I hope that everyone has had a great summer at Hawks, this season has had its challenges for us. Overall, I feel we have had the course in really nice shape when the weather has been on our side. This year it seemed like every time the course was in great shape we had another major rain event to deal with. The numerous rain events kept me on my toes this season. there was no less than 6 major rain events that my staff spent countless hours getting the course back in shape. Our staff is a seasoned, dedicated group of individuals that rarely complain even under the toughest timelines and countless hard and long hours to prepare the golf to the standards we have.
The test Better Billy Bunker, BBB, we installed this spring preformed as expected this season. With each rain event the bunker took whatever mother nature dealt it. I honestly feel there was no better year for us to see how the bunker renovation will perform for us. The photo shows the performance of the bunker after the 7.5 inches of rain we had this summer. I think we all agree that the project will be very exciting for us. I meet with our contractor last week to go over the scope of the project and a pre construction site visit. We plan on starting the project no later than the second week in October. The sand from all bunkers will be removed, drainage repaired and new sand that we have in the green bunker on 5 will be installed. All the greens bunkers will have the Better Billy Bunker system installed. We are looking at removing a few bunkers as well; the first bunker on the right of 2, the bunker on the left side by the woods on 5, and the small fairway bunker on hole 1. During the construction each bunker will have the ridges and humps removed. We will be working on a number of holes at the same time during the construction to increase productivity. Once we start installing the BBB system in the greens bunkers we may either have a temporary green in play or close the hole entirely. It will be very important to not walk in the bunkers once we start the BBB installation this will cause major delays in the curing process. I also plan on having back nine starts once we start construction on the front 9. During the construction process I will give daily updates on Twitter @hawksnr on our progress. I will also update my blog regularly.
The test Better Billy Bunker, BBB, we installed this spring preformed as expected this season. With each rain event the bunker took whatever mother nature dealt it. I honestly feel there was no better year for us to see how the bunker renovation will perform for us. The photo shows the performance of the bunker after the 7.5 inches of rain we had this summer. I think we all agree that the project will be very exciting for us. I meet with our contractor last week to go over the scope of the project and a pre construction site visit. We plan on starting the project no later than the second week in October. The sand from all bunkers will be removed, drainage repaired and new sand that we have in the green bunker on 5 will be installed. All the greens bunkers will have the Better Billy Bunker system installed. We are looking at removing a few bunkers as well; the first bunker on the right of 2, the bunker on the left side by the woods on 5, and the small fairway bunker on hole 1. During the construction each bunker will have the ridges and humps removed. We will be working on a number of holes at the same time during the construction to increase productivity. Once we start installing the BBB system in the greens bunkers we may either have a temporary green in play or close the hole entirely. It will be very important to not walk in the bunkers once we start the BBB installation this will cause major delays in the curing process. I also plan on having back nine starts once we start construction on the front 9. During the construction process I will give daily updates on Twitter @hawksnr on our progress. I will also update my blog regularly.
We will continue to work on our organic matter reduction on the golf course weekly until the end of October. I will be core aerating all the greens using a 1/4 inch tine on the 26th and 27th. I will also topdress the greens weekly until November. The tees will be core aerate at least 1 more time this fall and the approaches will be aerified as well. This process is very important for the health and playability of the playing surfaces. In October we will move into taking care of the plant and soil for winter survival and playability of the golf course into next year. Our focus will not be rolling and mowing daily and near tournament green speeds. I will also start to raise the heights of our putting greens very slowly in October. There is so much to do and so little time once we get into the shorter days in October.
If you have any questions regarding the construction process please feel free to contact me directly.
Neil