When Tom Fazio visited in the summer of 2016, we discussed ideas of how to improve the golf course. An idea that was quickly agreed upon was opening up green entrances by widening the approach, helping balls release onto the green instead of hanging up in the rough. The change to the 13th hole years ago, has made it much easier to get the ball on the green during the summer months when the course is firm and fast.
On Tuesday (October 17th) we started moving forward on this project by altering the entrance to the 12th green. By widening the approach and using the slope on the left, more balls will release onto the green and also allow the use of the ground game from further back in the fairway.
The project starts with removing all of the ryegrass rough. The soil is graded to the desired depth and slope, before bentgrass sod is laid down.
Any sand/soil that is added is compacted with the plate compactor seen in the above photo to minimize any settling. Nearly 1000 feet of bentgrass was added to improve this area.
Final details include rolling the area with a water roller and spending the time needed making sure all of the seams between each piece of sod are uniform and knit together. It's fun to get all of the staff together on one project and complete something that we believe makes the course better.
The plan is to complete additional approach expansions this fall and next spring. As I mentioned before, we believe these small changes will make a huge improvement in the play-ability of the course for golfers of every skill level.
