Renovation Day 103-123

The driving range bunker drainage and sand installation has been completed.  In the background of the pic you can see the irrigation system being blown out.  The compressor in the second pic was set up by the pump house.  We have to use a larger compressor to blow out the new HDPE system.  The system was blown out before the snow hit.  We are still making progress on tree work, we have a hand full of trees left. 

Renovation Day 97-102

The drainage project at the bottom of 18 fairway was completed last Friday.  A flowable grout was pushed through the old 24" clay tile to stop the subsidence holes.  We tried to dig a section of the old pipe up to see the depth and the clay tiles were 12' deep at the top of the pipe in areas.  We finished sodding the practice bunker at the driving range yesterday.  It was still too wet to install the drainage.  We will have that project complete shortly.  The front 9 cart paths were finished on Friday also.  We began removing the sod and back filling next to the cart paths with soil to level the edges.  

Renovation Day 94-96

It took the St. Clair staff a long time to prep the cart paths on the front 9 for the 2" asphalt over lay which started this morning.  Ted Moore, with Moore Asphalt, completed the cart paths on 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 today.  Tomorrow morning he will finish 8 and 9.  You have no idea how much of a scar the old cart paths were until you see the new cart paths in place.  Also, Mike Munie has installed all of the 24" drain tile and man holes.  The pic above is the new junction at the bottom of 18 fairway under the sycamore tree with concrete connections.  The lid will be installed tomorrow and grading the surrounding area of disturbance will be completed soon.   

Renovation Day 76-93

T&A irrigation has all of the main line complete and the new HDPE irrigation system has been hooked up to the pump house.  When we installed the "Z" pipe coming out of the pump house in '06' we poured a couple yards of concrete around the valves as thrust blocks and it took T&A a day to jackhammer the concrete out.  The old hydraulic system that was used to keep the irrigation heads down is finally obsolete.  St. Calir is now a full electric system.  Mike Munie, with Perfect Play, has begun the drainage project below 9 tee through 18 fairway.  Within the next few days he will have the man holes installed and connect the new drain to the lake over flow.  We are still trying to keep the course mowed and leaves mulched up as much as possible.  The St. Clair staff has been doing inside tasks such as installing new plastic on the green house during heavy frost.   

Renovation Day 69-75

We have started the asphalt prep for the asphalt overlay for the front nine.  We rented an asphalt mill to level the current cart paths and an asphalt sweeper to remove the debris.  After the asphalt material was removed we used a cut saw to clean the joints on the asphalt to concrete connections.  The asphalt will again be removed in those areas and filled with a rock base.  The staff has also started grinding stumps and removing the chips.  We have a lot of stumps through the course and we have almost made it through the front nine already.

Renovation Day 66-68

This morning we removed the dew from the green surfaces with a filled hose.  The spray hawk was calibrated for greens and we began spaying.  Fungicide and foliar fertilizers were applied to help continue growth as much as possible.  The greens are filling in very well.  We seeded greens starting September 16th through October 1st once LaBar and Kye were finished with construction.  We have mowed all of the greens multiple times and we are already down to a mowing height of .200", just under 1/4".  Normal mowing height is .120" - .140", so we are pretty close to a playable height.  We will continue to lower the height into November to help promote lateral growth.  T&A Irrigation has completed the front 9 and have started the main line on the back and began 11 fairway today.   

Renovation Day 51-65

LaBar has finished all the large construction areas.  The St. Clair staff is buttoning up areas that didn't get sodded with seed and straw.  The new tees on 1, 3, 7, 8, 11, 14, 17 and 18 have been completed.  Most of these tees will expand the yardage on the score card and will make the holes a lot more challenging.  We are finishing tree work and will begin removing stumps and grinding.   

Renovation Day 44-50

A lot of progress has been made since the last post.  The top pic is the seed, germination, fungicide and mow schedule for the greens.  All of the greens have been seeded except the range chipping green and the nursery at the back of the range.  We mowed a few greens for the first time yesterday, 15 days after seeding.  There are a few thin spots that will fill in and we are adding sand and seed to make them fill faster.  LaBar has finished most of the shaping through the course and will finish their detail work soon as well.  T&A irrigation has completed the front nine irrigation and will work on irrigating the range tees and chipping green this week. 

Renovation Day 41-43

#5 fairway was prepped and sod was installed late last week.  Kye did a great job shaping the contours of the fairway and laying the turf lines to differentiate between the zoysia and fescue sod.  The bottom picture is #12 green with bent grass germination.  We had seed germinate in four days.  The thin areas will fill and hopefully we will be  mowing on day ten after germination.     

Renovation Day 32-40

We have half of the greens seeded.  The irrigation has been programmed to run three minutes every half hour.  The second picture is #5 green with seed applied and dimpled with the bunker rake.  Green shaping and most of the bunkers are complete.  A few more good days of weather and we will have all of the seeding finished.

Renovation Day 25-31

#9 green and the new putting green in front of the pro shop has been drained, lined and filled with greens mix.  Over the last few weeks of heat Mr. Goalby has been passing out water to the St. Clair, LaBar and    T and A staff.  He has been here every day since the beginning of the renovation, he even took my hose while I was watering sod so I could get a drink of water.  Good Man.  Also, Kye was out last Sunday in the rain floating the greens surface in preparation of seeding.  The last picture is #1 with completed sod perimeter.

Renovation Day 21-24

T and A Irrigation installed the HDPE main irrigation line yesterday on #8.  They will tie into the already completed #8 fairway irrigation line.  They have completed all of the green irrigation except for #9 and the new putter.  After the greens loops are installed they will install temporary controll boxes so we can program a watering cycle for the newly seeded greens.  LaBar is sodding #12 green surround and will be completed today.  We have been hand watering completed sod areas a few times a day and we are days away from seeding the green.  #1 tee has been expanded in the front with soil from #9 green complex.  Kye will use a dozer to finish grading the slope and sod will be installed. 

Renovation Day 17-20

A lot of progress has been made over the last few days.  The sand base for #5 green has been installed.  Once the bunkering and perimeter sod is in place we will start seeding the green.  Kye is floating the surface of #12 today and prep work around the perimeter is in progress.  Sod for the surround will arrive tomorrow.  The tie wall at #1 tee has been removed.  The soil from the demo at #9 green will be used as back fill to make a slight hill sloping down from the tee and hopefully allow us to gain a few yards in the front.  The asphalt and rock base is being removed in front of the pro shop for the new putting green site.  We are still well within the seeding window and I am looking forward to getting the surfaces seeded. 

Renovation Day 13-16

#2 green shaping is complete.  The sod date for the perimeter had to be moved due to the heat we had this week.  Next weeks weather is looking promising and sod will be laid then.  After the sod is in place we will begin seeding the reconstructed greens surfaces.  Bunker work is in progress and the results are nothing short of amazing compared to the construction that we had before the renovation.  The new bunkers will no longer have sand faces which will help keep contamination to a minimum.  Tree work is progressing and we are running into a lot of trees that have rotten areas within.  The picture is of the big oak on the left side of #7 fairway.  The tree was wedge cut in the front and before the back cut could be finished, due to the rot, the tree fell with half of the root ball still attached.  Trees like these are very dangerous and a liability to the club.   

Renovation Day 10-12

Tarps were placed over the green surface and a sand perimeter was laid on top of the tarp to keep the gas contained under the plastic.  After the tarps were installed, Methyl Bromide was applied under the tarps.  Methyl Bromide kills anything that breathes, such as the existing green surface, poa weed seeds and fungus.  #2 green has been dug out, drainage and liner installed and mix will be added to the cavity soon.  Kye is moving very fast on the greens that are being rebuilt.  The last picture is Kye compacting the sand in the green cavity on #12.  LaBar, the construction contractor, will possibly sod the green perimeter on #1 and #12 and then we can seed the greens with 007 bent grass.

Renovation Day 6-9

#1 green cavity is being filled with greens mix and irrigation has already been installed around the perimeter.  We are ahead of schedule and once the sod is installed we will be able to begin seeding the surface.  #5 green demo has started and judging by the other rebuilt greens we will be seeding early as well.  The last picture is of a capped irrigation line where the irrigation head connected.  We had to abandon the hydraulic line as well to maintain control of the irrigation system.  We didn't have controlable water on the course for 10 days and #15 green held in really well.  The 007 bent grass that we are seeding into the green surfaces throughout the course can really handle a lot of stress and I am still very impressed with its results.  

Renovation Day 4

#12 green demo is underway.  The irrigation around #4 green has been completed and T and A Irrigation is starting the loop around the green on #8.  The new greens loops will be used to water in the newly seeded greens.  They are installing full circle heads just outside the collar to water greens and part circle heads to water green surrounds.  #11 and #14 herring bone drainage will be filled soon.  All of the soil greens drainage needs to be completed by August 22nd.  Methyl Bromide, which is a soil sterilant, will be applied to the greens on the 22nd and 23rd.