Projects continue, despite more rain
Our final two loads of permeable concrete have been laid in the bunkers on the front of the Sabot. Two more loads of sand are scheduled to land on Friday. That sand will fill up the bunkers on 5 and we will be finished for this season. The back right bunker on #3 will be filled in and sodded and the two left fairway bunkers on 9 will be redesigned and then rebuilt this winter when the front nine of the Sabot is closed for the irrigation and greens resurfacing project.
The contaminated bunker sand was spread out on the driving range Monday. The rain has washed it in nicely. Between this topdressing, the new drainage installed and the new net, the driving range has seen some nice improvements this winter.
The new black tee on #9 is finished being graded (and uniquely tamped). We also installed a new irrigation head and hose quick coupler in the proper spot. The rain on Wednesday delayed our sodding process until this coming Monday. Once sodded this new feature should fade a little more into the surrounding landscape. The new yardage for the black tee will be right at 400 yards. The blue tee now plays from the 368 tee.
We were able to produce some of our own sod before the rain. The bermuda was stripped off of 18 black tee and moved right over to 10 Sabot to fill the void from the bed we removed last fall. Jacob has started moving the soil from 18 black tee backwards to its new home. Once 18 black is shaped in we will start working on the new tees for 18 along the lake edge behind 17 green.
The Sabot fairways have turned green over the past few weeks. There is some bluegrass coming back but also plenty of Poa annua. We have fertilized twice now to help the bluegrass fill in and to also help jumpstart the bermuda. We will have an even playing surface over here sooner than later. Getting the bluegrass established correctly in the fall is the key to being able to keep the Poa annua out. We are excited for a normal year when we can get the seed in the ground properly.
The only thing the rain has helped are the Sabot greens. They are growing and starting to fill in from aeration. We put some liquid fertilizer on the bentgrass Thursday and should be able to start mowing them when wet Friday morning. The rain has beat the sand down enough to hopefully get back in to the normal mowing and rolling routine when there is dew on the surface.
The rain did allow us to get two more fans painted up and ready for the summer.
Next week we are planning to get some more sodding done after 9 black is complete. This bed behind 18 Sabot green will be sodded over and the three maples (1 by the putting green and 2 by the chipping fairway) will be removed in favor of new sod. With the smaller maples gone we will be able to elevate the quality of turf here and provide some more room for short game practice.
