Then and Now

Last year at this time, we started the Traver Creek Project. The transformation of the golf course is the previous 12 months is amazing.

Below is the view from #10 tee last summer.

Notice the tree to the left of the tee box.

This spring before the tee is rebuilt. You can see the ballwasher and tee sign.

Laying the sod.

The rough starting to come in this summer.

October 1st.

Number twelve shows a more drastic transformation.

The view from the tee in July 2012.

The view in December.

May 2013.

Today.

Number eleven.

Before.

After construction.

Now

Number thirteen.

Before.

Now.

Number ten green.

View of the green from the fairway before construction.

After.

Number seventeen.

This photo is from 2010.

November 2012.

Spring 2013.

Summer 2013

New Forward Tee on #10

With the Traver Creek Project (also see http://travercreekproject.blogspot.com/) set to start at the end of October, we have begun construction of of new forward tee on #10. When Leslie Park opens back up in April, the front half of #10 fairway will be raised to eliminate drainage issues and re-sodded. Until the fairway is able to sustain play, we will use this new tee as the teeing grounds for all play on this hole. It will be around 220 yards long, but because of the creek running in front of the green, staff still thinks it will play as a par 4.

The new tee is on the right side, just after the beginning of the fairway. We stripped the sod and set it out in the parking lot while we built the tee up. The above picture shows the area after we stripped the sod and leveled out the hill that was there. We have just started to put down fill.

The workmen line up to dump the loads of topsoil.

Getting close.

This is pretty close to the final product.

The teeing surface is painted out and lined up.

Sod was taken from the fairway to lay on the tee.

The rough surrounding the tee got a little dry while in the parking lot, but should pull through.

Laying out the tee.

Now it just needs to grow in. It should be ready to go by April 1st.

Soon to be open for business

The new black tee box on #11 that was constructed last fall will be open for play on Memorial Day weekend.

This is the view from the back tees.

We will need to get a new tee sign for #11. This new tee adds 21 yards to the total length of the hole. This brings the maximum yardage to 503 yards.

Fall Projects

It has been a busy couple of months here at the golf course. We are almost done with aerification. Only #16 fairway has yet to be completed. We will then do selected approaches and tees a second time. Next week, we will blow out the irrigation system.

The two biggest projects so far this fall have been a drainage project on #16 fairway and a new tee box for #11.

The drainage on #16 involves the landing area about 240 yards from the green on this long par 5. For the last several years, we have not been able to mow this part of the fairway until June or July. This year, it never really dried up. It had been on my list of things to do when we got a chance, but the wet weather this year moved it up the list.

This is the transit that we used to make sure the drainage would drain properly.

A picture of the pipe in the ground before we hooked it together and filled it in with pea stone.

Another view before pea stone was added.

Laying the pipe on the pea stone and filling in the trench.

Cutting the pipe to length.

This is how the area looks today, over a month later. The trench was seeded with bentgrass. I think you will be able to tell where the trench was for years to come, but it has dried the area up noticeably.

The second project was to add a new championship tee to #11. This par 5 was often the easiest hole during the tournaments, with numerous birdies and even eagles recorded. This tee box will add 22 yards onto the hole from the current black tee markers.  Overall length could go up to 504 yards.

This is where the tee is going to be. Notice the aerification plugs on the tee.

After removing some trees and starting the project with our front-end loader.

I decided a bulldozer would make the work go easier. Luckily, the city has it's own little 'dozer.

Here, the tee has been leveled and tee mix (80% sand, 20% soil) has been put on top.

We laid bluegrass sod around the perimeter and seeded the actual tee with bentgrass.

The view from the back, right corner.

Ten days later, the bentgrass has started to grow. (The blue pellets are mulch that we put down to help with moisture retention.)

A close-up of the seedlings and mulch.

The tee should be open for use by May. Good luck!