Projects
Being A Part of Our Team and Tackling Improvement Projects Keeps Work Engaging!
Drainage
Water was accumulating in the storage building next to the fence on hole #10, so our goal was to move water away from the building, under the fence to an area where it is less traveled and less harmful. Using a sod cutter, we removed the sod for later replacement, shaped and graded the swales using the excavator, and replaced the quality sod back to finish.
The drains are running out and moving water away from the building and the fence... through the snow! Mission accomplished.
Green Repair
Hole #2 Green Repair: We enlarged a handful of our greens to allow for more pin (cup & flag) locations. In some cases, enlarging the green can result in weaker/thin turf in the extension areas during stressful climate conditions.
Solution: Replace it with healthy sod from our practice green! Using a variety of hand tools, such as a hex plugger and a sod stripper, we were able to achieve satisfactory results.
Tree Work
One of our winter goals at Wanumetonomy is to remove trees that are safety hazards to our club and team members. Safety hazards arise in a number of different situations:
Large amounts of rot caused by disease lead to an unstable base or trunk
Pests such as the Asian Longhorned Beetle and the Emerald Ash Borer cause significant damage to tree species native to the Northeastern US
Damage caused by high winds and/or inclement weather
*Adhering to safety standards in scenarios like these is something we take very seriously. For example, during tree work, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) such as chaps and safety glasses are standard requirements.
Aesthetics
Sometimes, we focus on landscaping architecture and aesthetics around the golf course to create a more welcoming and engaging atmosphere for our members.
The objective with this project was to replace the railroad ties (long slabs of treated wood) that bordered the cart path leading to the 14th tee to provide a safe, clean, rustic feel to the teeing area. We removed the old railroad ties and installed new ones with gravel to ensure stability and balance.
Core Aerification
Depending on the golf course, annual/biannual core aerification is 100% mandatory. This practice removes root zone buildup of undecomposed organic matter, or thatch, which accumulates from repeated daily mowing. Thatch is only beneficial up to a certain metric (typically a 1-inch-thick layer), anything more should be removed. If it is not removed, it becomes an impenetrable layer that holds water and prevents it from infiltrating into the root zone (which is where we want the water to go). This can lead to bad things like disease in the turf, and most noticeably to the golfer, playing conditions decline.
The two videos above show examples of our team operating the ProCore 648, the machine that pulls the cores (plugs) from the turf. Attached to the ProCore 648 is the collection setup called the CoreMax48. It's designed to blow all of the plugs into the large metal container, which can then be emptied into a front-end loader and dumped for disposal. It allows our team to eliminate shoveling the plugs altogether, which is revolutionary.
Drill and Fill! This is a soil amendment practice. The machine drills down into the soil with a large drill bit and simultaneously fills the hole with kiln-dried sand. This allows us to change the soil profile to a more sandy loam soil to increase drainage in the rootzone and firm up the putting surface for better playing conditions for our members.
10 Tee Project
Before
After
Download Our Team Member Application and send to:
Shaun Marcellus
152 Brown Ln, Middletown RI 02842