Clubhouse putting green

December and January are typically the months when the golf course maintenance staff focuses on projects. The grass is still growing, just at a much slower rate. Therefore, the mowing frequency is greatly reduced. This is a great opportunity to get things accomplished that we do not have time to do during the growing season.

The rest of the trash boxes were finished and installed on the course since the last post. The Sandpro front end was rebuilt, the hydrostatic drive linkages tightened up and adjusted, and the front blade was improved. It is now a pleasure to operate. Sprinkler head edging has been ongoing as we have time, the heads on holes 1-14 have been edged so far.

Below are some the other projects we have recently completed.

Refinished signs at the clubhouse entry

The Sandpines and Tavolo signs located at the clubhouse entry were both refurbished. First they were sanded down, which took quite a bit of work. Next, the lettering was carefully repainted. Then, the signs were refinished and cured.

Wet area right of 6 green (work in progress)

Area right of 6 green (after work was completed)

The low area right of 6 green was soft and holding water. We started off by removing the turf, thatch, and poorly draining sand. Once we got down to clean sand, sand was added to bring the grade up and capped with a thin layer of aeration cores. Finally, the area was seeded.

Wet area short left of 5 green (work in progress)

Area short left of 5 green (after work was completed)

The area short left of the green on hole 5 was similar to the wet area on hole 6 (above). It was soft and holding water. The renovation process was the same as on hole 6.

Pro-Gator clutch install in progress

It seems like we are always using our four wheel drive Pro-Gator. Since it can't be used while its being worked on, scheduling it for shop time is difficult. Recently, it was taken out of service in order to install a much needed new clutch. The shift linkages were also tightened up and adjusted. Prior to the repairs it was hard to push in the clutch, and almost impossible to find reverse. It is now a pleasure to operate.

17 bunker edge repair

The bunker edge on the small bunker on hole 17 was in need of repair. A portion of the bunker edge was unstable and had poor performing turf. That area of the bunker edge was replaced with sand, cores, seed, and was braced.

Early stages of turning 2 dead Gators into 1 running Gator

We have two Gators that are currently not in service. We are in the process of stripping them both and using the best parts to create one functional utility vehicle. One has a functional chassis, and the other has a functional engine. We will need some additional parts, but the cost should be minimal. If all goes as planned, we will have it up and running by the growing season.