Callawassie Island Agronomy: Week 3

XGD fairway drainage continues to move along at a great pace. As of this weekend, Magnolia 3,4,5,6 and half of 7 have been completed. The crew expects to complete Magnolia 7, then move to Magnolia 1 on Monday. We hope to have all of the fairway drainage installation completed over the next 3 weeks. The drainage crew will then fall back and begin to install the drainage on the approaches and green surrounds following the green complex shaping. Speaking of green complex shaping, Magnolia 4 complex, including the bunkers have been shaped in and are ready for the the approaches to be drained. This is an exciting part of the process to see, as the surface runoff issues that have plagued us for years have been solved with the reshaping of the green surrounds and you can now really see how bad it was. The XGD crew has laid out the drainage and has begun installing pipe. All of the approaches and short grass areas around greens will be capped with 2-3 inches of the same sand mix used on the greens. To recap the complete scope of work on and around the putting greens, the work will flow in this order. Greens surfaces will have 5 inches of turf, thatch, and organic matter removed. This 5 inch removal takes the sand mix cavity down to 10 inches deep on a desired USGA spec 12 inches deep. The collars and approaches will also have this 5 inches of material removed and tied in to the reshaped green surrounds, bunkers, and overall greens complex. Once the shaping of the bunkers and green surrounds are approved by Billy Fuller, XGD drainage is installed in the approaches and short grass areas around the greens. The bunkers are also drained following Better Billy Bunker spec (more to come on this process later in the project). Once all the drainage is installed on the approaches, 2 inches of greensmix sand will be installed over the XGD drainage on the approaches and over the entire putting surface. The putting surface will be checked to ensure proper 12 inches of depth and reshaped back to the original contours of the putting green using the GPS maps taken prior to renovation work beginning. The greens mix on the collars and approaches will be shaped to ensure proper surface water runoff off and away from the putting surfaces down to new drainage. Grassing and bunker sand installation will be the next steps but won't happen for several more weeks. All of this work will result in a great playing surface for all golfers that will provide firm conditions around the greens allowing a variety of different shot options for players to use.