June 20, 2014
The final stages of the most recent golf course construction
project are underway. Hole #11 will soon
be converted to a par 5, bringing Pike Lake back to a par 72 golf course.
As most of you have noticed, during the week of June 9th,
fill was dumped behind the existing black tee deck. This fill will be used to create a ground
base back to the new tee area which will eventually house the white tee
blocks. The new tee deck will be
situated roughly 70 yards behind the current black tee which is the highest
point in the somewhat “swampy landscape”.
The fairway will be extended back towards the tee decks 40 yards to give
golfers a fair opportunity to safely reach the fairway from the tee. Eventually, the extension of the fairway will
be converted to bentgrass to match the grass type that exists on fairways
4-12. The boardwalk that runs through
the forest from #10 to #11 will need to be altered to allow golfers to access
the new deck. There will be a separate
path area in front of the tee for maintenance equipment to use.
The landscape company hired to
construct the new tee area floated their equipment in on June 19. Their first task was to install drain
lines. There are two culverts than run
under the cart path on # 11. A catch basin
and drain line were installed to coincide with both those culverts. Washed gravel is placed over the drain tile,
then a fabric liner to prevent silts from entering the tile, then top soil is
added and finally the sod is placed back on top. The water will now be diverted to the left
hand side of the tree line. These two
drain lines were installed on June 19 and June 20.
The construction company is
currently pushing fill and within the next week, the new tee area will start
taking shape. Irrigation is required for
the tee deck therefore a line will be installed and connected to an existing
line that irrigates the original #11 tees.
Irrigation needs to be in place before any sod is laid, so once there’s
water, the sod will be laid. The existing
forward tee will no longer be needed, therefore the sod will be stripped and
placed on the new tee.
At Pike Lake, the white tee
decks are heavily used. The sod on the
new tee deck will need time to not only take root; but be groomed for the
traffic and excess play it will receive.
The sod will be rolled regularly, topdressed with sand to ensure its
smoothness and eventually be cut regularly.
Barring any major weather delays, the construction process
will be completed by July 1. After that
the boardwalk will be altered and the sod will be groomed. We hope to have the new tee deck in full time
use by August 15, 2014. We are victims
of Mother Nature, so we hope she will co-operate with our projection date of
August 15.
Once #11 tee is complete, the construction of other new tee
decks will continue. Holes # 9, 5, 6, 17
and 13 are all receiving new decks. They
have all been “cut out” in the rough to allow players to properly tee off in
the meantime. We hope to begin these
new tees as soon as #11 is complete.
