Let the Preparation Begin

We're Back! Well we actually never went away, just took a little break from the blog site during the winter months. We are very excited to get the golf course re-opened and get you back to playing your favorite track. As of today, we see no reason that won't happen by the July 1st date you were promised. If we can open earlier we will, but we must protect these new greens like a newborn.

All of the greens and tees have come through the winter beautifully. There is ZERO dead turf anywhere in these locations. I could not be more pleased with where we are today. The turf density has increased over the winter and we are well on our way to establishing the outstanding set of greens this membership has come to expect. We have already mowed the greens for the first time this spring and the results are outstanding. We will continue to roll and mow on a regular basis to firm and tighten up the putting surfaces. In the coming weeks we will be maintaining these greens as if we were open - mowing daily and topdressing weekly.



As I write this update this morning, the crew is finishing up the last of the debris removal from the golf course. We have hand raked the entire property and all the debris will be gone today. It's nice to see everything look so fresh and clean. With the clean-up behind us, we will move immediately to repairing the golf course from last summers project. There are a number of small projects that must be completed over the next couple months - most notably the repairing of the haul roads used by the contractor last summer. We will take a hole by hole approach to repairing anything and everything. Our Goal = 18 holes in 36 days. By Mid-May we want to havy every bit of sod or seed on the ground and starting to establish in order to get everything to fill in by our opening.

What's new for 2011? There are some exciting new things on tap for 2011, but I'll keep most of them under wraps for now. Call it a tease! One thing I do want to share is what you should expect of the blog this year. In 2011, we will transition the blog from a project update site to an everyday information tool for the membership. This site will be the place to go for the most up to date information regarding the golf course - Is the course open today? Are there carts available? What projects are happening this week? etc. etc. One thing that I will try to do this year via the blog is answer your questions regarding the golf course maintenance operation. Questions can be submitted to me via email at bmccurdy@ccdetroit.org

An exciting year is ahead of us all. Your patience through this project has been outstanding. We are over the hump and the waiting is almost over. Thanks again for all your support!!!

Progress Report

Excuse my absence from the blog spot, we have been trying to squeeze every last second out of the precious time we have this fall. I am sure many of you are wondering were things stand:

Greens: The grow-in of the greens is going superbly!!! We have just completed the second hand topdressing application just today. We continue to mow the greens 5-6 days a week right now and are slowly lowering the heights as the grass plant can take it. The collars are filling in rapidly.

Tees: The tees look amazing at this point. We have mowed all of the tees some 8+ times already and anticipate mowing the first tee any day now. I heard a rumor that "because the first tee was seeded later than the rest, it won't be ready next spring", let me say that it is simply not true. The first tee looks great and will no doubt be ready when we open next year.

Fairways: All of the fairways have been mowed multiple times except number 17 which was mowed for the first time today. What few thin areas there are, are filling in steadily. I am very pleased with this aspect of the project.

Bunkers: We have made the turn for home with the bunkers. We have completed all the bunkers in the 7-11 section and the 12/6/14/15 area of the course. Currently, we are working on the 3rd and 17th holes and anticipate finishing the bunkers early next week.

This has been an exciting time and I appreciate all the wonderful comments some of you have shared over the last few weeks. I see the excitement building in YOUR eyes and that exists us to get this renovation done and over with so we can return the course back to you as soon as possible.

Remember the Fire!!

None of us will soon forget the events of August 27th when the old polo barn went up in flames. One of the headaches created by that blaze was the contamination of the large stockpile of Pro-Angle Bunker sand.



This pile of sand (approx. 900 tons or 1/3 of the project total)has since been moved out of the fire location and re-located to the lower parking lot near the tennis courts. In an effort to make sure the sand is free of any fire debris, your CCD team first removed the outer two feet of the entire pile and that sand was discarded. Don't worry, the insurance policy does cover the replacement material. The remaining sand is being run a 3mm screen to make sure there is no additional debris embedded deeper into the pile.



The machine in this picture has been brought in from the same sand mine where our greens and tees mix was blended. This machine is very effective removing any "junk" that may still remain. I am happy to report that the first 200 tons that have been run through the machine have come out perfectly clean and we have begun to use this product in the construction.

Staples No More!!

I thought this picture would be an eye catcher!! To date, we have completed removing the staples on 21 of 71 bunkers on the course and this photo shows just how many staples are in the old bunkers. By our counts, we estimate that there are 9 staples per every square foot. That means a single 2000 square foot bunker contains as many as 15,000 - 18,000 staples, maybe more!!

The Klingstone work continue again today with an antcipated application to the 7th fairway bunker sometime around lunch. When complete, all the bunkers on holes 7-10 will be complete.