The final push

 TDI has completed their punch list projects and has begun to demobilize their equipment.  This is always an exciting time as we wrap up the construction phase of the renovation and shift our focus to final grow-in steps and grooming the course to be ready for play come November.  The service yard along Callawassie drive will remain operational for a few more weeks as the equipment trucks arrive to take the remaining equipment off the island.  

The golf holes on Palmetto are really starting to look like, well, golf holes.  Despite our late start on planting Palmetto 7, the sprigs have really taken well after the double planting rate and additional fertilizer applications.  We hope to put the first mow on number 7 this week.  The other 8 holes have really established well and have all been mown to the final height of cut.  We will spend the next two months completing routine mowing, fertilizing and topdressing to finalize the grow in before opening.  Bunkers will begin to be raked and compacting the newly installed sand will be our focus.  Tie in sod work outside of cart paths has been completed and we have begun working on our Pinestraw beds to get those areas back into shape.  We call this phase, the final push, as we count down the days till opening.  The team is excited about having the finish line in sight and we can't wait to show off the new Palmetto to the membership soon.

Palmetto 9

Palmetto 8

Palmetto 7

Palmetto 6

Palmetto 5

Palmetto 4

Palmetto 3

Palmetto 2

Palmetto 1

Topical Storm Debby

 Tropical Storm Debby paid us a visit this week.  Thankfully we didn't sustain too much wind damage, but we did end up with 12 inches of rain over a 4-day period.  Despite this enormous amount of rain, the golf courses held up beautifully.  The holes that have been grassed had some expected flooding around basins and some minor washouts around some bunker edges, but all in all the course handled the rain great.  The minor flooding we did have receded quickly and we were able to get back on the course to conduct debris cleanup by Friday.  We plan to mow out the course over the weekend and fertilize the course on Monday to help the soil recover from the flushing rain we had.

Palmetto 7, our last hole to grass did sustain some erosion of some soil, but its work the TDI team should quickly be able to repair and get back ready for grass.  The unfortunate issue will be the lost growing time on this hole from not being able to complete the sod work and prep the fairway for sprigs.  We will loose 2 weeks of growing time, as we anticipate planting to now occur on August 20.  Let's hope we have a warm September.  We will sprig this fairway heavier than the others have been to encourage a faster grow in.  We will also treat this hole with additional fertility and topdressing to push the grass as much as we can.  

Tree damage on Palmetto 4

Flooding on Palmetto 5

Flooding on Palmetto 4

dumping water through weir gate on palmetto 8

Greens handled rain beautifully

water draining through new basin

Washouts on Palmetto 7 fairway

minor bunker edge washouts

Sprigging continues

 We are down to our last hole to grass.  Palmetto 8 was sprigged this week, leaving only Palmetto 7 to grass.  We hope to complete number 7 by end of next week, but the tropics are not looking good.  We will be taking some preventative steps to protect the turf we have on the ground ahead of the forecasted rain.  Sod work down the left edge of Palmetto 7 will also be completed by end of the week to wrap the bunkers and cover up the slopes between the fairway and the cart path.

Greens sprigs are starting to really fill in.  Routine mowing and spraying is ongoing and we plan to begin taking heights down some to help push lateral growth.  We will continue weekly fertlity applications and topdressing to encourage growth.  We are thrilled with the state of all the greens on Palmetto as we move into August.

Palmetto 1 Green

Mowing Palmetto 1 green

Fertility application to greens

Palmetto 8 grassing complete

Sod work on the left side of Palmetto 7

Sod work on left side of Palmetto 7

watering sprigs

Watering sprigs 

Sprigging Palmetto 8 Fairway

Sprigging Palmetto 8 fairway

Putting surface sprigging

 The big day has arrived.  Our goal every year is to sprig all the putting surfaces on the same day to make the grow in seamless and smooth.  TDI has done a tremendous job getting all the green complexes shaped and ready for green sprigging this year and today the team from Modern Turf arrived to plant the greens.  Once the TDI team completed their final prep work of the putting surfaces after a visit from Billy Fuller yesterday, the Callawassie Agronomy Team completed our pre-plant fertilization to the greens before the team from Modern Turf hand planted the Mini-verde sprigs.  As you can see, it takes a small army and lots of planning to get this accomplished and everyone involved made it look easy.   Below are step by step photos of the planting process.

Palmetto 8 putting surface prepped and ready for collar grass installation

Callawassie team applying soil amendments

Palmetto 1 ready for sprigs

Palmetto 2 green ready for amendments

Finished putting surface before sprigging

Modern Turf Team laying out bags of sprigs

Modern Turf and Callawassie Team members hand spreading mini-verde sprigs

Palmetto 8 green completed and sprigs being cut in

Progress

 The first 5 holes of fairway sprigging has really taken well.  Now between 2-4 weeks old, the tif tuf sprigs have really begun to grow sideways and fill in.  The Agronomy Team has now backed off the watering to begin to train the roots to grow deep into the soil.  The dryer conditions have also allowed for us the fertilize and mow the new sprigs to help encourage growth.  Photos below show week by week growth of the Palmetto 1-4 and 9.  Palmetto 5 was recently planted and we have plans to sprig 6-8 by the end of July.

Palmetto 2 Week 2

Palmetto 3 Week 2

Palmetto 4 Week 2

Palmetto 2 and 4 Week 2

Palmetto 1 Week 2

Palmetto 9 Week 2

Palmetto 9 Week 2

Palmetto 3 Week 3

Palmetto 4 Week 3

Palmetto 2 Week 3 

Palmetto 3 Week 3

Sprigs on the ground

 Grassing of the first 5 holes is moving along quickly. We now have the green complexes on Palmetto 1,9 2,3 and 4 completed with Tif Tuf Bermuda sod.  Having the putting surfaces wrapped makes for a great look prior to planting the greens.  When the gray sand based putting surface is wrapped with green turf, it really shows the unique shapes and undulations the putting surfaces have.  We continue to track well on our timeline of having all the green complexes ready by July 4th.  The team from TDI is well on their way to having Palmetto 5 ready for grass and 6-8 won't be far behind.  We plan to sprig all the greens the same day the week after July 4th. 

Sprigging of the fairways on Palmetto 2, 3 and 4 is now complete and the team has begun the final prep work on numbers 1 and 9 in preparation for sprigging soon. TDI has also completed the sod work around the tees on Palmetto 1-4 and have plans to grass number 9 early next week.  

Meanwhile, the shaping team is hard at work on Palmetto 6 getting the green complex roughed in before moving to 7.  Ron, our shaper, should be completed with the green complexes by the end of next week.

Sod work and sprigging completed on Palmetto 4

Final prep work to prepare the soil for sprigs

Sod work around greenside bunker on Palmetto 9

Stripping old soil from Palmetto 7 green

Sprigging Palmetto 2 fairway.  Sprigs are rolled after planting to ensure good soil contact

Palmetto 4 Green Complex

Palmetto 2 Green Complex

Palmetto 3 Green Complex

Palmetto 4 before sprigging