Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Renovation 2014 a Success!

It has been a very busy summer here at The Preserve and we are excited to be near the end of our renovation!  I could not be more proud of our Agronomy Team.  These guys and gals worked 1000's of additional hours this past summer successfully growing in our new putting surfaces, installing several 1,000 feet of new drain lines, topdressing the course with over 8,000 tons of sand and the list goes on and on.  All this while still keeping up with regular maintenance practices around the rest of the course. Their dedication to the task at hand was crucial in making this project a success and I greatly appreciate all the work they have done.

Agronomy Team Renovation 2014


During this renovation our Agronomy Team, Jerry Pate Design and TDI Golf collaborated to correct several issues related to the infrastructure of our putting greens by completely rebuilding them from the ground up.  The turfgrass variety chosen for our putting surface is Tifeagle and for our collars Tifgrand.  As of October 1st our oldest greens (1,2,4,5 and 10-18) will be 83 days old, our 2nd set of greens (6-9 and putting green) will be 63 days old and 3 green will be 42 days old.  The first and second set of greens that were planted have comparable green speeds already and this will only improve with age.  Green 3 is only 42 days old so it will be slower compared to the rest of the course but what an awesome job our team did to get this green ready for play with the opening of the course.  Our team will pay close attention to 3 green since it will require more frequent water applications through the fall due it's young age.  During this time there may be times our staff needs to water the putting surface during the day.  If you come to a green and a team member is watering with the flag pulled please wait patiently while he finishes the water application.  It will only take a few moments and it is imperative that they have the right of way to ensure our new greens have a healthy transition into the winter months.

3 Green ready for play!


While working on our putting surfaces we took the opportunity to replace the degraded lining system and sand in our bunkers.  The old fabric liner was replaced with Capillary Concrete and a new sand called Gangle was installed.  The combination of these two products will provide a more consistent playing experience for those who prefer to play their ball from our hazards.  All major construction has been completed on the bunkers but our team is still making there way around the course checking and finalizing the sand depths for ideal playability.  Other projects completed include laser leveling of all tee boxes, enlarging several tees on holes 1 and 2, re-decking the bridge on hole 12 and building a new bulkhead for 3 green. 

You may notice recently sodded areas around the course that were part of the final punch list our contractor completed at the end of the project this past week.  Please try not to drive your cart in these areas and play your ball as ground under repair if it comes to rest on the new sod.

I hope you enjoy the new golfing experience here at The Preserve and welcome back!