now our 9th hole.  We basically scalped it from 3" to 1" in one mow, then got it down to 1/2" within 2 weeks.  Over the next 6 months, we sprayed out the rough grasses, leaving only some bent and poa.  We also seeded in some bentgrass to help fill in voids.

Fast forward to August 2026 and it is starting to look like a fairway, but the poa is under extreme stress right now after enduring 5 heat waves, drought and now a lot of rain.  Most likely some bacterial wilt going in on there as well.  The funny part is LaBar had to remove a rock from the fairway and sodded with bentgrass.  Look at how well the bent is and the poa is struggling.  This expansion will be fine by summer of 2027 and it takes a good 18 months for the grasses to get acclimated to being managed differently.

Growing Pains

 

On the left side of 5 fairway where some contouring was done, we noticed a bare spot.  Upon opening the sod, we saw it was a rock.  We figured lets go get a shovel and dig it out.

2 hours later with an excavator we were able to finally get it out.  The funny thing is irrigation went around it as you can see in the top picture where the head is located and how the pipe coming across the fairway turns around it.  These are all the imperfections we will continue to find over the next 6-12 months.

Watch What You Wish For!

 For April, May and June our staff worked extremely hard to keep new sod and seed alive, with high temps, low humidity and almost no rainfall.  I remember hoping for a few downpours to help us keep new grass alive and help germinate the out of play fescue seed.

The rains came and havent let up for almost 3 weeks.  Creating playability issues and hampering maintenance.

Once the humidity kicked, grass has been growing like a weed, leaving clippings everywhere.  Regardless of growth regulators and frequent mowings, once the natural rainfall releases all the nutrients in the soil you are fighting it until the humidity and rainfall subside.

When it Rains it Pours!

 As if torrential rains of late havent been challenging, this large Tulip fell in the pond on 14.  A big machine will be needed to pull it out of the pond once they are able to cut it up.  With limited access this will be a challenge to get this removed without making a complete mess!

This is not the lake on 7 but it is the puddle in front of the range tee.  When we built the range back in 2016, we identified this problem and added drainage.  With the renovation, the drain pipe was cut and not repaired and we are back to square one.  The contractor will have to dig in the berm you see in the backdrop to connect the pipe back to where it drains to.

After a significant rain, we noticed the bunker on 3 was full of water.  How can that be, it is brand new with new drainage.  The outflow pipe under the fairway was inadvertently cut by the irrigation crew and not repaired.  After some digging, we found the issue and resolved it.  

While a golf course renovation and irrigation system replacement projects are stressful enough and once the contractor has left the course, we all assume everything is going to be great.  It took extreme heat and drought this summer to identify irrigation shortcomings and now heavy rains in July and August to find drainage issues.  It will be a good 12 months until we feel we have everything under control.

Be Careful With Carts

 

We dont realize how quick the new carts are but if you look at the 16th fairway in the landing area, you will see where carts start and stop.  This is throughout the course and over time will create damage to our turf, especially when it is hot and dry.  I actually stopped to take a picture of the old drain line and didnt realize how many donuts are on every fairway.

Try to watch your turns!

Here Comes Trouble

 

This new family just moved in next to 5 green and have made themselves at home.  No fear of people and really no threat to people, they have spent their days taking golf balls, ruining our bunkers and taking care of some wildlife on the property.

We have not seen them in the past few days which makes me wonder if they were just stopping by or have moved on somewhere else.

We Need Good Weather!

 

Amazingly, this is the first CapCon install since before Thanksgiving!  Between saturated conditions and cold temperatures, we had ideal conditions to pour one day in almost 100 days.  We figured we would be 90% done with bunkers by now.

Bunker shaping, edging and draining is moving along at a rapid pace.  We only need to finish shaping 3,5,6 and 7 and all bunkers will be shaped and ready for CapCon and sod.  We need temperatures to stay above 35 and limited rainfall to keep progress moving.

Who remembers what the new tee on 1 looked like 2 months ago.  A massive pile of dirt that has now transformed into a natural landform that is housing our new first tees.  Most of the hillside has been sodded to fine fescue.  From most vantage points it will look like a natural landform instead of a massive tee complex.  

Signs of Spring (but not for long)

 It felt good to pull the covers off the new greens 2 weeks ago to see how they look.  They have been under snow cover since mid January. 

A small Arcola Grounds staff have returned and are busy sodding the new tees on 9, 16 and 17.  

LaBar Renovations returned for the first time in 2 months on Monday and are busy prepping for sod.  Sod will start flying on Wednesday and continue until Mother Nature stops us.

What a Winter!

 Just as we were starting to make progress, some snow events hit us last weekend, leaving about 4" on the ground.  With the cold temperatures, the snow will not melt quickly enough.  If that's not bad enough, the forecast is calling for another 8-12+" this weekend, followed by a week of frigid temperatures.  

This means we have to let the snow melt and the frost out of the ground before we can start to make progress again.  The last snow melt and frost thaw made the course a mess and we can expect it to be a little worse this time!

Back At It!

 

LGR and LGI are back at it again following the snow melt.  Cap Con cannot be installed with cold temperatures but they are able to rough shape in new bunkers and once approved by Andy, they are draining them.  A good start with such poor weather this winter.  Once we do get good weather, we will be able to start installing Cap Con, bunker sand and more fairway sod.  

Time Stands Still

 Mother Nature decided to give us a legitimate winter so far.  Only 10 days into winter and we already have had 3 snow events and cold temperatures that rarely get out of the 30s during the day.  We figured this into our planning before the renovation but we always expect to get work done during the winter months.  This picture from the new 1st tee says it all, machines sitting idly with little grass exposed.  Once the weather turns the corner and warms up we will be back at it again and still plan on finishing by the contracted dates.  A course that has been buzzing with activity since early September now sits alone.