Course and Construction Update

We were fortunate to catch some cool weather and rain last week which has really helped the course. The over-seeding process began last week and most of Red Feather and Black Bird fairways are complete. We have really started to see some good germination in these fairways. This process will be put on hold temporarily as we gear up for aerification next week.

 

Our aerification process will be very similar to the one we used this past spring.We will again be pulling 5/8" cores on the greens and 1/2" cores in the fairways and collection areas. In addition, we will core all the tee surfaces this fall. This is something that hasn't been done since I started at Indian Creek.

 

Construction is going well and deadlines are being met. All of the greens were seeded earlier this week and the sodding of the greens complexes will be complete by the end of day on Friday. Once the green complexes are sodded, we can really start throwing water to the greens. Gray Hawk is slowly shaping into a great golf course. I firmly believe we saved our best for last.

 

All in all, it appears we have survived the summer and are well into the recovery period. For now, let's hope for cooler weather and additional rain. Take a look at some pictures of the construction process below. I hope you all enjoy your Labor Day weekend. Football season is here - GBR!!! 

 

Sodding green side bunker on #7 Gray Hawk

 

Seeding collection area on the back of the green on #5 Gray Hawk.

 

#2 Gray Hawk green complex after sod and seed.

 

Installing a riser to match irrigation head with new grade.

 

#4 Gray Hawk green complex after sod and seed.

Gray Hawk Construction Update

 

Below are a few pictures of some greens complexes prior to sod installation. Greens were seeded today and we hope to have all of the greens complexes sodded by this weekend.

 

#1

 

 #2

#3

#4

#6

 

 #8

Cart Path

Due to the rainfall we have received and are expecting the rest of the day, the course will have cart path restrictions in place.

Irrigation Installation

 

A few pictures of the irrigation installation on the upper practice putting green.

 

 

The trailer containing all the signal and common wire for the upper putting green.

 

 

Wire pull

 

 

 Pipe and wire after pull and ready for head install.

 

Connecting signal and common wire and preparing for the install of the swing joint and head.

 

Installing the swing joint, head, and quick coupler.

#3 Gray Hawk Construction

 

 We built two new bunkers on what was the upper left shelf of the old fairway. We also graded and softened the slope that used to split the old fairway. This will really tighten up the landing area off the tee by taking away the option to bail out to the left.

 

We rebuilt both greenside bunkers and have created low mow collection areas around both sides of the green. We also built a 1200 square foot expansion onto the back left of the green. This expansion has created a very difficult pin location when tucked behind the new bunker. This will be a great hole.

Cart Path Rule Removed

We removed the cart path restrictions on Tuesday and will adhere to the 90 degree rule for the time being. It is my hope that this can be permanent but until we get a good rain, it will be a day-to-day decision.

Everyone has been extremely patient the last few weeks and we appreciate it immensely.

#2 Gray Hawk Greens Surround Construction

This picture illustrates the changes we have made to the greens complex on #2 Gray Hawk. We shifted the outside bunkers further out to allow room for the fairway to run up to the green on both sides of the center bunker. The center bunker makes reaching the green in two much more challenging.

#9 Gray Hawk Fairway Construction

A shot of the fairway on #9 Gray Hawk prior to the start of grading.

This picture illustrates the changes made to the #9 Gray Hawk fairway. The addition of the three bunkers put a premium on a well-placed drive.

What this picture doesn't show are the improvements to the drainage of this fairway. These improvements will be much more evident when we start the grow in process. 

Missed the Rain

Unfortunately we missed the majority of the rain over the last few days. We received a mere 0.10" of rain. The drought continues and we will continue to fight and keep things alive.

#5 Gray Hawk Renovation

Keep in mind I used my paint brush program to edit these pictures. The greens and bunker edges will vary once they are cut in the field.

Above you can see the new bunker we installed along the right side of the fairway. 


 

The illustration above shows the green expansion we have built onto the front and left of the green. This will provide an additional 1800 square feet of putting surface.  The addition will break from back to front with a 2% fall. This will allow a longer iron shot to land softer and have a better chance of holding the green than before. 

We moved the green side bunker to allow for the green expansion. We also rerouted the cart path around the back or the green. The blue line represents its new location. Moving this cart path has really cleaned up the approach area of this green.



#1 Red Feather Before and After

#1 Red Feather 13 months ago.

#1 Red Feather as of last week.

We Missed the Rain Again.

Yet another collection of storms rolls through the area just skirting the golf course. We are now 48 days removed from our last significant rainfall.

# 3 Red Feather Before and After

 #3 Red Feather 13 months ago

#3 Red Feather as of July 25th

Drain Tile Installation

The following pictures show the installation of an 8" drain basin and drain tile on #7 Gray Hawk. This stretch of tile runs from the left side of the #7 green to a storm sewer near #8 Gray Hawk.