21st Tee levelling

This week we are working on levelling the 21st tee, which has become increasingly un-level due to settlement. Once all the existing turf was lifted (to be used elsewhere), new levels were established and work began levelling the sub soil.

Once we had a suitable base, root zone material was brought in.

 To ensure we get the final tee surface as level as possible, with the equipment we have available, we make a perfectly level perimeter. Here's Adam and Alistair installing the wooden guides.

Then the root zone material is spread across the tee and levelled ready for turfing

Turfing

Today we lifted the turf from the 21st tee so it will be ready for the excavator to begin levelling the subsoil next week.

The best of the turf was used at the 13th to renovate an area of worn, thin turf by the front bunker

Today we also raked the bunkers, moved the holes, switched the greens and started hand cutting the hedge around the 19th tee.

13th front bunker renovations and cutting greens

Yesterday we started yet another bunker renovation. This time we were just patching the face on the bunker front of the 13th green.This face has always suffered in summer when it get burnt off due to poor growth and rabbits dig at the bare ground.

The old turf was stripped off and the soil was prepared for the new turf.

New turf was then laid

Only a little left to do, unfortunately the weather turned very wet today so we will finish turfing when it dries up

Yesterday we also continued with hand cutting greens

After all the aeration done in October the greens are settling back down nicely 

Today we made a start hand cutting the greens as the frost had come out of the ground, we will finish these off next week. We raked all the bunkers, the 9th third fairway bunker is now back in play after having a new drain installed, Scott also made a start spraying the fairways with sulphate of iron to help control moss. 19 - 27 fairways will be finished next week. All the holes have been moved for the weekend. Next week we will be doing some small turfing jobs on the 13th and 5th, finishing spraying fairways and hand cutting greens. The turf will be lifted of the 21st tee ready for levelling the following week.

Bunker work finished at 13th and 15th

Today the weather was much improved, so we finished off the construction of the two bunkers at 13 and 15 that we started before the frosty weather. Before laying the turf we prepared the soil.

With all the turf laid and pegged the finished bunker looks fantastic. Once we get closer to the growing season the green will be extended closer to the bunker at the front of the green.

The small pot bunker we have created at the back of the green is designed to be hidden when on the fairway approaching the green. A nasty surprise awaiting any stray shots to the green! 

We also finished the 13th green side bunker, turf was just left to lay on the face and on the surrounding mounds

Great job lads!

Today the frost was still in the ground first thing so we continued on with machinery servicing, tree pruning, updating risk assessments and H & S files and the normal daily duties of moving tee markers, switching (where possible) and moving hoops around greens. Today we had a delivery of turf to finish the bunker surrounds tomorrow. Hopefully the frost will have lifted enough in the morning to get all the holes moved as we have not had chance recently due to the weather.

The last couple of days has brought back very cold weather, the work we started on 13 and 15 has had to be put on hold until the ground thaws. As we cant do any construction work, we have continued with servicing of machines, painting of tee markers and tree pruning. The next few days forecast is to warm slightly so hopefully we can get the bunkers turfed and tidied up. As the ground is currently frozen members have to take care around the course not to cause injury to themselves or to cause any unnecessary damage to the course.

15th bunker renovations

Today work started on the 15th right green bunker, first job was to lift all the turf which is stockpiled to be relaid once the job is finished.

All of the sand was removed from the bunker and put into the 9th fairway bunker which will now be brought back into play next week.

With the sand removed, construction could start, first job was to remove all excess sand from the face of the bunker and rebuild it with topsoil.

Once the face was reconstructed the outline of the new bunkers were marked and the base of the bunker was excavated to the correct depth.

Unfortunately the greens irrigation pipe was running directly through the centre of the reshaped bunker. The irrigation pipe will have to be re-routed once the bunker has been formed.

Once the base of the bunker is finished, drains are installed and connected to the mains

The bunker surround was then stripped of topsoil, to allow shaping of the subsoil

End of the day and our efforts have certainly made an impact on the second shot to the green.

13th bunker work continued

Today work continued on contouring the rear of the bunker to add definition around the green. We imported recycled and composted soil to shape the soil to the right profile then covered it with the topsoil removed from the area yesterday. Final finishes are done by hand raking. The area is then ready for turfing.

Turf which was lifted from the area is brought back and laid.The face of the bunker is to be turfed with turf containing finer grasses, as this is easier to manage during the growing season.

From the tee, the bunker certainly has a bigger impact and makes the tee shot more challenging.

13th bunker renovations

 Today we made a start renovating the bunker left of the 13th green. Here you can see the need for the renovation. When the face was excavated there was around 2 feet of sand build up.

This is how it looked before work started. First job before anything is done is to move the sand into the centre of the bunker to avoid contamination.

Once the sand was moved Alistair began excavating the face, removing all excess sand until the original soil line was found. The final shaping has to be done by hand

Once the face has been re-established and shaped, the back of the bunker is reshaped and graded using the excavator, then finished by hand.

The area to the back of the bunker is being contoured, so from the tee there is a back drop to the bunker. To do this the turf is firstly stripped to be relaid, the topsoil is excavated off and soil is imported to create the shapes required then the topsoil is used to finish the area off. Tomorrow we hope to have finished all contouring work and ready to relay the turf.

After yesterdays efforts by all the lads to tidy the course after the wind and rain, it all had to be repeated again today as strong winds returned. We had the tornado blower out to clear fairways and semi rough of tree debris. All the bunkers were raked, debris blown off the greens so hand cutting could be finished, and cutting of the tee tops were finished. Adam and Rob managed to finish servicing of the 6500 fairway mower. We hope to get the majority of tree debris that has been rounded cleared away tomorrow and the fairways finished slit tined so next week we can concentrate on bunker renovations on 10-18 holes.

After a days closure yesterday, which saw heavy rain and strong winds, today has been a lot drier and the course was re opened for play. Given the forecast for a reasonably dry end to the week, today we have been hand cutting the greens, cutting surrounds and summer tee tops. A lot of debris has also had to be cleared from semi, fairways, tees and greens following the wind, fortunately no big trees have been lost so far. Alistair has also started to slit tine all the fairways. If the wind eases on Friday we will spray the greens with sulphate of iron. Work servicing the fairway mower is also ongoing.

Firstly a happy new year to all, over the Christmas period we have only had a skeleton workforce to check the course and do the important tasks of switching greens and moving markers. So after a well deserved break for all the lads over the festive period it is all hands on in the new year. We finished last year having done all of the bunker and pond work on 1-9 holes, in January we hope to get on with more bunker reshaping on 10-18 holes. Work hopefully will start on 9th January on the 13th hole where the front bunker needs draining and some of the face re-turfing, the 13th left green bunker needs refacing and behind the green plans are to screen the track with mounding. The bunker on right 14th fairway is to be drained. The bunker right 15th green is to be reshaped and drained. The first bunker on 18th fairway is to be reshaped and refaced.
Other work on 10-18 holes to be done in January/ February is removing 3-4 meters of the pipework running into the 14th pond, as this has become blocked with willow roots. The willow tree has been removed already to ensure this does not happen again.