June 14....9 weeks into the project

Not to sound cliche, but its really starting to come together out there. We have 6 holes with grass, & we are planning on grassing the first set of greens towards the end of next week. So we will have at least 6 holes that are completely done! As a frame of reference of where we are in our project compared to others undergoing something similar, I ran into the construction crew doing the Hole In the Wall project on Friday at lunch and they said they are still 6-8 weeks away from being close to grassing their first holes. I 6-8 weeks I'm hopeful we will be close to being done! So I feel very good about the progress we are making.

Next week will be the most challenging for the project so far as we will be trying to grass the "rock holes"......12, 13, & 14. There is a tremendous amount of change on these holes and that equates to a lot of irrigation modifications and site prep/clean up. In my last posting I think I said we were 1-2 weeks behind schedule, now I think we are right on and gaining ground.

Here are some pics to help show the progress...

1 of the best parts of this process is that it has been a tremendous learning process for everyone. Here, Tony is getting a lesson on setting bench marks for high water on #15 from our architect, Gordy Lewis.


On the holes where there is a lot of rock and sticks, the contractor uses this machine to pick through the top couple of inches of dirt. It has "fingers" that comb through the dirt and then flip the debris into a hopper for disposal.



Here the prep work on 10 green is in high gear. The green side bunker is being sodded to prevent the dirt from washing into the new bunker sand.


In this pic, the hand crews are prepping around the sprinklers and drain basins on 10 fairway before grassing


I was reviewing everything on 10 before grassing and noticed that the 2 forward tees, shown here, were pointing down the left side of the hole. The hedge between the parking lot and 10 tees really accentuated the feeling of being pulled left as well. You can see the lines I made in the sand for the contractor on how to turn the tee to aim more down the middle of the hole. The red tee in front was changed from a rectangular shape to a circle to eliminate the "pulled left" feeling.


Here's your grass for 10 & 11, before its planted anyway.


On the other side of the course, earth shaping is moving fast. Here is #1 fairway just after being stripped.


and here it is after the spoils have been hauled off of it


Here is 5 fairway after the bury process is over


One of the things we had to do to get ready for the lake expansion on 3 is to move the irrigation main line around the new lake perimeter.


Here the excavator is starting on digging out the lake on 3 tees. The stakes with the blue ribbon will be the new top of bank. The large palm on the tip of land sticking out into the lake on the right side of the pic is now behind 12 green.


I was riding by 6 last week and noticed something I haven't scene at the Club very much. Now that we have received some rain and the water table is coming up into the new aquatic plants in the lakes and littorals that have been enhanced, I've been seeing a lot of bird activity. On the new hole 6 (pictured 1st), in the littoral right in front of the white tee, I saw this duck swimming. The increased bird activity around the property has been tremendous.



A quick project update...
6-11 are grassed, we will grass 12, 13, & 14 next week
1st set of greens will get grassed next week (6-11) and possible 12, 13, 14, & clubhouse green
drainage is complete on 6-18, all stripping is done...99% of the burying is done
1 large lake expansion to do on 4 green / 5 tees which will start next week

...and the wheels of the bus go round and round