In a holding pattern

 The old putting green sod was stripped over two weeks ago, on October 15.  Since then you may have seen the sod comfortably resting to the left of #9.  

Prior to cutting the sod, fungicides and a plant growth regulator were applied to the green.  While there hasn't been a whole lot of foliar growth since then, it's great to see long white roots emerging from the bottom side of the sod.

As with many things these days, some supply issues have slowed down the project a bit, but with any luck, the sod will be moved to its new home later this week.

Don't let the grass grow under your feet

While golf course architect, Andrew Green, is all about growing grass, the in demand man has no time to waste.  Arriving pre-dawn on Friday morning, a lack of light didn't slow Andrew down, as he went to work checking grades on the new putting green.

With sunrise, it was time for him to move some dirt, making a few minor adjustments, prior to the drainage being installed.

Finally, with a bit more daylight, Andrew discussed the details with the construction team.  The new green is twice the size of its predecessor, and will tie-in nicely with the tees on #1.

It's about to get real...

 As the bunker phase of this year's Master Plan work is wrapping up, it's time to move on to bigger and better things.  Construction on the new practice green and redesigned #1 tee is now underway.  This area is quickly becoming unrecognizable from what it was a week ago.

Golf course architect, Andrew Green, reviews plans for the new putting green with members of Mottin Golf Course Renovations, prior to staking out the new green's location.

One of the trickiest parts of this operation is saving the sod from the old green.  On Saturday it was stripped, then relocated to the left of #9 where it will be stored until the new green is complete.  At that time the old sod, along with material from other areas will be placed on the new putting green.  Similar to the short game area last year, once completed we will be covering the new putting green over the winter months.

It's a first...

 With the golf course being 30 years old, it isn't very often that we can say that, "We've never seen that before."  An exception to this occurred last week as the remnants of Ian passed by, and then became a Nor'easter, slowly dumping crazy amounts of rain over a five day period.

When the skies finally cleared, we had accumulated over five inches of rain in the first five days of the month.  If we didn't receive another drop for the remaining 26 days of October, we would still be 43% above average precipitation totals for the month.

32,500,000 gallons of water fell on the golf course itself.  If we include the surrounding residential area which drains onto the course, the total is 68,600,000. With water weighing 8.3 pounds per gallon, that's 270 million pounds of water that landed on the course!

So what was the first time out of this?  Well, unless there was snow on the ground, we have never come close to six days in a row when we couldn't allow carts on the golf course.  

If nothing else, this map should change dramatically in the near future.  One other benefit was that the slow soaking rain was helpful in establishing all of the newly installed sod on the course.

Pitch Mark Repair

 We need your help!  Unfortunately, even with just a few outside golf events lately, we continue to see a large number of unrepaired ball marks on the greens.  Fixing your ball mark should be a habit.  To this end, here are a few suggestions:

• Go to your ball mark first when walking onto the green, then go to your ball.
• Repair your ball mark and one other on each and every green.
• Make sure those you play with repair their ball marks on each and every green.

Additional information on ball mark repair from the USGA can be found here:  Ball Mark Repair Quiz

Below are some step by step instructions, but if you need additional tips, any of our Pro Shop staff will be happy to give you a few pointers:

It's a dance

With limited labor (yes, that blue, "limited labor" link is worth the click) this time of year, we are often forced to use our riding "triplex" mowers on the greens daily.  Additionally, our mowing commences while it's still dark out.  In preparing for the Member-Member event, we double-mowed and rolled for several days, many times having multiple pieces of equipment on a green at the same time.

If you've ever watched the team prepare the putting surfaces, and it looks like a well-choreographed performance, their precision and execution doesn't occur by accident.

Like learning to dance with a partner, there is a good deal of non-verbal communication which takes place from the time the mowers and roller arrive at one green, and eventually exit, heading towards the next.  Whether you call it the triplex trot, tango, or two-step, operating in concert with another mower takes time and practice.

"Places of penance..."

 As you check out the collection of new bunkers on #15, the words of Bernard Darwin may ring true--bunkers are intended to be penal and therefore should be avoided.  

If you haven't had an opportunity to see the new fairway bunkers on #15, they are visually spectacular.  The one closest to the green is eye-catching, and will be challenging to say the least.  With a downhill lie, and 70 yards to the green, this is a bunker shot that few people practice on a regular basis.

This bunker definitely has the potential to get in a player's head, however there is a bit of good news if you're able to clear it, as the fairway will  be expanded in front of the green to the right.

As noted previously, some elements of the Master Plan are executed more easily than others.  While we've tried to work around irrigation lines during this process, there have been a couple of times when things needed to be relocated.  

The new bunker on the right side of #15 green happened to have the irrigation greens loop going right through it.  Fortunately, this was a fairly easy line to reroute.