Technical
arrived! Two loads had to be rejected as it had not been mixed. One load had been tipped, so this had to be segregated, whilst the other load was returned to Cheshire. The tipped load was left free of charge and will be used to renovate tracks etc.
The construction went well, with the completion of the rootzone layer on the 16th and final levels put in. Turf stripping at 15, 11 and 14 was well under way.
Day 6 - Drainage lines carved out with a hydraulic pecker on the 9th green
The drainage on the 17th was completed, along with the gravel carpet. Rootzone was brought in but, due to the weather, transporting stopped to reduce track damage. The 12th saw the completion of the sub-base, the drainage installed and the gravel carpet started. The 15th was started with the sub-base underway.
Later in the afternoon, the 4th green was rolled with the turf iron and this showed a major improvement to the surface levels.
The rain was a hindrance for about an hour but, overall, another good day at the office.
Day 17 - another day of hard work; all crews are definitely earning their money! Today saw the final preparation of the 16th with the inclusion of Sustane 4:6:4, as has been applied under the turf on all greens so far. Turf was cut and lifted at 14 and 18 also.
Work on the 17th green saw the final levels of rootzone installed ready for final preparation and levels.
Day 9 - Turf almost completed at the 4th green
The 15th proved another difficult green with a massive amount of rock at the front and also some at the back, which was surprising! Some of it was extremely hard; the pecker had to be used again!
The 12th green had similar problem earlier, but only at the front as the back of the green had plenty of clay. The gravel carpet and levels were completed and the rootzone laid on top.
Measurements were set out for the upgrade of the 15th medal tee and the 11th Ladies and general play tee. Work started on scraping back the turf ready for the infill used from the core out of the 11th and 14th greens - waste not want not.
Day 16 - The 4th green rolled with a Turf Iron and hand cut at 8mm
Day 18 - a very productive day. The completion of the rootzone layer at the 12th started the ball rolling. The core out took place with the excavated materials imported into the construction of the new 15th tee base. Once this started, the materials taken from the core-out on 14 were also moved to this area, with a shaper on this from about 1.00pm.
Very good progress was made all around with the completion of the sub-base and levels on 11, three-quarters of the same on green 14 and at least half of the sub- base completed on the new tee. The rootzone layer at the 15th was almost complete at the end of play for the day. The 14th green was found to be extremely rocky.
Day 18 - New 300 m2 tee going in at the 15th hole 120 PC DECEMBER/JANUARY 2014
Day 19 - began with the completion of the rootzone layer on the 15th green. This wasn’t the end of the work on and around this green, as it was the only one that needed a significant change to help water shed from the very flat surface. The major changes were to the surround at the back left. This shed water onto the green and then helped retain it along the
left hand side. It had less than 0.5% fall from the back of the green to the front - the minimum recommendation is at least 1%.
To achieve this, without altering the green too much, it was decided that the best way was to hollow out the back left bank and allow the water to flow down into the hollow. Whilst doing this, it was thought best to re-shape this area and keep the difficulty of the return chip when the ball had rolled over the bank into the gully. Once the bank was hollowed, it would reduce the difficulty of our S.I. 1 hole. So, the hollow will be made deeper to compensate. This work would increase the time to complete this green, but it would be worth it in the end!
Work on the other greens was ongoing, with the completion of sub-base and drainage on greens 11 and 14. The gravel carpet was also completed on the 11th, now awaiting the rootzone layer.
The greens that have been turfed were coming along well, with 3, 4, 8 and 9 all having had their first cut at a height of 8mm. They were all lightly rolled at least four times with a hand mower and then double cut. Greens 3 and 4 also had the Turf Iron across them and look very good. Green 5 has been rolled four times and would receive a cut in the near future. Green 16 needed to settle and root before any treatment could be attempted.
Overall progress is very good at present and I am pleasantly surprised.
Day 20 - Another day goes by and the progress improves with the completion of the surrounds shaping at the 15th green. I believe it will enhance the green. A great deal of time and effort, with a very skilled operator, went into this.
The 14th green was finally completed with gravel and the start of the core-out on 18 leaves only the 1st and 10th to go. They were sprayed with preventative fungicide, along with the remaining greens in play. The 5th green had its first cut at 8mm and, on checking the root and grass growth at the 16th, that wouldn’t be far behind. With the start of the core-out at the 18th green, this began the reconstruction of the 11th tee as the spoil from 18 and 10 would be used to build this.
Day 21 - started as it meant to go on; there had been some rain overnight and the course was damp. It was decided that work could continue with a little care and thought. Some progress was made with the completion of the sub-base core-out on the 18th green and some levels were achieved; the rootzone was going on well on the 11th green until the heavens opened around noon. From this point, it was decided to call it a day with regards to construction. The track in the range was starting to get muddy and that would lead to contamination of materials on the greens.
Taking the positives from the day, I carried out a course inspection around 2.30pm; on passing the 1st green it was already flooded. I continued the inspection around the rest of the front nine holes to find all the new greens performing as expected; firm and dry. No water pushing up underfoot at all, and no standing water. On reaching the notoriously wet 8th green at around 2.55pm (by this time, the rainfall had
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