Chechessee Creek Club Renovation

[Craig Disher]

The course has been closed for almost 2 weeks and except for a torrential rainstorm a few days ago, work has been constant. The renovation's primary goal - following guidelines from Coore and Crenshaw - is to regrass the entire course: TifEagle on the putting surfaces, TifGrand sod on the surrounds and Celebration everywhere else. Along with the new grass, the crew will address drainage issues throughout the course and some of the bunkers that have had drainage problems will be given the Billy Bunker treatment. New tees to create a shorter course are being built and the original, straight-line tees are being reshaped to give a more natural appearance. All the greens have been gassed and will be sprigged with TifEagle back to their original sizes. On some, as much as 8' was added to the edge. I'll post a few photos as the work goes forward.

This view of the front of #1 gives an idea of how much area around the greens TifGrand will cover. The bare dirt up to the green is the area that will be sodded.



I believe most bunkers will be reshaped either to recover lost area (the bunker right on #1 almost doubled in size) or create a natural edge appearance. Here's a view of the center bunker on #13 - larger and more natural.



Perhaps the greatest drainage problem was the 150-yards of approach to the 5th green. The fairway turf seldom played firm and the sandy waste along the left side drained poorly. A lot of work is going on there. This photo shows part of the solution - a drainage pipe will run the entire length of the waste area and collect water from French drains put into the fairway. The waste area will also be replaced by 4 or 5 bunkers. Here's the big pipe being placed - the 5th green is visible behind the dozer.



These photos show the work on the two right greenside bunkers on #10. Jeff Bradley at the controls starting to shape and the end result.

[George Freeman]

Craig -

When was Chechessee built?

[Craig Disher]

Craig -

When was Chechessee built?

2000

[Wade Whitehead]

Budget?

WW

[Eric Smith]

Thanks for the report, Craig. Very exciting news - improving what was already a fantastic golf course. Neck and neck with Harbour Town as my favorite in the lowcountry. Can't wait to see it when it reopens.

[Anthony_Nysse]

My guess is most of the bare soil around the green with be Tifgrand and the remaining turf will be "no tilled" with Celebration.

[Craig Disher]

My guess is most of the bare soil around the green with be Tifgrand and the remaining turf will be "no tilled" with Celebration.

I may have misheard but I believe the plan is to machine scrape all the dead bermuda out of the fairways and then sprig with the Celebration. The bare area in the first photo will be sodded with Tifgrand. For anyone who is familiar with the course, the Tifgrand will extend from the first green all the way to the tree line on the right - about 40-50'.  All the green surrounds will get the same treatment.

[Anthony_Nysse]

My guess is most of the bare soil around the green with be Tifgrand and the remaining turf will be "no tilled" with Celebration.

I may have misheard but I believe the plan is to machine scrape all the dead bermuda out of the fairways and then sprig with the Celebration. The bare area in the first photo will be sodded with Tifgrand. For anyone who is familiar with the course, the Tifgrand will extend from the first green all the way to the tree line on the right - about 40-50'.  All the green surrounds will get the same treatment.

Correct

[Brett Wiesley]

It's amazing to see the course in the photos.  Almost unrecognizable.  The new surrounds and bunker rework should be great.  Craig, any more trees to be taken out?  There were a few with tags on them still when we played.

[Craig Disher]

The prep work prior to sprigging the fairways is underway. Some may find theses photos interesting - it's a process I've never seen before. Four steps - strip, vacuum, aerify and drag, all mechanized.

The verticutting machine at work loosening the roots and blades of the old bermuda, now dead after 3 or 4 treatments of Roundup.



Then the vacuum cleaner passes over and sucks up most of the grass debris.



After which an aerifier comes through and punches.



After dragging some screens over the ground to break up the plugs, the fairways are left ready to receive the Celebration sprigs.



Brett -- The tree work is almost done for the summer. Mostly, the trees were taken down were either diseased or blocking sunlight on the turf. Over the winter some new trees will be planted to compensate for those lost and in one case to tighten up the left of the 5th fairway. What struck me was the large number of beautiful live oaks and large pines that weren't visible before. The tree thinning has been done with considerable care.

[Craig Disher]

Much work at the 3rd hole. Some final top dressing applied to the green.



The water hazard on the right of the fairway has had a problem with erosion. Here's an example of another partial bank collapse after a recent downpour.



Riff-raff and fill has been added to stabilize the bank prior to sodding. The higher bank will help prevent anyone from stepping in the hazard to retrieve a ball. The bed is almost like quicksand.



During the bunker work, some turtle eggs were discovered.  Rather than taking a risk and moving them, they were kept in place and work continues around them. They'll likely hatch before the bunker is completed.



This shows the large increase in the left green side bunker on #7. The ridge of sand in the middle is near the original edge.

[Jason Way]

Great stuff Craig.  Thanks for sharing.  It never gets old to see the work in progress.  Fascinating.

[BCrosby]

Thanks Craig. A wonderful chronicle of events. Keep the pics and commentary coming.

What kind of turtle eggs are they?

Bob

[Craig Disher]

Thanks Craig. A wonderful chronicle of events. Keep the pics and commentary coming.

What kind of turtle eggs are they?

Bob

Thanks should go to Bill Kennedy, the Dir of Maintenance, who has kept the membership up to date with a blog and weekly course tours. I'm stealing photos from his blog - with his kind permission.

I think the eggs are from a box turtle. They're around all the ponds and water hazards on the course.

[Craig Disher]

The drainage piping in the waste area on the left of #4 is nearly finished. Looking down the fairway...



And in the opposite direction with the green on the right...



Finally, the main pipes are now covered and work can begin on preparing the area for the new bunkers.



On #7, the area to the front left of the green has also been a drainage problem. The area has been reshaped and the bunker rebuilt and enlarged.



A hedge to the left of the bunkers on the left of the green had been cut down to allow for a better view of the marsh.



That hedge will soon be gone.



Finally, this gives a good picture of what has happened around each green - Celebration up to the bare area, Tifgrand sod up to the lighter area on the putting surface, and Tifeagle on the light colored area on the green. This is hole #16 with #17 tee in the background.

[Craig Disher]

The sodding of the green surrounds with Tifgrand has started while bunker expansion continues. Now there is some grass to be seen.

The 2nd hole prior awaiting sod.



And the right side afterwards.



The 3rd before:



And the 3rd after:



The hazard along the right side of #3 has been reinforced and Tifgrand has been added near the green.



As the bunkers near the greens are completed, the edges are being tucked and stapled with the Tifgrand sod.



The left greenside bunker on #8 is a good example of the expansion. The orange line shows the original bunker edge.



And after expansion.



The hedge to the left of the 7th green has been removed, opening up a much better view of the marsh. Eventually the low foliage behind and left of the green will be thinned out exposing more marsh view and another of the property's large live oaks.



As long as the weather cooperates, the sodding should be done this week. So far, the work is on or a little ahead of schedule.

[Bill_McBride]

Craig, is the back nine open during this work?

[Craig Disher]

Nope. The clubhouse and practice areas are the only facilities open.

[Craig Disher]

The Tifgrand sodding is about half done and the drainage work has started. Here's a view of the 9th green, sod in place:



Sodding is also complete on #7



A significant improvement to #7 is the drainage work to the front left of the green - now under sod,  the enlarged bunkers, and the disappearance of the hedge along the marsh bank.



The bunkers on the right of the 18th green:



and the crew placing the half acre of sod.



A special piece of equipment is pruning tree roots along every tree line on the course. It slices 4 parallel grooves about 10" deep and cuts through roots several inches thick.



French drains are going into the most troublesome areas. Here's an initial trench around the 16th green.



A finished drain on 16 prior to sodding. The drains are finally filled with green mix so their outline won't be visible after grow-in.



Heavy downpours are a problem that create extra work. Two nights ago 1" of rain fell in a short time and part of the new bank on #3 slid into the hazard.



The damage was repaired the next day. Once the sod knits firmly into the bank and drainage is installed in the fairway, there shouldn't be any further problems.

[Jason Topp]

Did the eggs hatch?

[Michael Wharton-Palmer]

Awesome Craig thanks for sharing
When is the scheduled reopening?

[Craig Disher]

Awesome Craig thanks for sharing
When is the scheduled reopening?

The scheduled opening is 5 Sept but of course dependent on the weather. So far, there haven't been any major delays. Bill Kennedy says that the best weather he could hope for would be no rain the rest of the summer.

I'll ask about the eggs.

[BCrosby]

My gosh Craig, that's an incredible about of work.


Was the membership tagged for big assessment?


Bob

[Craig Disher]

There is a lot of work going on. Standing on the porch behind the pro shop and looking at the practice tee, everything looks the same. Standing on practice tee and doing a 360-degree scan shows work everywhere.

The members are not being assessed.

[Brett Wiesley]

Craig,


The work looks great, drainage being key.  I hope the new turf sod and sprig goes well.


Aren't you supposed to be in England?  Despite the heat, seeing what they are doing at Chechessee is hard to miss.


Brett