Everything Went According To Plan. Almost

My last blog outlined the work that would be ongoing these past few days including today. We installed the short cut sod on the range tee, sodded most of the short game practice area and completed the work behind the 11th green. We also did some sod work at the 13th and 18th tees. Answer Asphalt began work on Wednesday. They cored out the new cartpath, laid down the base and today paved the path. They almost made it to completion without incident. But it was Friday and we had scheduled a BBQ for our staff beginning around 1 p.m. A well deserved perk for all of us. Eric had kicked me off the organizing committee and was cooking up a storm when one of the tandem trucks snapped a water line next to the path close to the practice green.

Now these things happen so even though we were upset and frustrated with the timing we got it repaired within an hour. The main issue that affected the membership was that the broken line happened to feed the drinking fountains and the course washrooms. The line had to stay isolated and not turned back on. The repair is under the asphalt (no option to move it) so we needed to make sure it would set firm and leave no chance for leaking. I decided that we would wait until early Saturday morning to turn the line back on. We need to flush out any debris that might have entered the line. Small particles can disrupt the fountains and also the toilets in the washrooms. If you notice the closed signs still up tomorrow morning please be patient as we have to prepare the course for play as well as try and get the range open for 8 o'clock.

Time to discuss the driving range. In order to head off some confusion here is the situation. First off please keep your expectations to a minimum. The range itself was only sodded 7 days ago. We will get some temporary flags out on the target greens in the next day or two. As the weeks progress we will cut down the target greens so they have some definition. New flags and various target markers will be setup and regular mowing will commence.

The new grass tee was sodded on Wednesday. Therefore please DO NOT step on or hit from the turf. It is not ready for use.

The Turf Hound hitting system has not yet arrived from the USA. I have been reassured it will be shipped soon. Without going into it here we are being told there was production issues and that we are next to be supplied.

You will notice the temporary mats we have managed to secure are not up to your standards. This is my fault. I made the mistake of selling our old mats 2 months ago not imagining delivery of our new tees surface would take so long. Please use what we have setup. It isn't perfect but they will serve the purpose for a week or two. My apologies. Lesson learned.

A few more points before I close:

• Please stay off the new tees on 13 and 18 as they are not ready.
• We will be sodding the remaining pond edge, the old bunker on 17, some sidebanks at 13 tee, and more of the practice area on Monday.
• CTC has some finish work on both sides of the new cartpath at #10. Curbing is scheduled for Sunday and Monday. They can then finish some tie in to the cartpath and we can then finish the sod work. Finally!!
• I will be touring the work (project) with Bryan from CTC on Monday to review and discuss any touchup required before we can say we are finished.
• Ted Locke will be visiting on Wednesday for a look as well.

All for now,
Wade

P.S. Not checked for errors in grammar and structure.