Gray Hawk Construction Update

 The construction on Gray Hawk will wrap up over the next couple of days. All that remains are "punch list" items and the leveling of a few irrigation heads. All and all, the project went very smoothly.

The dry soils made shaping, grading, and backfilling a bit more difficult, and I will be interested to see if we have more settling this year than in years past.  

Green, tee, and fairway germination rates have been the highest and most consistent we have seen with any of the renovations. We will mow fairways for the second time tomorrow at a height of 1". The more we can mow these fairways, the faster they will reach their desired density. We are pushing them a little more this year by using biweekly foliar Urea applications. The low overnight temperatures expected at the end of this week could slow their progress, but we will have to wait and see.

I couldn't be more pleased with the way greens are growing in. We made a couple of minor changes to the way we prepared the greens to receive seed and they have made all the difference. Greens have been mowed six times and are down to a height of .190". We will start mowing them daily until growth slows and hope to get them down to a height of .150" by the end of the season. Their density gets better by the day. Topdressing and foliar fertilizer applications will be the key to getting the greens as mature as we can before winter. Rolling will also become important as we try and smooth out all the humps and bumps created during the regrassing process.

As the grow in continues, my focus will shift toward tree replacement. With all renovations, there has to be some tree removal and it is important to replace these.  Now that the holes are taking shape and we can envision how they will be played, we can start to add trees. This is one of my favorite aspects of the process. The correct placement of a tree can have a long lasting impact on how the hole looks and plays.

#5 Gray Hawk from 200 yards



#6 Gray Hawk from 300 yards

#7 Gray Hawk from 200 yards

#2 Gray Hawk green 30 days after seeding

#2 Gray Hawk green 30 days after seeding

Course Update

 

I'd like to apologize for the lack of posts in the past couple of weeks. Last week was spent aerifying the course which is a process that always seems to eat up most of my time. A huge thank-you goes out to the members of my crew for putting in the long hours it takes to complete the job. I would also like to thank all the golfers for their patience during this process.

The greens are healing from the aerification process fairly quickly. With cooler weather in the forecast, we expect this process should speed up by the end of the week.

Now that aerification is finished, we will shift our focus back to over-seeding thin areas on fairways, tees etc... This seeding will likely continue for the foreseeable future, as I would like to move out into the rough and repair areas that were lost to the drought.

As we approach fall we are beginning to prioritize our list of late fall/winter projects. Here are a few of the things we want to address:

1. Add and/or move specific irrigation heads to provide better coverage for years like we have recently experienced.
2. Improve or add drainage to some low areas on the course. An example of an area would be along the west side of the cart path running between #1 Black Bird fairway and #2 Black Bird tee complex.
3. Re-edge bunkers on the Black Bird course.
4. Raise and level low irrigation heads throughout the course.

The renovation of Gray Hawk is moving along very well. All fairway and tee box seeding has been completed and the sod work is drawing to an end. All of the greens are growing well thus far. This is the most consistent germination we have had throughout the three years of renovation work. The hot temperatures we experienced the two weeks following seeding may have slowed initial growth a bit, but the cool nighttime temperatures have helped alot. The cooler forecast for the end of this week should real kick things into gear.

With all the major tasks completed, we could use a good rain to help things fill in. 

 

 #4 Grow-in underway

 

#7 Fairway bunkers are sodded

 

#7 View of green complex from 200 yds

 

#3 Fairway just prior to seeding

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

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.

#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. 

#4 Gray Hawk Greens Complex Construction

#4 Gray Hawk before construction started.

#4 Gray Hawk as of today.

 

Both bunkers have been moved much closer to the green. The front bunker wraps around the green quite a bit. To give you a point of reference, the pile of dirt to the right of the back right bunker sits where the center of the old bunker sat. 

You can also see the beginnings of two low mow collection areas. One is located behind the green and one to the left of the green. 

Not shown here is the new black tee box that will be added to this hole. It sits behind and to the right of the blue tee box.

#1 Gray Hawk

CLICK ON THE PICTURES TO ENLARGE

A view of the work from the red tee box. The right fairway bunker and right green side bunker have been rough shaped and the left bunker shaping is set to begin.

A view of the greenside bunker from 70 yards out.

Installing a drain basin.