First loads of grass

 After 2 months of playing in the dirt, TDI and crew have reached the grassing stage on Palmetto 4.  We are excited to see the brown dirt start to turn green again.  Getting the grassing train rolling is a big step of any project as it puts to finishing touches on weeks of hard work.  The grass install team will complete the tee complexes on Palmetto 4 and 3 this week along with grassing the green surrounds on Palmetto 3.  Next week we will get the approach and green surround completed on Palmetto 2 and 3 and keep working our way backward to 1 and 9 over the next 10-15 days.  

May progress

 The first phase of any golf course renovation is always enjoyable.  The demo phase is when you see the most instant change.  To take what was, to the start of what it will be, goes fast and makes you sit back in amazement.  We have completed the demo phase on holes 1,9,2-4 so far and the TDI team is moving to Palmetto 5-8. In conjunction with the demo phase the drainage team has been hard at work installing the 2 inch XGD drainage and new basins.  The team is working on Palmetto 9 fairway now with nearly 60% of the 2 inch pipe now installed.  The drainage team will soon fall back behind the shaping of bunkers, tees and green surrounds to install drain lines in that newly shaped areas.  

Aerial photo of Palmetto 4

Aerial photo of Palmetto 2 showing fairway drainage and rough shaping

Fairway drainage on Palmetto 1

Rough shaping Palmetto 2 green surround

Rough shaping Palmetto 4 green surround

After the demo phase, rough shaping begins and the features of the course start to really take shape.  After rough shaping is completed, Billy Fuller, comes in for site visits to approve and finalize shape and contours.  Once approved, drainage and final shaping of these features is completed prior to grassing.  We are currently at this phase on Palmetto 3 and 4 and look to have these two holes final shaping completed and ready from grass by the end of the week.  

Final shaping of Palmetto 4 green surrounds begin completed

Palmetto 4 tee cavity ready for drainage and mix

Palmetto 4 tee with mix and final shaping completed

Final shaping of tee surrounds on Palmetto 4

Final shaping of Palmetto 3 Greenside bunker

Off to a good start

 The Team is getting pretty good at this renovation stuff.  As we settle in to year 3 of our project, both the Callawassie Team and the TDI Team have shown experience makes the operation run smooth.  Through 3 weeks of work, we have put a large dent in the demo work and have moved into the shaping phase on the first couple holes.  Below are tasks we have completed so far.

-XGD drainage has been installed on Palmetto 2, 5, 7 and 8

-Support drainage and basins have been installed on Palmetto 3, 5, 6, 7, and 8

-Old sod removal has been completed on Palmetto 1, 9, 2, 3, and 4

-Shaping has begun on Palmetto 3 and 4

-Berm reservation around the Maintenance Facility has been completed on Palm 3 and has begun on palm 2.

-Asphalt cart path removal has been completed

In the weeks ahead, shaping will continue on Palmetto 2 and 4 before moving over to 1 and 9.  XGD drainage installation will contiune on Palm 7 before moving to Palmetto 3.  Sod removal will continue on Palm 5-8.  Billy Fuller is scheduled to make his first visit next week to look at the shaping work on Palmetto 3 and 4.  The Callawassie Team will begin irrigation installation around the tees and greens once rough shapes have been approved.  The push to July 4th is on!  Our goal to sprig all of the greens the week after July 4th is our goal every year, allowing us time to fully grow in the putting surfaces.  With the start we have had this year, everyone is confident we will meet our goal again this year.

XGD drainage installation on Palmetto 5

XGD drainage installation on Palmetto 5

Sod removal on Palmetto 3

Sod removal on Palmetto 4

Sod removal on Palmetto 2

Shaping Palmetto 3 Tee complex

Shaping Palmetto 3 green complex

It is time for Palmetto

 The third and final phase has begun.  Today, we officially begin the renovation to Palmetto.  After a cold wet winter, the team and I are excited to begin the project on Palmetto.  We have been counting down the days this winter more so than ever.  After the completion of Magnolia and Dogwood the past two years, this winter was especially long dealing with bunker washouts and poor drainage on Palmetto.  Today marks the official last day we will have those issues on Callawassie Island.  

TDI, our contractor, has staged their equipment and will have their team arrive on property over the coming days to begin their work.  The agronomy team will spend this first week preparing the course for the project.  Installation of silt fencing, tree protection will be priority one.   Removal of all golf course accessories will also be completed before any real work begins.  Applications to remove the existing grass will also be made prior to TDI sod cutting and removing the turf.  The goal for now is to green the existing turf up so we can ensure an effective kill prior to removal.  Our team will be scalping the rough down to encourage growth of the bermuda.  Hopefully we can get some more consistent warm weather to help the grass wake up from winter dormancy.  We will spray the fairways and greens before the rough since those areas have greened up.  You will begin these areas to turn yellow over the coming days.  Once the rough has greened up enough to spray, applications to kill the turf will be made.  Additional watering and mowing will be completed to encourage as much growth as we can.  

As in years past, please remain off the golf course while to complete the renovation.  Once the cart path work begins, traveling the course becomes difficult for carts to make without risk of damage to tires. 

Thank you in advance for your help.  We can't wait to show Palmetto off in November.

Palmetto 8 fairway before bermudagrass eradication

TDI equipment staging

Hurricane Idalia

 It wouldn't be the start of September without a Hurricane threat.  Thankfully what appeared like a storm that could get interesting, ended up becoming just nice rainfall and a big mess.  Idalia stayed to our west and though it brought enough wind to make a debris mess on the course, we avoided the major tree and flooding damage that could have occurred.  In total, the island received 3 inches of rain, which turned out to be a great test for our new drainage system on Dogwood.  We made a point to walk the course during the rain to check basins and outfalls to see how well water was moving and you could hear the water flowing on the course.  A key point to remember as we get closer to opening, the drainage gets better with age.  The disturbed soil and reshaping has water "guessing" on where to travel.  We also are relying more on surface runoff early in the stage of the new course as the soil creates new pore space from root growth for water to travel through.  We are seeing full evidence of this process right now when you compare Magnolia and Dogwood.  Both courses are draining exceptionally well, but there is a difference on how quickly water moves from the surface to the drain lines and off when you go from Magnolia to Dogwood.  We fully expect Dogwood to catch up to Magnolia over the next 8-12 months and remain excited about how the course handles rain events.  

Radar as the center of Idalia approached Callawassie

Water flowing from XGD pipe  

Almost putt-able

The greens on Dogwood are 6 weeks old and have come in better than expected.  We are a full two weeks ahead of where we were at this point last year on Magnolia.  Minor tweaks to our grow in plan coupled with ideal weather have made for a very smooth grow in process on the greens.  This week we have switched from fixed head greens mowers to the mowers we will use daily once open.  These flex mowers are able to be set at a lower height of cut to achieve better ball roll and smoothness.  Also, the mowers have cutting units that "float" allowing the cutting head to move with the contours of the green and minimize scalping.  We have now lowered the HOC to .150 as we work down to a height of .125.  We will lowers .10 thousandths every week going forward until we reach our resting height of .125.  Weekly fertility and topdressing will continue to improve smoothness and uniformity.  This week will be our last week topdressing with greens mix.  The team will switch to conventional topdressing sand next week and going forward.  From a distance the greens appear nearly putt-able, a great sign with over 2 months to go before we open.  

Dogwood 4 Green

Clippings from mowing greens on Dogwood

Last topdressing with greens mix

Dogwood 3 green

We have reached August

 August is always a big month during a grow-in.  It's the month where you accomplish the majority or your lateral growth with the long hot and humid days coupled with frequent rainfall.  The last week of July checked all of those boxes.  Hot, Humid and lots of rain.  Nearly 5 inches in the past 10 days has tested our new drainage on Magnolia and Dogwood while making the planting of the last hole of dogwood challenging.  With regard to drainage, the system has passed with flying colors.  We still pinch ourselves on how well the course can handle rainfall events, yet still remain playable, while the Palmetto course reminds us of how far we have come. Bunker washouts and days of cart path only still exist on the palmetto course while Magnolia doesn't miss a beat.  The grow in of Dogwood has really kicked in now with all fairways and roughs planted. We are now playing the feed it, water it, mow it game as we count down to November.  Dogwood 6 was the last hole to be sprigged las week.  Kudos to the team from TDI for getting the work down and the holes planted before August.  This is several weeks ahead of where we stood this time last year on Magnolia.  Now we can shift our focus to the areas outside of cart paths and other out of play areas to finish up grassing.  The team from TDI will now begin prepping the bunkers for gravel, polymer and bunker sand plus begin completing punch list items within the playing surfaces.  

The putting surfaces are now 2.5 weeks old and are coming in very well.  Rolling to maintain trueness and mowing have begun along with weekly topdressing.  The greens have been cut twice and we will continue to increase that frequency over the coming weeks.  Similar to the fairways, we are now in the feed it, water it, mow it stage and the frequencies of these processes will be at their peak through the month of August.  

Sprigging the fairway and rough on Dogwood 6 

Water flying on new sprigs

Team working down heights on new tees

Dogwood 8 green 2.5 weeks old

First mow of new green

Topdressing new putting surfaces