Replacing back collar of #9

The back collar of #9 green has been very problematic over the years for our maintenance staff to keep in good condition throughout the season.  The entrance to the bunkers for our bunker rake is at the bottom of the bunker nearest to the green.  The perimeter mower with large heavy reels drives around the edge of the bunker and onto the collar at times because there is not enough space for the equipment to pass through.  Riding greens mowers which are used at various times of the season for mowing, grooming and rolling greens cannot make a turn without first turning onto the collar, driving off to the side of the bunker over a narrow strip of zoysia and back in through the same spot creating serious compaction issues.  Our new irrigation works very well but does not apply the amount of water in this narrow area to keep the bentgrass collar alive and looking good for the complete season. 

To solve this problem and clean up this ugly mess, the staff removed the damaged bentgrass and replaced it with zoysia to expand the area between the bunkers and the new collar we will establish.  Our collar widths average about 30" in width so the back of the green will be 30" shorter.  The staff removed the old sod, smoothed out the area, cut new sod off of our zoysia nursery and laid it all back in place.  It should allow for an improved back bentgrass collar and allow our equipment operators more room to maneuver equipment. 

Asst. Skip cutting off the sod and Arian picking it up.

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Arian and Tom Mueller removing the sod.  A bag of starter fertilizer waiting to be applied to the soil surface to help give the new turf some energy and increase rooting capability.

The new intermediate cut almost complete.

The work completed.  The new sod was laid from one side of the green to the other.