Project Update #3

Rainy days afford the opportunity for me to play catch-up with the business side of the operation and set aside a little time for a blog post.  Here is an update on Fall projects over the last week:

XGD Installation:

 

XGD mapped out their final green on late Monday night, which was completed on Wednesday afternoon to bring the project to a close.  With completion, we now have 17 of 18 greens containing the XGD drainage system.  As mentioned in my previous post, timing conflicts will prevent the installation of #5 till next spring or fall.


#3 Black/Blue Tee:

The Tee surface for the new Black/Blue tee was sodded and completed this past Friday. 

 

Perimeter of tee was first created with string-line and measuring tape to ensure the width of equal mowing lines and the square design feature that we have been working on for all tees.

 

Starting to lay sod

 



 

Plywood was used while laying to reduce imperfections.

The finished product.

 

The remainder of the complex will be buttoned up next spring following irrigation installation and re-routing the water fountain line.  To help with cost, the sod that will be created from the remaining  holes of the intermediate project will be used.  

 

 

#5 Forward Tee:

 

We continued to work on the new forward tee for #5 throughout the week.  Subgrade was achieved Wednesday afternoon and we had begun cutting the actual tee surface prior to the rain setting in.

 

Lots of dirt was hauled in.

 

In addition to forming the tee, we brought in dirt to form a walkway on the hillside to soften the walk from cartpath to tee.

 

  More Dirt!

 

Lots of Dirt = Lots of Compacting

 Starting to cut the actual tee top.



Side view of tee.  We are planning to create a stone wall (like we did on the new bed on #13 tee) in the corner to frame the tee.

 

Today's rain will likely halt progress for the remainder of the week, but with a good forecast for the first of next week, we should be bringing in sand for the tee surface by the middle of next week.

#5 Green:

Work on raising the front left portion of #5 green began on Tuesday morning.  A lot transpired in the two days of work with knowing the strong chance of rain was in the forecast.

 

First, Aspen began stripping the green

 

Side view of the portion of the green that was stripped

 

Close-up view on the area, Aspen would roll each piece prior to removing

 

Each piece was then moved to an area behind the green, a system was used to return each piece to its exact same location once the re-surfacing is completed

 

View of the green after being stripped

 

Their operator then took the posi-trac to begin scratching the existing surface to churn up the material

I think he needed a break, little dizzy maybe...

 

Then using the bucket, he began to pull material from the back of the green to the front. The back of the green is being lowered a touch to help generate material for the front and balance out the 9% slope from back to front.

 

Throughout the process, Alfonso was checking slope percentage

 

 

Material that was developed from XGD was then hauled to the green for additional fill, 5 total dump trucks were brought in, including a couple of big workman loads as well.

 

The material was pushed and worked throughout the putting surface, here is a good picture to show how much has been added....take notice to the elevation change between the feet of the employee and the bottom of the posi-trac.  The employee is standing on the existing grade of the green. 

 

View from front to back

The Architect stopped by on Wednesday morning and together we worked out final details

 



We shot grades to see where additional material needed to be moved to suttle out the slope

 



 

Aspen then used a sandpro to feather out the material in areas that were identified to help with the tie-in to the surrounding contours.

 

Once we were all happy, the crew began to put a rake on the entire surface to skim away larger particles and rocks

Next they started to bring in a 6-2-2 (same drainage mix used in XGD drain lines) sand mix for final grade.  The sand was easier to work with in raking to fill lows, imperfections and addressing additional areas that needed to be raised.

 



 

The operator then used the sand-pro again to push out the piles before the crew put one final rake on the new and improved putting surface.

 

 

The rain prevented work on today, but allowed me the opportunity to identify lows (because puddles formed) that will need to be address when Aspen resumes work tomorrow.  We achieved exactly what we were looking for in the form of surface drainage as water moved from back to front, hit the small spine that was created and diverted to both the front left and right corner of the green without going into the bunkers to create washouts.

 

I would expect a day to iron out the wrinkles from the rain and we should have a sodded putting surface by the end of the weekend.

 

 

Phase 1 of Maintenance Compound:

 

 

Excavation work began for Phase 1 of the new Maintenance Compound with the construction of Material Storage Bin with overhang and a Chemical/Fertilizer storage building.  Both additions will greatly influence the efficiency and fiscal integrity of the Greens operation.

 

Currently, our storage bins are located at the low point of the property (where all water runs to outside of into the shop) and do not contain any form of canopy for protection from the weather outside of purchased tarps.  The end result is a loss in material due to contamination because of  exposure to weather conditions and the inability to hold material in bulk.  The ability to keep products dry and clean will allow our purchasing to be in bulk for sand, gravel, mulch, topsoil and greens mix cutting down on cost with delivery, cost associated with being bagged and product loss due to contamination.  The new material bins will be located below the line of pine trees on the north end of our compound with swells diverting water around and a canopy to keep materials dry.

 

Removing topsoil

The four stakes indicate the corners of the structure with four separate bins within

 

Getting to grade

 

 

The new Chemical/Fertilizer storage building will be located on the west side of the compound directly beside my current office.  This building is going to make drastic improvements in the efficiency of our operation.  Currently, products including chemcials or fertilizers are located in three various locations throughout the compound in areas that are not temperature regulated.  Having the ability to have everything in one central climate control area will improve the time associated with fill-up during applications and increase the shelf life of products.  The fiscal aspect for one of the biggest line items of the budget will also be influenced because of storage capacity allowing us to buy in bulk and take advantage of purchasing programs.

 

 

The first step was to take out the brush that was located where the building will stand

 

I'm meeting with the Structural Contractor tomorrow (Friday) morning to stake out the footprint of the new building.  The excavation company will then work on the subgrade of that site before beginning to bring in the fill for both locations over the weekend.

 

 

That's about all I have for now, I'll get an update out to everyone the first of next week with a finished look at #5.  Till then, have a great weekend!!