18 Green Renovation: Day 3, a visit from Arthur Hills

What another great day of weather and progress for the 18 green project.  Day 3 brought about finalizing the new front subgrade with native soil, wetting it down a bit, and compacting it down.  After measuring and marking where the top of the native rootzone will be, it was added back after incorporating additional sand into the mix.  The transition from rough to green was also worked on in the back of the green and the false front. 

Arthur Hills visited the site today, along with his associate, Shawn Smith.  He was quite pleased with the work that Cam, Tracy, and the entire crew from Oliphant Golf has done to carry out his plans to improve our green.  It was great to hear his vision of both the newly designed green and other places out on the golf course. 

Tomorrow brings another action packed day.  We will be rototilling the upper rootzone for final grading and Oliphant will have their shaping equipment out to complete the tie ins and other subtle contours within the rough grade.  Final grading may begin as well, if all plans go accordingly. 
Enjoy the pictures, and I will have another update tomorrow!

Ryan

Marking rootzone depths for the new front

Cam wetting down subgrade for final compaction

Mr. Hills and Greg discussing the project

Incorporating additional sand into the existing rootzone

Rootzone compacted and finished in front

Beginning the tie in on the back of the green

Course and 18 Green Update

Our tee aerification that was postponed by rain on September 10th has been rescheduled for Monday the 22nd.  The clubhouse and course are closed that day.  Greens aerification is still on schedule for Thursday, October 2nd, and Friday, October 3rd.  We will have 9 holes each day closed for play. 

With the gradual improvement in the playability of the green surrounds, I have decided to hold off on an aggressive verticut.  The fertilizer we applied late July has promoted growth of new leaf tissue that has, in most spots, provided a more consistent lie for any shots and I feel that I would be doing more harm than good at this time in the year by aggressively cutting the older stems off.  We will be aerifying the green surrounds within the next two weeks in between play to further promote turf health.  I will continue to monitor these conditions and communicate any practices that may be needed if they deteriorate again. 

Finally, I wanted to provide an update on the 18 green project.  Beginning on October 6th, the hole will be closed for play for the rest of the season.  Two holes will be cut on #9 green, as was practice during the initial construction.  Greg and I have been in communication with Shawn Smith, who is the principal architect with Hills and Forrest on the above schematic and the timeline for the project.  Hills and Forrest also has secured Oliphant Golf as the contractor for the project, which has been performing great work at Oakland Hills in Michigan.  Myself, Greg, and Shawn will be overseeing their work on this project.  Mr. Hills has also expressed an interest

Oliphant's crew will begin mobilizing on the 5th to begin early morning on the 6th.  The existing sod will be removed, and saved so as much as possible can be re-layed on the new green.  Then, grade work will be performed in accordance with the above plan.  Soil amendments will be added for turf health when the final grade has been achieved, and then the green and any surrounding turf affected will be sodded.  Weather permitting, the project should take about 10 days. 

As was the case in 2011, both Arthur Hills and Oliphant Golf have requested that there be NO interference from the membership or other individuals during the project.  This includes being on the construction site while work is being performed, giving personal opinions of how the green should look when completed, interfering with the crew while working etc.  They are very good at what they do and have a solid plan for improving #18.  This is also for your safety as well!

I will be providing daily updates via the blog to keep you up to speed.  This is an exciting project for Elcona and  I cannot wait to start!  If you have any questions on 18 green or anything else, please contact me at ryan@elconacc.com, or at 574-295-6374.  Thanks, and have a great week! 

Ryan

Renovation Plans for #18 Green

By now it should not come as a surprise to any of you that the timetable for the renovation of #18 green has been altered from the original plan of having it completed by the end of October.  Due to the relatively short time frame we had to work with, Mr. Hills was unable to secure a contractor that could complete the work within the window of opportunity that we had available to us.  Because of this, we are now shifting the renovation plans to this coming spring.

Mr. Hills has chosen a contractor with a significant amount of experience (currently completing a renovation at Oakland Hills) that is available this spring.  The goal is to hopefully begin in mid-March and have the work done in 10-14 days, depending on the weather.  As soon as the winter snow begins to melt, we will utilize a solar blanket to help increase the soil temperature of #18 green and get it growing earlier than the other 17 greens on the golf course. This will allow us to cut sod and renovate the green even if the temperatures remain cool.  After the renovation is done, the blanket will be placed back over the green in order to speed-up the healing process.

With the proper weather, it is my hope that we can come close to our original plan of opening the green in early to mid-May. Obviously this schedule depends on Mother Nature, but I am optimistic that we have a good plan in place that will lead to a successful project.  The picture below shows the proposed plans for the renovation. please click on the photo for a larger view.