Saturday, May 30, 2009

A Time For Laughs


I gladly caught a piece of this action at the clubhouse yesterday. Here is Director of Golf, Alice Plain "taking it out" on Drew Fournier, an Assistant Pro. They were experimenting with this Velcro suit. A really exciting kid's game for the summer, chipping Velcro tennis balls at your favorite pro. Lots of laughs were had, I can't wait to see the kids get a hold of this. Drew, you are a champ!

A New Cart Path

Cart path is done! After a few days of drying the base and prepping, Friday marked another high note for happenings at Vail Golf Club. This is not asphalt and not concrete, it is called Sta-lok. It is a native road base and sand mixture with polymers to bind together and make a path material. It has a much softer feel than the two aforementioned products. The path looks and feels more like a trail rather than a road. Sta-lok is also flexible, with the frost heave from the winter, this material will easily fit back into place if there is any cracking. It was installed with an asphalt machine for the smoothest surface. A little raking and grooming was involved as the material would harden. Finally a sheet was placed down and rolled with a heavy duty drum. We are excited to see the results when the season gets under way on the front nine.
Today, LUI continued to prep for laying the sod down this coming week. If Mother Nature is kind to us we'll have it grassed beginning Tuesday, hopefully fully done by Thursday. I will wait to see how it comes out to determine the limits of play.



A Two Day Building

A Two Day Building

Two days, that is all. From the first panel to the last, two days is all it took to construct this building. The engineering for this structure is so precise and watching the building come together so quickly is really neat to watch. Over the next few weeks you will see the building begin to mature some more. The Weitz Construction Company will be putting finishing touches. Later we will install irrigation around the site and finalize the landscaping. A newly paved road for emergency access will be installed as well. There will continue to be items added to the building throughout the summer.




Friday, May 29, 2009

Part 2

The first day of the pump house construction went extremely smooth. Even though the delivery for the building was about 45 minutes behind, the Weitz construction company came through and had all of the walls in place by 5pm. A threat of rain came through the valley and called for some cover. As you see here the first couple of panels are in place. I promise you I will post a lot more pictures and info later today and tomorrow.

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Pumphouse, Part 1

Beginning at 6.30 this morning the installation for the pump building has begun. As of 11.30 am the truck has been unloaded and panels have been put on a number of flat bed trucks to be carted to the site from the clubhouse. The crane is now en route back to the pump house area and will be unloading the wall panels. The panels next to the electric boxes will be installed first so that the electricity can be connected once again to the pump station. My goal is to have the ability to water again by 3pm. So far a little behind that schedule but things are going smooth, which at this point is more important.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

New Path, Old Path


Looking back from Vail Valley Drive down the old path, standing out is the new path. After the rains the road base was saturated and makes it difficult to set up as a good enough base for the path material. Plenty of rolling out today and finishing the formers for the concrete curbing. The curbing will go in first and that is scheduled for Friday. The new path material Sta-lok is scheduled for Monday. It will need another day to harden and should be ready by Wednesday, that is if Mother Nature holds off the rains. According to this tentative schedule we would begin grassing on Wednesday, once the path is completed.

Mess to Miracle


What a difference a day makes. The first picture was taken yesterday as the rain poured down. Today the digging was much cleaner. Granted they were in a different location, however things are always nicer when the sun is shining. The wet dig was in one of the lowest areas of the course. However the cleanup from this area looks fantastic. Jose and his crew are doing a great job with keeping the mainline areas clean.
The drier dig is impressive not just because it is clean but it is dry and the soil is in great condition. If you click on the picture and make it larger you will see very little rock. This trench is to the players right of the 8th green.
The goal is to be completed with mainline construction on holes 7 and 8 by Friday.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Feast or Famine

We have seen almost 2 inches of rain this month of May. Only an inch or two of snow, but a total of 1.9 inches of moisture to date. For about half of the month we had a stretch of extremely dry conditions and it looked as if we were headed for another dry spring. Moisture is great for growing grass and sending employees home early, however not so much for golf course construction. Irrigation was supposed to continue on Memorial Day, but with the rain it limited them to clean up. Wet conditions also put a halt to any development on #3. Today's goal is to begin pouring a concrete curb for the new cart path. We hope that we can stick with that schedule.
Yesterday was productive though. Justin was able to begin the first fertilizer application to the course and take advantage of Mother Nature's irrigation. A bulk spread of 19-3-5 was done on holes 2 through 8 except for the third hole. This quick release fertilizer will help with getting some of the slower grass into gear and on to the road for summer stress. There is also 3.4% of Iron with this product which helps produce a deeper green color in the turfgrass. We will continue to spread the rest of the course throughout the week.

Friday, May 22, 2009

Site Visit

Today Larry Rodgers spent much of the day reviewing the irrigation project and working with the new central computer. It was a good day to be in the office with the rain. Learning some of the changes with the new computer and communication style was certainly educational. We also toured the course to see the progress of the install. One area that he was pleased with was the mounded back fill of the mainline. That area will settle and a mound is much easier for me to fix in the future than any kind of dip.
The boring areas look good and clean as well. The big concern was not having water earlier this week. The course has suffered in some areas but we have a handle on them now. Beginning next week LUI will strive to move forward by working on one area at a time.

Tree plantings


The first trees are in at 3 tee box. Four aspens were planted today along the slope between the green and tee boxes. Five more will be delivered on Tuesday, for a total of nine along the slope.
If Mother Nature cooperates with us next week the plan is to finish plantings, pour concrete curbing, install cart path material and by Saturday finish with sod.
The new irrigation and communication is complete on #3. Saturday LUI will continue to install irrigation to the 2nd green and approach.
This week, irrigation spent much of their time with clean up. All bore locations are clean and irrigation breaks are repaired. The mainline connections between 2 and 8 along with 4 tee box have been completed. They have begun with excavation down the 8th hole with a 6 inch main that will end at the 7th tee box. My staff and I have dedicated a lot of time this week to plan the days and week ahead. Constant communication has been critical to this week's successes.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Rainbird


Pictured here is the new line of irrigation heads for the golf course. This is the Eagle line of Rainbird. This particular head is a 750 which is an adjusted part circle. Unlike the old heads, this sprinkler only waters the green. This is exactly what I have been preaching about in relation to drought preparation. The ability to water hard lines on the golf course will not only prepare the course for drought conditions, but also improve turf health around the course. There are numerous times throughout a golf season where consistent playing conditions warrant either irrigation to only the green or only to the turf surrounding the green. By the end of the renovation we will have various control options to irrigate efficiently.

#3 Update


Here are some of the latest pictures of #3. The irrigation will be completed today. The greens heads and surrounds are already done. The new central command computer has been installed to the office to control these heads. Since there are no field satellite controllers with this system it is imperative for an accurate computer system.
The top picture was taken from the end of the new cart path. It ends lining up directly with the path at 4 tee box. The old path has been removed, topsoil is being incorporated and prepared for sod next week.


Road base will be installed on the new cart path location today and the new tee boxes are ready for sod. Kevin Atkinson, (golf architect) will be here today and/or tomorrow to review the project and we will discuss tree placement. Once irrigation is complete on the hole, trees will be planted. Next week will include final grade with topsoil and sodding.



Groundwater


Here it comes, local officials are saying that the melt off is coming almost 20 days earlier this year than normal. Due to the late winter dust storms that covered the slopes has quickened the melting process.
I don't think we will see the levels of groundwater we saw last year, however it may present slight problems around the course. Holes 1 and 9 are some of the lowest points on the course and drain poorly. Expect to see high water around these holes. It is critical to keep on the cart paths and pay attention to signage. Other areas that you may encounter ground water are 10 tee box, the 7th hole, between 13 and 14 fairways, in front of 11 green and the left of 1 green.

Main Intersection


Pictured here is another set of problems just waiting in the wings. Basically we have a 4 inch main, 6 inch main, 1 1/2 inch power conduit all crossing through the trench needed for the new mainline. LUI will have to cut the water mains to get the new one together. When cutting the old mainlines, it will temporarily cut water to the front nine holes.
Next week the new building for the pumphouse will be constructed. The plan is to have the pumps down for abut 8 hours for that construction. At that time, LUI will work to tie the pipes together. Doing this all in the same time line will be the challenge.
On a recent positive note, the weather is looking favorable for us. Cooler temperatures, high chance of rain and maybe some snow!

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Getting Caught Up


OK I am back, it has been a bit of a hectic week but things are going great here at the golf course. We have water, stable water to the entire course. We have new heads installed as well. But I don't want to get too ahead of myself. I have lots of blogging to do.
As I mentioned earlier, Monday was a rough day especially with the hot and dry weather. Irrigation water or not, it was dry. We got things online by 1am on Tuesday morning. Since then we have has a few minor breaks but we have been able to get water to most of the course and currently all 18 holes. Heavy watering will occur in the meantime to get the turf back into shape on the front nine. There are a few rough areas but nothing we cannot conquer and have back into playing shape soon. The back nine is in great shape right now and getting busy with golf.
Pictured here is Dustin, one of our interns. He is holding up a 1 1/2 inch pipe that was under the cart path on 14. This pipe continued to spiral and break. The total length was about 40 feet of broken pipe. It was a bear to fix, but Landscapes came to the rescue last Saturday to help us out. They made a permanent solution for a temporary situation.
Stay tuned for more about water, new irrigation heads, updates on #3 and planting new trees.

Monday, May 18, 2009

Almost there

Just wanted to send a "shout out" to James Driscoll who was the runner up to Zach Johnson at the Valero Texas Open this past weekend. I haven't heard that name in a long time, however I became glued to the TV when I remembered. He is a native of Brookline, MA and I used to watch him in high school play at The Country Club, where I was a greenskeeper. If I remember correctly, he won a state championship or two. He would play, I would mow.

Say Goodbye to Today

Today reached a high of 77 degrees, our warmest day yet. Some wind, lots of sun and our evaporation rate was .17, which in a nutshell means we lost .19 inches of moisture from the soil. Doesn't sound like much huh?

The average precipitation for Vail in the month of May is 1.3 inches. So if you do the math, .19 inches of moisture is almost 15% of the months precipitation. We lost that much in just one day.

To top it off, we had no irrigation water today. Five breaks today, all with our old system and one was a main break, just west of the pump station. LUI is currently putting the final touches on that break right now while I blog. People keep telling me, "Well, I guess we needed a new system". Very true.

The course is drying up severely and this was just about the worst day for us not to have water. So expect to see a lot of water running when it can. When the turf drys up like this the soil can actually "lock up" and water will have a difficult time penetrating into the root zone. Almost like trying to irrigate your kitchen floor and have it absorb the water.

Moving onward, everyone I have reached out to has been more than helpful, especially the Eagle River Water and Sanitation District.

Oh yeah, did I mention that the Vail Town Council and the VRD Board will be out for a visit tomorrow?

Saturday, May 16, 2009

100 rounds...

... on the first day we had 100 rounds. It was a beautiful day and it was great to see some of the retuning local golfers and the chance to meet new golfers. The wind continued to blow and the temperatures rose into the 60's. 
If you had a chance to see the second and third holes over the last couple of days, you would have noticed lots of changes. LUI had about 25 employees working on the new mainline, fusing pipe, leveling tees, installing communication wire and fixing old irrigation pipes. It was an amazing site. A lot of progress in this area and we are hoping to have water on the third hole, Monday or latest by Tuesday.

Friday, May 15, 2009

Populus tremuloides

One of the greatest sites of living in the mountains, are watching the aspen trees leaf out. This was taken yesterday near the clubhouse. Nothing soothes me more after slicing one into the river, than listening to the quaking aspens rustle in the wind.
Today is opening day at Vail Golf Club. We have had numerous visits to the driving range over the past couple of weeks and expect those numbers to return to play 10 holes of golf.
You will not be interfered with any of the new irrigation project, however you will come across repairs being made from the old system. We are still working to get water to all areas of the course. With the dry conditions it has been a struggle and most areas of turf are in need of moisture. All in all, it's really nothing new here in the spring for Vail GC, we're just working to make it better.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Day Three


In yesterday's blog I talked about the fragile state of our old system, which ultimately proves the need for the new. To date, we are not irrigating.
These photos are from yesterday's attempts to repair the old system to begin getting water to the back nine. Stephanie is battling groundwater to replace a 2 inch pvc "T" near the 12th tee box. Below are a couple of LUI crew members fixing a broken swing joint on the 11th hole that gave way as well. After two days of trying to pressurize, we have had 7 breaks. When turning on the pumps to pressurize we can not start with small areas. We can only maintain 6 holes and the driving range as one area. This takes longer to fill those lines and stabilize them at 120 psi. On the new system, we will have the capability of pressurizing one hole at a time. We'll also be able to isolate 6-8 sprinkler heads instead of 6-8 holes in case of a break. We're just striving to be more efficient.


A Second Home


It's marmot season. They are out and ready to greet golfers. They too, have a second home here in Vail. For a limited time only, soon we hope this pipe gets in the ground.

Growing Grass


Sometimes Mother Nature can only do so much to help. Pictured here is Justin looking for seedlings and growth on the 15th green. You may have noticed some of these breathable covers on a few greens. They can increase the soil temperature by 10 to 15 degrees. Bentgrass seed has been on this green for 14 days now and we are beginning to see some great results.
The wind has not helped lately with growing grass, but these covers can allow the seed to stay into place. They also allow water, sunlight and oxygen to move through the cover to encourage growth.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Getting Water

So we have water, however it took about 30 minutes until we received our first breaks. Yes, breaks, Landscapes will need to repair an area they got into on 18 and there is another break in front of 12 tee box. So once we have them repaired we'll be able to turn the system on again. We were able to get the system to a whopping 13 psi yesterday and sending approximately 220 gpm. When completely pressurized the new system will come to 120 psi and have the capability to pump 3000 gpm. So if you do the math, you can now understand how fragile our old system is and why we are replacing it. Just a reminder, we will be using our old system until the new one is in place. We should be able to abandon areas of the old system beginning in mid-June.
The staff has done a fabulous job getting the course into shape for the season. On Friday we will be opening 10 holes 1,9-14, 16-18 until further notice. We had some significant winter damage on the 15th, 16th and 17th greens. We will be closing the par 3, 15th until the turf rebounds. 16 and 17 will have temporary greens until they are healthy as well.
We have aerified, sand topdressed, seeded, fertilized and covered them to increase soil temperatures. We have noticed significant growth over the last two weeks.

Monday, May 11, 2009

Drainage


Here is a trench coming down the 3rd tee box into the 2nd approach. The drain will continue across the hole and pick up surface water between the 2nd and 8th hole. The drain will daylight in the rough on the 8th hole, heading back towards the tee on 8.

3/10ths of an inch



Some good moisture yesterday on the golf course. After an electrical inspection today we should be ready to pump water. Mark Sandmeyer and his staff from Freedom Pump have been working diligently getting them ready for operation. Jose and his crew will be finalizing the pipe connections today to send water to the course.

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Thoughts and Prayers

If you have been paying attention to #3, our architect is Kevin Atkinson of Phelps-Atkinson Design in Evergreen, CO. You can learn more about him by going to the firms web site located in the links section on the right side of the page. Since October, he has been very committed to Vail Golf Club, developing a Master Plan and working to solve design issues on the course. Beyond all of this, he is the brother to John Atkinson. Some of you may have heard of him, for he has been quite an inspiration. In March of 2007, John was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer and he was not a smoker. The life expectancy of stage 4 is eight months. John has been recognized for his courage and perseverance fighting this terrible disease by many media outlets.  Last year, John, an 8 handicap, was the winner of the 2008 US Open Challenge and played a round of golf with Justin Timberlake, Matt Lauer and Tony Romo at Torrey Pines. 
John is now in serious condition and in intensive care at home in Omaha, NE. Click here to read more about John and his journey with cancer. From everyone here in Vail, are thoughts and prayers are with the Atkinson family.

Thanks Mom!

I woke this morning on Mother's Day to see rain, clouds and fog. At first I was disappointed because I was looking forward to enjoying the sun with the family, however it was moisture and we can never really complain about that. Monday will be the first day of starting the new pumps to begin irrigating for the year. So a big thank you to Mom Nature and well, of course all of the mothers out there. 

Saturday, May 9, 2009

Spring


Spring is definitely here, not only are the daffodils in bloom but the wind won't stop. Fortunately temperatures haven't been too high to force dessication damage on grass and other plants, but we are getting close. Spring in the Rockies can produce almost any kind of weather.

Connecting to the old Main


This picture shows a connection coming from the new mainline, (black pipe) feeding our old mainline (white pipe). When the project is complete, to abandon our old system we will close that valve and remove the block on top of the valve to prevent anyone from opening it up in the future.
The second valve on the right will feed the 17th hole. Go to the picture bar to find other pictures of mainline install, boring, course maintenance and #3.

Friday, May 8, 2009

Creek Boring


B Trenchless from Denver has successfully completed a 12 inch bore underneath the Gore Creek. Here is a picture of a 12 inch bore head. On the opposite side of the river you will notice the bore trucks in line with this head. Along with the 12 inch line there are two, 2 inch lines attached to the main for communication wire. Theses pipes are six feet below the bottom of the river.
The process begins with a 2 inch line for the initial bore. Slurry is used to maintain that path. Next they will size up accordingly until they meet the desired bore size. In this case, 12 inches.
The biggest bore is 20 inches on the property. That will be from the 9th tee box to the 8th green, going under Vail Valley Drive. That will be the next bore and scheduled to be completed by Monday.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Notes from the Architect

I just opened my email to read this from Kevin Atkinson our course architect working on #3. He visited the site yesterday and came up with these notes: (I need a picture of him)
"Here are some informal notes from my visit today. Things are looking good. Discussed creating slopes soft enough to allow walkers to walk from #2 green to #3 tee. These access "paths" are going to be maintained turf and approximately 10 -12 feet wide. One walking access "path" is on the back right corner of the new rear tee. The second walking access path is shaped parallel to the slope between the tees and the approach fairway. We will not need a wall along the right side of the new tees. This slope will be grassed to a native seed blend. The black tee was roughly measured 25 x 50 and we re-staked the alignment to point toward the middle of the green. The blue/gold tee was roughly measured 40 x 80 and will be 1 foot lower than the black tee. The forward tee will bee approximately 30 x 40 and the sub-grade height looked fine."

#3 Proposed

At this time google is not allowing me to post pdf files to the blog. So if any of you out there know a way, I would love to learn. I want to post the proposed drawings, so you have to believe me when I tell you that sometimes in golf design and build, there can be changes in the field from what is on paper. What you can not see from these drawings are the approximate size of the new tee boxes, new cart path and new plantings of trees. However after doing much of the grading over the last week, there is no need for walls in the area. New trees will be scattered around the hole and course to make up what came out of the area. The new sand traps will not be incorporated into this year's plan. New drainage will be installed to assist with chronic wet conditions in front of the second green.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Respect The Plastic


After a few raindrops began to fall, Jose and his team of guys acted quickly to cover up and continue to fuse the valve onto the mainline. It is critical that no water is on the pipe prior to fusion. According to manufacturer specifications the pipe needs to be lightly scraped, cleaned with 97% alcohol and completely dry before installing the lateral valve onto the main.
Working with this pipe needs careful attention and no steps can be missed.
The weather looks like it will clear up for the next few days which will be a welcomed change. The new pump station was installed today and the electrical will be installed tomorrow. I have a couple of more videos I hope to have loaded up soon.

Monday, May 4, 2009

Wet Conditions


This picture was taken by LUI's Superintendent for #3, Tom Keefe. This scene is not good for moving dirt. We'll have to wait another day to see any progress with the shaping of the tee box. So far it is looking great. We recently found an old valve that we have struggled for years to find. Hopefully it still works, it would be a big help with tying in the new system with the old for a couple of months.

A little more snow

Days after putting a poll on the blog about snow, we get our first inch! It is all but melted off by now. Just another reminder of where we live, work and play. A total of .7" of moisture since Friday night. A sort of blessing in disguise as far as the GCM staff is concerned. We had most of our employees begin work today and it gave us the opportunity to properly give an orientation to all new and returning employees. The weather kept us indoors and provided lengthy discussions on safety, cleaning habits, equipment use, updates with on-going projects and reviewing all of the main tasks of the season such as greens mowing, bunker raking and course set up, etc. We were also able to "get a leg up"on some minor clean up and re-organizing around the shop and on the course.

LUI ceased their operation today due to the wet conditions. Boring has begun on Vail Valley Dr from #3 to our Maintenance Facility for the new communication for irrigation.

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Ben Makes A Visit


Original Course Designer, Builder, Superintendent and long-time local Ben Krueger made his way to the golf course on Thursday to see what all the excitement was about. He was very helpful with locating old irrigation and shedding some history of the site. He was impressed to see the work of LUI and their timeliness.
Most of the 16" mainline is complete on the 10th hole. Work will continue on Monday morning after the weekly safety meeting. The third tee construction is moving along nicely. They plan to have a rough grade by Tuesday or Wednesday.