Sodding is Complete

Today we completed the sodding portion of the kikuyu fairway improvement program with two semi truck loads or 15,500 square feet of sod on hole #18.  Below are before and after pictures. 

We still have some work to do on the new kikuyu sod.  Next week we will continue aerifing and topdressing with sand on holes #13 and #14.  If #16 and #17 are ready and we have the time we will do those as well and finish with #18 the following week.  This process helps the sod knit with the native soil as well as even out some of the imperfections in the sodding process.

The next steps in the kikuyu fairway improvement plan will be some continued oak tree thinning in September and seeding areas that did not recieve sod in October.  We have noticed many new kikuyu plants in areas we seeded in the spring. 

Final Week of Sod Work

Good Morning, sometimes when I am driving around the course I just see a picture I have to take, its nice to have camera phones these days.  I will continue to share pictures as I take them. 

Yes you read the title right, this is our final week of kikuyu sod installation, we will be working on #16, #17 and #18 this week. 

Today is a very busy day for the golf course maintenance staff.  This morning we have begun removing sod from hole #16 and bringing it to the driving range, as well as installing the irrigation system and building the target greens.  We also have aerified the new kikuyu sod on #4 and #5 as well as the rough between the cartpath and fairway on #4 were so much traffic was concentrated during our work in that area.  We also topdressed the new sod on #9 tee again.  We will be reopoening the tee as soon as possible.

Practice Range

Yesterday we began the grading project on the practice range landing area, below are a couple of pictures, one from each end of the range before we began.

Then the rubber tire loader showed up.  Our goal is to level our the landing area (take the hump out of the middle) so it is easier to watch where the balls land.  We will then rebuild the target greens, resod with grass from #16 and #17 fairways and trim the trees back to enlarge the inside of the range.

Here are some more pics of the grading that has begun.  I will continue to update this post until we finish the range.

Here is another picture with the grading almost completed.  We cut over 3 feet of soil out of the middle and pushed it to the back of the range.  Next we will begin with the shaping of the target greens.

The last two days have had work done on the range that wasn't that noticable however very improtant.  We have begun the trenching to replace the irrigation system we removed before grading and we also rototilled the new area to loosen up the compacted soil to prepare it for sod.

8/29/13 UPDATE

We are almost finished with the work on the range as well as completing the kikuyu sod in the fairways.  This week we completed sodding the driving range and today we completed sodding the target greens with hybrid bermudagrass.  We are trying to complete everything this week so we can open the range for the weekend.  Please keep your carts off the new sod for a couple weeks so it can become well rooted.

Meet Charlie

This is Charlie, a 9 week old miniature Australian Shepherd that I picked up last Sunday to be my golf course dog.  When she gets a little older I hope to train her to chase away any rabbits, coots and geese that we do not want damaging the golf course.  She already chased her first bird away this morning.  She is loving all the affection she has gotten from the members that have already met her, so don't be afraid to say hi.

Latest Kikuyu Sod Installation

Today was another busy day of Kikuyu sod installation and Oak tree trimming.  Today we installed new kikuyu sod on holes 8, 10 and 11.  Below are a couple of pictures of 8 and 11 with the oaks trimmed and new sod installed.  The thinning of the oak trees allows for additional sunlight for the new kikuyu sod.  We are also pruning to balance the trees, if there is excessive weight on one side, to prevent broken branches or fallen trees.

Next week we will be working on holes 13 and 14 as well as regrading the  landing area on the driving range and rebuilding the target greens.