In the meantime we busied ourselves outside pruning limbs from the last storm, installing some drainage and repair of others around the clubhouse. On the warmer days we had a chance to put the bunkers back into shape after all the washouts. Seem strange to talk of rain after all this cold weather, almost makes me miss rain.
The area around the Kirchner tree has been cleaned up, the stump ground and the wood moved to the bottom of the hill. We have been using the small pile for firewood. So any split firewood you see in the bin is from the Kirchner tree.
The next time we see ground we will begin to dismantle the wall, shape the soil leaving a smaller mound where the tree lived. The area will be sodded and left in place, while everyone adjusts to the view. Plans then can be developed on how best to make use of the space.
As I mentioned, with the current cold weather we begin the long process of refurbishment. The staff painstakingly strips, sands and reinforces every piece of "stuff" that resides on the course. The benches get completely stripped before several coats of stain are applied. The purple martin birdhouses are meticulously disassembled, rebuilt and carefully painted. Several staff are assigned to this process and they take great pride in the finished product. Tee markers, water containers, divot buckets, signs all receive the same process of strip, rebuild and restore. The continuous exposure to the elements and member use really puts a toll on these items and it's important to get as much life as we can from these functional pieces.
Even the bunker rakes are collected, inspected and a new heat dry vinyl is installed over the handles to make them good as new. This saves the costs associated with buying new handles every year and protects your hands when the fiberglass begins to splinter....ouch.
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| Inside work takes over normal equipment storage areas |
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| Tee markers stripped before stain and a new paint color is applied |
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| Pedro poses before one of his finished creations, very proud! They rebuild all the wood railings and supports every year. |
The last item today is an update on the bridge at 8. We are looking at four options. These are rebuild the bridge in place, install a pre-constructed engineered bridge, remove and replace with a smaller crossing, think the stone St. Andrews bridge on 18, and lastly remove and not replace.
There may not be enough space to outline all the pros and cons, but we are looking at all the options before advancing the costs and benefits to the appropriate committees. Needless to say this is not as simple as replacing a few boards when it concerns the safety of members. I will continue to update this as we gain more information.
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| 131' span |
