To view Mackenzie and Eberts 2014 review please follow the link
5th December 2014
The bunker work is on schedule. Holes 18 and 9 have been turfed this week - pictures below
The new run off area on the right of the 18th green
The new bunker on hole 18
The left hand greenside bunker on hole 9
A new drain has been laid in front of the 9th green and through into the rough to take the water away from the bunkers
Next week the turf will be laid on the 2nd hole. It is important to have the turf down before Christmas for it to root before the weather turns too dry!!! January will see the bunkers lined with upside down turf and the bunkers will start to have sand in them from early February.
Day 18
| Course update 1.12.14 | |
Today is the last day on site for the shaper and he has completed the schedule of 6 holes plus the dredging of the lake infront of the 7th hole, the new tee on 9, the drain on the 2nd hole and scraping the mud from the path to the large practice ground. Despite the weather the work has progressed and we are on course to have the turf relaid by christmas
18th hole with the turf blocks in and is now ready for re-turfing
Just finishing the blocking of the left hand side bunker on the 9th green
The new 9th front tee - the front of the tee is 50yards forward
The 7th hole after the edge of the lake has been dredged - the stems of the bushes now require injecting and the boards require treating
a view of the water from the 7th green
the drain from the 18th bunker
a new drain down the right of the second hole.
The path to the practice ground | |
Day 17
Today we awoke to the course white over with frost but this has not deterred the shaper from progressing
We are now on the 18th hole. The front bunker is been made a little larger to protect the front of the green. The back bunkers are being removed and replaced with a grass hollow at the back and a run off area to the right
The turf has been removed and the bunker and run off area is starting to take shape- 18th hole
The front bunker on hole 18
The left hand side bunker on the 9th hole. the trench has been dug for the drainage pipe to be laid
The shaper is on the final stretch of the bunker work.
Wednesday he will be removing the tree stumps and then on Friday we will be removing some of the silt from the lake near the sleepers on hole 7
Day 16
The 17th hole has all been re- turfed , the left hand side has been seeded.l The turf is beginning to settle down on the green
Below the 4th green surround is now being re-turfed and this along with the 3rd hole should be completed by the weekend
The bunker on the second hole has now been shaped and is awaiting the new turf to be laid. The bunker has been moved to the right and is a little closer to the green allowing for an easier run up to the putting surface.
The right hand side bunker on 9 has been cut out and is awaiting to have the drainage pipes laid
Day 12
The 2nd hole - Shaping of the three bunkers is nearing completion . A new drain is to be inserted for the fairway bunkers but finding the correct fall is being problematic. The picture below shows the two new fairway bunkers
Below a close up of the fairway bunkers with the greenside bunker in view
Below the green side bunker on hole 2
Above the turf blocks have been placed in the right hand side bunkers of the 4th hole. The root zone has been applied and is now ready for the turf to be applied
The majority of the turf has been relaid on the 17th hole. The left hand rough has been seeded and the lip of the bunkers are awaiting turf
Tomorrow we will be starting the 9th hole.
Day 11
Tom McKenzie came and visited the club yesterday and marked out the remaining bunkers on holes 2,9 and 18
Above is the outline of the new bunker left hand side of the green on the 4th hole.
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The right hand side bunkers on the 4th hole
I hope this allays some fears that have been expressed that all the area that was stripped of turf was going to be bunker!
Paul and Ben supervised by Dave get to work stripping the turf from the right of hole two. A new drain will also be laid to help move the water away from the right of the second fairway
Today the 2nd hole may be played as a par three from the 150 yard marker. When work starts on the greenside bunker the temporary green will be in use
Kind regards
Rob
Day 10
The Bunkers on hole 3 have been completed by the shaper 
The green side bunker right of the 3rd green
Luckily we have found an old land drain (allegedly built by Napoleonic prisoners of war) that runs under the new fairway bunker on hole 3 hence making draining the bunker straight forward and saving us valuable time
The left hand side green side bunker on hole 17 is complete apart from the lining and the sand
The turfing to the right of 17 is nearing completion and the blocks have been inserted to the left hand side fairway bunkers
The Shaper is now moving onto the 2nd hole. Tomorrow the hole may be shortened to a par 3 of approx 150 yards. At some point the 2nd temporary green will be in play.
Kind regards
Rob
Day 7
After the torrential downpour this morning we are still making good progress. The 17th hole is starting to be re-turfed , the left hand rough has been seeded. The shaper has almost completed the 4th and will soon commence on the 3rd hole
The turf has been laid around the bunker on the rhs bunker of the 17th hole
View from the front right of the 17th green, in the foreground is the new drain from the LHS fairway bunkers
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Front RHS Bunker on the 4th Green
The LHS Bunker on the 4th hole is ready to have the turf blocks placed around the edge
Approach to the 4th green with the new bunkers
The machine creating the run off area to the rear of the 4th green
The soil has been deposited to create the new Blue 5th tee
With the 4th hole almost complete tomorrow should see a start being made to the 3rd hole.
Course Improvement Day 5
All the shaping has been completed on the 17th Hole. The turf blocks have been inserted in the greenside bunkers
View from the 17th fairway
Picture above The turf has been relaid on the right of the 17th Green. The subsoil has been turned over and new rootzone applied to allow the roots to penetrate down into the ground. Dave is preparing the top of the bunker before applying the new turf.
The left of the 17th green. The blocks have been placed around the edge of the bunker, the turf is back on the green
The back bunker to the right of the 4th green.
The project is still ahead of schedule but the continued downpours are starting to make the soil sticky and making the work harder.
More photos to follow
Phase 2 course work Day 1
It does not seem 12 months ago since we started the Bunker Programme
We originally planned to start on Monday but the contractor has been delayed by two days.
The Sun is out today and the work today is progressing well. The shape of the left hand greenside bunker is already done and the top soil is being applied to create the mounding and undulations.
The turf on the green will have to be lifted to allow the bunker to blend in with the green
The turf has been stripped away from the right green side bunker
Just to give you a picture of what the 17th will look like click on the file and it will bring up the proposed design
To prevent damage to the 17th fairway as it is being played to a temporary green please can a mat be used for all shots played from the fairway. There is not the option to move the ball to the semi rough.
I will update you on the progress on Friday and lets keep our fingers crossed for dry weather.
Day 2 and 3
Day 3 of the course work
The course work is one day ahead of schedule and despite the rain, 5 of the bunkers on 17 have been shaped and the large machine should be moving to the 4th hole by Tuesday.
The left green side bunker
the right green side bunkers
view from the 17th fairway.
The bunkers will be constructed the same way as last year with a drainage, turf lined and the edges built with blocks of turf cut from the practice ground. If you are using the practice please do not hit from the turf nursery
Course work Day 4
After over 40mm of Rainfall over the weekend work started again at 7am this morning. The 17th shaping is nearing completion
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A view from the middle of the fairway. The gap between the bunkers is narrow. The fairway will then open out behind the bunkers on the left.
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Photo taken behind the LHS fairway bunkers. Tom has white lined the outline of each bunker
The turf blocks being laid on the outline of the bunker - Right hand side of the green . The turf on the green has been taken up, rootzone is being applied to mould the green and bunker together
The left hand side green bunker. The turf from the green stacked at the side. You can look forward to a couple of tight pin positions especially when approaching from the left of the fairway. The turf will be relaid this afternoon so as to help speed the recovery.
