Bunker Removal on #9

If you've been on the course in the last week you've probably noticed and hopefully enjoyed seeing the change to the bunker complex on 9 green. The reason we removed the 3 large bunkers was two-fold and actually part of the bunker renovation plans.

First of all they were a maintenance nightmare. Almost any amount of rain caused massive washouts and even infusions of new sand did nothing to improve their quality. Secondly, they were considered as being extremely unfair to the high handicap golfer. Low handicaps rarely ended up in them but anyone who did was faced with an extremely daunting uphill bunker shot. After your shot out of them, you often ended up in one of the smaller remaining bunkers and were faced with more of the same.

Step 1: Take a picture of the bunker

Step 2: Remove sod as needed and begin filling

Step 3: Continue filling... and filling and filling.

Step 4: Irrigation and detail work

Step 5: Lay sod and the bunkers are gone.

Follow this link for all the pictures from the project.

Sunny Days

In my last post I predicted the grass would start growing. Call me Nostradamus because I called that one perfectly. Other than a few shaded areas and some north facing slopes the grass is well awake. Before our focus shifts to mowing next week, we have been able to take care of a few projects.

On Tuesday morning Dave, Omar and Angel braved the cold depths of Lake Mendota to hook up our intake pipes while the rest of us stood on shore sipping hot chocolate (also known as preparing the baskets, gaskets and nuts/bolts depending on which crew member you ask). Having the irrigation system ready to go is always a great feeling.

In order to minimize any problems we also spend time checking each head. It's much better to have a break while we are here to fix it. So far all the greens and tees have been run briefly and we did have a problem on 13 green.

A cracked sprinkler body led to this river across 13 green

Rather than letting this happen all night, it lasted only a few minutes until we got to the isolation valve to shut it off. After a quick repair by Omar it ran like new.

A few other updates include the yearly burn of the prairie on 3, the first tee mowing for 2016 and the opening of both bathrooms and the ice machine near 6 tee.

Burned prairie and bluebird nest box near 3

We've also started monitoring our bluebird nest boxes for the year. A few nests have been started and a few are still empty but it's too early to tell exactly who is moving in.

Looking forward, fairway aerification is scheduled to start Sunday April 24th and we should have everything done by Tuesday April 26th.

I hope everyone gets a chance to enjoy the great stretch of weather we are having with a couple rounds of golf!

April 1st

The 2015 golf season started 1 year ago today. While that was no April Fools joke, someone or something is definitely playing one on us today. Everything looked great this morning. Even under a cloudy sky I couldn't resist snapping a few pictures. The best was off the forward tee on 9.

9 tee towards 9 green

And a few hours later...

Same day, different view

8 green towards the tee

The hail/snow won't last long even with the cool weather, although it will add to the general wetness of the course. Aside from the weather limiting play, everything is going smoothly on the course. We've mowed greens 3 times since opening on March 22nd and the front 9 fairways were all mowed. There are also a handful of spots in the rough that are growing enough to warrant a mowing once it dries out. The course accessories have gradually been put out, and only the benches remain inside now. The bunkers were also cleaned and raked with special attention given to the front left bunker on 3 green. We stripped all the sand that had been contaminated by pebbles from the drainage lines and replaced it with fresh sand.

We hope to work on a few other projects (including opening the bathrooms on 6 once we are sure there wont be any frozen water lines) but once the grass starts growing in earnest, it will be a full time job to keep up with mowing. Even if we get the two more snowfalls that equipment manager Dave is predicting it won't be long before daily play is a reality. See you on the course!

What's happening? Sticks, mostly.

Between 3 and 4 Fairway

Raking sticks after the winter is always a big job. I am happy to say at this point all that is left is to pick up the piles scattered across the whole course.

Peeling the cover off 14 green

At this point the covers have been off for about a week. It's always fun to see the green color as the cover is taken off.

Shaded back side of 3 green

The covers are all white except for the green colored logo. On the back of 3 it was just that much warmer with the darker color to melt off the frost and leave behind this picture.

Rapid Changes

As is often the case, weather is the star of the show here at Blackhawk. The recent volatility has given me a few interesting pictures

Standing on 7 fairway, looking north towards the pond

This standing water lasted 3-4 days around the 19th of February. Almost all of the snow melted and eventually drained away, leading to the next picture.

Starting the course clean-up

After things had a chance to dry out a little, we were able to go out and start the after winter clean-up. 

Snowed out!

Less than 24 hours later we got hit with this snow, which is still lightly coming down now.

The good news is everything is looking good after the weird winter. The bad news is winter is not quite over yet.

January Shop and Course Update

January at the shop has been business as usual so far. Dave, Omar, Angel and Kevin have been hard at work on the fairway mowers. So far there has only been routine maintenance/repair, which this year included changing all the bearings in the cutting units. There is a lot of equipment left, but it has been going well so far.

We've also started working on course accessories.The benches got a fresh coat of stain, and the ballwashers are shiny and ready to be put together later in the winter. The picture to the right shows nearly finished tee blocks, missing only the Blackhawk logo.

As for the course, it's really too early to know exactly what will happen. With the dramatic swings in temperature and the rain and snow we had some worry about ice. Chad went out to have a look at a few greens, and thankfully there is no ice so far. We will continue to monitor the course, and take any action if necessary.