Monday, August 25, 2014

Last day of this month's closure

The last day of any closure is all about trying to put Humpty Dumpty back together again. Especially after all of the rain that has fallen here lately. Not only do I have people out putting all the yardage plates and cups back in, I also have people out repairing bunker washouts and unclogging drain pipes. Fortunately the rains came very late in the afternoon so my team was able to accomplish everything we needed to do during the closure. 

On a brighter note, the range tee project is progressing very well. The pavers are almost done. They ran a little short on pavers so they are bringing some more out today to finish. You can see in the picture that now you will have a paver brick pad to pull your cart onto and be able to get off the area where all the carts drive. 

To give the paver space some delineation between cart parking and the intended walkway, I had the pavers laid differently in the two spaces. 

The subway tile layout on the left is the 3.5 foot walkway that extends the length of the new hitting mat area. This was done so golfers can traverse the hitting pad area to an open station without having to walk in front of the pads, or around carts. The herringbone design on the right is the cart parking area. It is long enough to get the carts onto and out of the driveway, but far enough away from the mats to allow a person the swing a club. As you can see in the picture below, my cart fits just fine and my cart is longer than a golf cart. Tony and I will need everyone's help in spreading the word to park the carts in the right space so the hitting mats and walkway do not get crowded out. 


The company that manufacturers the hitting mats will be here sometime this week to install the new hitting mats which are already here. 

Last week we were also able to finish enlarging and grassing the 4 new tees. This will be a welcome improvement for these tees that get a tremendous amount of play for their size. The new improvements will help in turf sustainability and playability. The final step in this closure's game plan is to install cart path curbing along 9 tees. My team was going to do it today but with all the cleanup we are having to do from the storms it just wasn't possible. 

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Third Closure Week - project updates

Solana Road is finally done. After an exhaustive effort by my staff, the last piece of grass was laid on the south side of the road late yesterday afternoon. 



The good news is both sides of Solana Road are grasses with Celebration, just like the golf course. The bad news is it looks like TECO gas is getting ready to extend their natural gas mainline down Solana on the north side. That means there will be some repair work to be done afterwards to get it back into the condition we are used to. I will keep you updated. 

At the range, the paver brick company has started the next phase of the new range enhancements. The foundation was gracious enough to fund an expanded scope of work which includes new cart parking at the range. This should help with all the congestion around the range during season. 


Here Kenny and Trevor are modifying the irrigation for the new cart parking areas between the oak trees. 


Last project update is on the tee expansions. The contractor should have the majority of the tees being done this year enlarged and ready for sod by the end of the day. This year I am doing 3 silver, 4 silver and white, and 5 blue. 

5 blue tee

3 silver

3 silver ready for the laser leveler

4 white tee being stripped

4 white ready to be laser leveled

4 silver tee being stripped

The goal of the tee expansions is to double the size of the whites and blue and triple the size of the silver. 

Everything else with regard to aerifications has been going flawless. This go around will not be nearly as invasive as it was last time. My team is still punching billions of holes but there's no heavy verti-cutting going one as well. The course should heal very quickly. 

Thursday, August 14, 2014

Project update

This week's early effort has paid off. Monday through Wednesday was a test of perserverence in the oppressive heat and humidity. Here are some project updates..

Kenny and his guys stripped the south side of Solana Rd by hand. The area was too tight to use machines other than a sod cutter. 

Then they installed new irrigation for the pending sod. 

Then more fill dirt was added and the whole strip was re-graded by hand. 

The sprinklers will be all set today and the new celebration sod will be delivered on Tuesday morning. 

Meanwhile, Trevor had his own project going at the same time. Trevor's been working on adding some timber curbing to 18 tees. Here's some if his work. 

Last project that was completed this week was a cart path maintenance project along the outside edge of hole 17's cart path. The erosion control grass that was planted during the renovation had finally died out and needed to be replaced. My crew of guys laid a semi truck load of Bahia sod along the cart path to keep the path from washing out. 

A little closer to the end of rainy season my staff will begin adding new cart path material to many of the worn cart paths. There isn't enough in the budget to do all the cart paths but I wanted to let everyone know selective cart path improvments are on the "to do" list for the summer. 

General updates...

I spoke to the vendor supplying the new range tee mats and they are supposed to be here on the 25th or 26th to do the install. Additionally, the golf course builder is supposed to be in the middle of next week to enlarge some tees on the course. The tees scheduled to be enlared are 3 & 4 silver, 4 white, 5 blue and maybe 17 blue if I can squeeze it in. 

Never a dull moment......

Monday, August 11, 2014

New hitting station update

Part one of the new hitting station project is complete. Last week the concrete pad base for the new pads was installed. Now we are just waiting on the mats and paver bricks. Both items have been orders, but are still being manufactured. 

In this pic we are laying out the tee with mason's line to make sure everything is exactly how we want it. 

Trevor was on site to make sure things were going perfectly. The contractor used my sod cutter to cut all the sod. Then his guys came in behind the cutter and removed it all. 

All formed up and ready for concrete. 

Concrete, or "Mud" as it is called by contractors, is here. 

While we wait for the rest of the other projects materials to show up my staff will be busy with other parts of the project. We still need to install the drainage and do some dirt work to get ready for the paver bricks. 

Monday, August 4, 2014

Rain gauge overflow

In case you've missed it...the entire southern part of Florida has been swallowed by a massive storm. The club has received over 5 inches of rain and it's still raining. To give you an idea of how much water that is, imagine watching Niagara falls for 11 seconds and all that water dumping on the CCN neighborhood and course! 


Teaching class on blogging today at PGA NATIONAL

Sunday, August 3, 2014

Health check up time

A few weeks ago I had the USGA Agronomist in to do our annual summer check up.  This is a bi-annual endeavor to make sure all of the necessary maintenance practices / steps are being done on the golf course for maximum playability.  Below is the link to the report.  Please take some time and read up on how your golf course is doing.

2014 Summer check up with the USGA