Tim Liddy was here mid-week and offered many new ideas on bunker edges, he guided the shaper on a couple of bunker changes and he approved all the rough shaping on the new tees. This week Mr. Liddy and I were taking a short break at the clubhouse and he asked me what I thought of the new bunker on the dogleg on #1. As many of you know I am not bashful about my opinions and I told him it really did not look like a Pete Dye style bunker and it did not fit the hole. He told me he was afraid that I was going to say that. On the original plan there was a series of 3 bunkers on that corner. Architects are artists in motion when they work. Many of their ideas on paper come to fruition in the field in a different form. So from paper to 1 bunker, to a thought process and now we have 2 new bunkers on the corner of #1. The new bunkers really do fit the style and look that Mr. Dye and Mr. Liddy like to create. I am sorry I did not take any photos this week of that area but I will include them as they continue to be built. Many times Mr. Liddy was back on the 1st tees looking at the bunkers and how they fit the hole. Here is a photo of Liddy, Jim Cutter and Landscapes’ shaper Kent looking at the new bunkers from the tee.
Many people think the Dye style bunkers are very complex sand lines. Dye’s sand in the bunker has a very simple line of sand around the bottom of the bunker. Where the complexity comes into play is in the design of the bunker outside of the sand. Mr. Dye wants the bunker to look like it was not built with a bulldozer; he wants them to look as if they were built with a lot of care by hand. So there are some very fine details that are done by hand with shovels and rakes to get the “look” around the lines on the outside. It is very hard to show it yet without grassing and sand, but hopefully you will see some of it in this photo. Notice the bulbs of soil and the movement on the sides of the bunker.
One big milestone this week was the seeding of the new tees on #1 North. We installed 4 semi loads of sod the last 2 days and the 1st tee area is looking very sharp. Three of the new tees were seeded on Friday morning and as I am writing this we have rain about an hour away. The rain will be good for the new seed and the new sod!
The concrete company is setup to come on Monday and start pouring concrete cart paths. We have the cart paths on #1 North/South ready for concrete. The new path from the snack shop to #15 tee is ready, so is the new path on #18 tees. On Monday the prep work will happen on #15 green to #16 tee. #5 tee is also ready for the prep to happen. The concrete installation should go pretty good and they should move pretty fast. It will be nice to have some concrete to dry around on rather than trying to cross dirt and at times mud.
Timing is very critical on a project like this. You have to complete some work before you do more work. For example a fairway expansion has to be prepped before you can move sod. The sod has to be moved before you can start the new construction. So a project like this is a big jig saw puzzle trying to balance and move at the same time. Our staff really performed well this week doing a expansion project on #18 fairway at the landing are on the left side. I have to say that I am very proud of their work over the last 2 weeks. They cleaned up the golf courses after a huge storm dumped on us. Aerification has been completed on 27 holes now, with the front of the South left for us this next Monday, Tuesday. They also did a great job helping with the Solheim Cup announcement. My hats off to the them.
Irrigation continues to cruise along. They have a new water main all the way out to #3 tee! They only have one more main line to install and then they will work on hooking up the new and deleting the old. Another necessary evil that has to be done but it is one of the most important parts to this entire equation and that is the installation of new drainage tile and basins to allow the water to enter the tiles. Here is a photo of some of the new tile being installed on the side of the new #17 bunker. The tile itself is over 7’ deep to get through a rise in the hill. This new tile will drain the entire #17 hole once it is completely installed.
The 2 new greens have really matured this week. Early in the week we mowed the new greens for the 1st time. Here is a photo of North Course Superintendent, Nate Tegtmeier giving them their 1st haircut. It really is surprising how this mowing causes the turf to start moving laterally and filling in. By the end of the week with the great warm weather that we have had, the turf had responded very well and was really filling in. The new greens have been mowed 3 times now and here is a photo I took on later in the week of the 18th green complex from the top of the hill.
