Tom,
Unfortunately, I do not have many good pictures as I never seemed to have my camera when the light was right. The photo of 16 was taken just as the sun eased behind the hill last Friday evening. I wanted some shots but started too late in the day as we were trying to get 16 seeding finished up.
I did get a chance to take a few shots of the people involved. To the causal observer, it may seem normal that you announced the work in July and we're done seeding 6 green complexes in early September. To those involved, we know what a whirlwind its been and its a credit to all involved that it has gone so smooth and moved at such a rapid pace. Its always cool when a team comes together and works toward a common goal.
These three guys, Brent, Zack, and Jeff, hand raked every square inch of the 10 acres we seeded. In fact they hand raked it multiply times! The finishing was especially challenging in some spots because we were basically just seeding into native ground. Yet that ground had to be smooth enough to be closely mowed. In most cases the only way to get that finish was with a landscape rake and a strong back, for hours at a time. These young guys got it done.
Robert, Ben (this is how a USAF Capt. spends a week of leave), and Lupe averaged 14 hydro seed loads a day and worked into the night the first three nights as we made sure to tack down anything that might wash onto a green. There where pop up storms in the area and the crew was going to do all they could to protect the finish work.
From the beginning we knew we'd be racing a rapidly closing seeding window. The irrigation install guys were tasked with getting main line run to the green sites and then wrapping them as quickly as possible once the shaping was done. They did well, as they should, as this crew has been together for close to ten years now. Their foreman, Lupe, in the center, has been installing irrigation for close to 20 years. The latest addition to his crew is his son, Ferrmin, is too Lupe's right. To Lupe's left is his nephew, Carlos, who has made every fuse. We've had two suppliers come out to inspect the fusing and both left with "that guy is good" comments.
I wish I had a photo of Brian Slawnick in action. Brian obviously does outstanding work, but is also an excellent leader who keeps things moving without any drama. Brian keeps the vibe on the job just right and that's not always an easy thing to do.
Nor do I have any photos at this time of staff from Dismal River Club, but safe to say no way we get this much done this quickly without excellent support from Chris and his people. I will get some crew photos of the K State mafia when I'm there next week.