Lightning strike

Beautiful Pin Oak at the Lucas and Hunt entrance took a direct lightning strike in last nights storm. Almost 4" of rain. Course is closed for now to allow it to drain. Will evaluate at 10 regarding the rest of the day.
Joe Wachter
Sent from my LG phone

Redtailed Hawk

I apologize for my delay in speaking about Elvis II that was born earlier in the spring and has since left the nest.(Thank you very much).  He was a little quieter this spring than Elvis I last year but he is beginning to call out which really is great to here.  Mr Bob May played last Saturday and took this great picture of Elvis II or probably his mother along #18.    I watched them earlier this week doing this ritualistic hopping exercise which was very interesting.

13 Blue tee renovation

The blue tee renovation on #13 was completed Friday afternoon.  It included the same process as #4, tilling of the tees, laser leveling and then using a tractor and many crew members to help lay out the big rolls of sod onto the tee.  The soil was beginning to soften throughout the middle due to the amount of moisture in it so we had to roll the roll out next to the tee and then a multiple members of the staff would pull it onto the tee.

The tee after rough grading the day before by Skip.

Mike McNeil from Laserturf Leveling doing the finish leveling of the tee.  The tee will drain from front to back and from right side to the left side.

The staff laying the fescue sod on the tee surround.  The tee top has  already been completed.

The finished product.  I think it fits in much better in the landscape and will provide many differing playing locations.  It ended up about 30' across and about 44'  in depth.

The view from the front of the tee.

My intentions are to have the tee open for the Invitational in 19 days.

4 red tee completion

The red tee on #4 was laser leveled on Thursday, I laid part of the sod on Thursday evening and the staff completed it on Friday.  Level is a relative term when you place grass on dirt.  In some cases, tees are built like greens where there is a sand layer which allows for the surface to dry more quickly.  Also, the type of grass warrants additional drainage such as bentgrass which we see to the north of St. Louis and in the cooler areas of the east.  Some tees are installed with drainage which can be very expensive and some are not.  Our tees are built on top of soil so we must insure that they surface drain which means when the laser leveling takes place, the tee is shaped so the water will drain from side to side, front to back and or back to front.  There are design principles that are used to determine which direction you want the water to move based on how the land falls either up or down in front of the tee or the surrounding vicinity of the tee.  Usually you want the water to drain away from the walk on and off area of the teeing ground so that players are not walking through a wet area.

Schaefer Meyer/Laser Turf Leveling tilling the soil to assist the laser leveling operation move the dirt from side to side and back and forth.

Sorry, no picture of the laser operation on #4 but this is how it is done from the work on #13.
Mike McNeil

The yellow unit standing on the tri-pod sends out a signal to receiver on the tractor.  Mike inputs the degree slope that he wants and the direction that he wants to slope to go before he starts grading.  The unit then sends a signal to the tractor which then automatically raises the grading part of the box on the back of the tractor up or down depending if the area needs to be raised or lowered.  He goes around in circles until the receiver shows a neutral line across it which of course means it is level to the desired slope requested.  

The completed 4th tee.  

Best overall conditions of the season

We expect to have great conditions all season long but I don' t think you will see much better from tee to geen and fenceline to fenceline than you will see now. Weather is awesome as well. Course is beginning to firm, fairways are full and firm and ball roll on our greens should be improving with the lower humidity.
Joe Wachter
Sent from my LG phone

13 tee renovation

13 Tee final stages of renovation are happening today and tomorrow. Skip is doing some finish work on the tee banks this morning and the láser leveling will take place as well on both # 4 red tee and the new blue 13 tee. Sod is arriving in the pm with a majority of it being laid on Friday.
Joe Wachter
Sent from my LG phone

13 tee update

Well, we rented a skid steer and worked Friday morning on the tee until a toad strangler rain came along and stopped us in our tracks so to speak.  Rented the skid again late yesterday afternoon and got about 1.5 hours in this morning and was stopped by .10" of rain.  Not much rain but just enough to mess with our plans.  We hope to do some additional work tomorrow, rain dependent and then have the tee laser leveled on Thursday or Friday.  We plan to have it sodded before the weekend is over to allow it to grow for the next few weeks before the beginning of the Invitational.  We also plan to laser level the 4th red tee as well.  One of the things I forgot to mention in our presentation last week at the membership meeting.

New #13 blue tee looking from front to back.