What a spring! Temperatures went from freezing and windy to hot and windy almost overnight. Record winds and record high temperatures were set in the month of March. The golf course had little snow cover, so what was not covered with snow (greens and tees) was being hand watered to keep moisture in the plant. Since that time, the irrigation system has been charged and water is being applied in larger quantities than ever before.
The crew has been busy starting projects and doing normal spring maintenance, just getting a jump start this year. With the nicer weather, a couple of projects are under way, one of them including the fairway bunkers.
The fairway bunkers at Old Baldy Club have always been a topic of discussion. The sand in the bunkers is very coarse with large aggregates and right below the surface is mostly hard pan or clay. The result is very poor drainage and accumulation of water. The solution over the years has been to pump out the water every morning before play begins. NOT ANY MORE!
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| Beginning phase of removing old material - #1 fairway |
The goal this year is to come in and remove the poor material and dig down as far as needed and then install drainage. The drainage will be added to eliminate the puddling issues. Once the drainage lines are dug, a gravel layer will be added to the trench followed by drain pipe, followed by another layer of gravel. The remaining area in the trench will be sand. Since the main surface area of the bunkers is going to be dug down close to 6-10 inches, the coarse sand will be replaced with finer sand that matches more closely to the greenside bunkers.
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| A quick look at the amount of work that each bunker will need. A great amount of detail is given to make as little of disturbance possible to surrounding area of the bunkers. |
This entire process is very time consuming, especially with the decision of doing the work in house. The goal is to get a few holes completed each year, focusing on the worst holes first (holes with standing water each morning - #1, #4, #5, #8).
The progress will be posted on the blog, so stay tuned!
