Progress slows

Not a lot of photo-worthy changes to share with you from the past ten days. The big news is the rough grade of the irrigation pond is complete. This week Duininck plans to begin drainage installation throughout the golf course. Richard Mandell, our golf course architect, is in town on Thursday for a site inspection and walk through.

Note: Though there are no photos of  clubhouse progress in this post, some footings were poured last Wednesday.

The current view from the 16 forward tee back towards the blue tee.

The new look from the back tee on 16.  Four feet of cut will be removed from the ridge in the center of the photo to improve sight lines.

Footings for the Pro Shop were poured this week.

Concrete pumping rig used to get concrete to the footing forms .



Pro Shop foundation.



A view across the driving range tee.



Looking out on the driving range.




This is the roughed-in version of our new irrigation pond. Once the water is removed the bottom and sides will be smoothed out in preparation for a pvc liner. The liner won't be installed until next spring.




These are sections of concrete culvert to be used as a wet well in the new irrigation pumphouse. Note the 30-inch hole in the section on the left. That section will be at the bottom of the wet well and the hole will accomodate a 30-inch intake pipe from the pond.



The Big Dig and The Big Push

The "Big Push" continues on the 16th hole. The entire hillside that the old white/red tee sat on is being pushed  into the ravine and back to the blue tee. This D-8 Cat has been working on this area for over a week. The end product should provide good sight lines to the fairway from the back tees.

View from the cart path by the blue tee.

View from the right rough on the 14th hole.

Looking back towards the 16 blue tee.

The "Big Dig" started this week on the 12th hole as excavation of the irrigation pond began. 20,000 cubic yards of material will be removed from this water feature. It will hold 7-10 days worth of irrigation water and will be lined with a PVC liner to prevent leaking.

A view of the activity from on top of 12 fairway.

The first day of digging from 13 green.

The excavated material is hauled via 4 haul trucks to the far end of the driving range.

As you can see this pond will be very deep.

Back of the driving range where the loads are deposited. This area is being raised up  to improve sight lines from the  practice tee.

The material dug from the pond site is of very poor quality. The majority is peat moss and you can see the fibrous layers in the photo above.

This is one of four haul trucks currently operating on the golf course. These articulating trucks can haul 25-30 yards of material per trip. This particular truck was put out of service for a day while traveling across 9 fairway on a haul road. A cast iron irrigation line popped up out of the ground and destroyed a hydraulic line on the underside of the truck.

A typical  haul road across a fairway.

9 fairway looking a little tough!

7 fairway dirt work.

14/15 dirt work

13 hill topsoil stripped and stockpiled.

5 fairway and green complex.

Sod was stripped from all 12 of our sand-based greens.

Once the sod was cut, a skid loader moves it into piles.

The 12 inches of greens mix is removed from the cavity and stockpiled. This mix will be used to sand-cap the new tee surfaces.

Bunker sand is being removed from all existing bunkers and stockpiled. This sand will be  mixed into dirt work throughout the golf course to get rid of it.

1st tee complex continues to expand.

The chain link fence between the practice range and the first hole was pulled down, cut up and hauled away.

A huge pile of drainage pipe is stored at the beginning of 18 fairway.

Lower parking lot being constructed along County Road B. View is from the entrance road looking east.

Steps and railing down to 12 tee are removed.

Footings for the new clubhouse.

Pile of soil next to clubhouse site.

Clubhouse site.

Footings installed for the new Pro Shop.

  

End Of Week Wrap Up

As you can see in the photo below, both the upper and lower roads are posted. The general public is not allowed on the property for their own safety and to minimize contractor liability. We realize the many friends of Keller are VERY interested in the progress of this project and my hope, via this blog, is to keep you in the loop. Feel free to post questions and I will do my best to answer them in a timely manner. Thank you for your understanding.

This is the on-site trailer for Duininck, Inc., our golf course contractor. They are a large, well-respected Minnesota company known for high quality work.

Topsoil scraping begins on the new #10 green complex. The old green is on the  right.

Topsoil scraping and stockpiling complete.

Final cleanup of the old clubhouse footprint post demolition.

A view from the parking lot as excavation begins for the new clubhouse.

A view from the service road where the practice green once stood. Flat area  is the construction pad for the new clubhouse.

Cart path removal continues next to 9 tee. All asphalt material on the course should  be removed  within several  more days. The asphalt is transported off-site where it is ground up and will be used as base material for the new cart paths.

Keller mechanic Scott Knutson cleans up old irrigation heads for resale. Keller staff salvaged  some 550 heads along with a multitude of controllers, gate valves and quick coupler valves.

Looking towards the old 12th green.

A view from 13 green.

A view from the tee on the practice range.



This is what a D8 Cat does to fine fairway turf.



Looking back from 9 green.




Grubbing and clearing of the woodlot to the east of the practice range.



The pond between the 16 blue and white tee is filled in.



Pushing dirt down into the hole.





Soil from the clubhouse excavation is dumped east of the parking lot. This extension will eventually become a tee complex for the first hole.



Duininck on-site Superintendent marking drainage catch basins in 14 fairway.



A corridor was cleared through the woodlot behind 13 tee. Xcel will relocate the power lines that ran along 12 fairway and over 13 tee in this new corridor. This reroute will minimize interference with the new golf holes.


Duininck is ramping up operations the week of November 12. Their goal is to complete all major dirt work by freeze up. Make sure to check back as things are going to get crazy!