Just ask our mechanic, Jan.  She will tell you that sand and mowers do not mix.  However, being the patient and hardworking person she is, the necessary topdressing we preform is taken in stride.  We discuss the timing, monitor results, and she spends a day getting the mowers in perfect condition when the sand takes the edge away front the cutting units.

Some sand-to-mower contact cannot be avoided.  In the pictures below, this sanding is not necessary and can be avoided. The photo on the left includes a divot that someone filled with half a bottle of sand.  That pillar of sand is going to end up in mowing reels of our fairway unit.  If you just give the sand a little kick with your foot to disperse the portion that is above the turf canopy, then you will save our machines some steel and you'll be doing Jan a favor.  The pic on the right has two properly filled divots.

 

Filling a bunch of divots that have been neglected is a great way to serve your club, but do not associate how many bottles you used with the level of your service.  Dumping piles of sand out there causes problems with the mowers, creates uneven turf and scalped areas, and it costs the club money for more sand, labor to refill the bottles, and Jan's hard work getting the reels in shape after too many of these encounters.  Fill your divots, but fill them correctly.

We started this project on December 12th and it's still going.  We expected to finish within a month, but the loss of our tractor has certainly slowed progress as we load material by hand.  I'm not too surprised that no complaints have come my way from all tees being put on the forward pad during construction.  It takes courage to pull out the driver (and maybe some foolishness) on our #1 handicap hole from this shortened distance.  I've been going with a hybrid and then I do my best to find a way to destroy my chances with my approach shot.  That's kinda my game.

Anyhow, we have once again elected to remove some dangerous railroad tie stairs, but this time, we are going another route.  The new entry way will feature a series of wide landings built with decomposed granite and a 4 x 6 frame.  The retaining wall is built with recycled Basalite bricks pulled from the tree wells on #12; more on that later.

This is still a few days away from completion as we are determined to maintain the course conditions first and foremost and turn to our projects when time allows.  Here are some pics to give you an idea of what we are doing.

Old walkway removed and got a pic of Marvin leaning on a shovel, blackmail material.

Digging out the wall foundation, the old frame from the diagonal stairs in the foreground.