First mow on Bobcat greens

With a beautiful sunrise this morning, we began the first mow on our newly sprigged TifEagle bermudagrass greens.  The greens were sprigged 2 weeks ago and have begun to grow in very nicely.  The height of cut on our first mow is .170" with an eventual goal of lowering the mowing height to around .120".  Also notice the newly laid sprigs on the collar/approach (2 days old).

 

 

Sod going down and lake interconnect install

The Bobcat project includes the installation of 6 lake interconnect pipes.  Below is a photo of work in progress replacing the compromised pipe between the 2 lakes on #5 (tee and green).  The old metal pipe is removed, a gravel bedding placed in the trench and new HDPE pipe installed in its place.

 

 

Excitement was brimming as sod began to go down on Monday morning.  #7 green surround was the first one to receive sod.  We will be sodding loops around greens and bunkers, as well as all slopes, an sprigging all areas in between.

 



 

 

Bobcat bridge lumber arrives, canal pipe replaced

The marine-grade lumber for our 4 new bridges and 2 retaining walls began arriving on site today.  Our contractor began working on the wall in front of #8 green this week.

 

 

 

Below is a photo of the 36+ year old corrugated metal pipe being removed under the cart path from #17 to #18.  This 48" diameter pipe will be replaced with a new HDPE pipe (see the after picture below)

 

 

TifEagle in Bobcat greens

Below is a photograph of #16 green on the Bobcat course 3-weeks after we stopped all maintenance in preparation for the Bobcat course improvement project.  You may be able to spot some geometric shapes of living grass surrounded by dead turf.  Well....in August 2014 as season was approaching we had some weak areas on the 16th green and decided to plug the areas of struggling Floradwarf with TifEagle from our Bear course nursery.  The living areas you see below are the exact areas we plugged with TifEagle, the grass we are using on the new Bobcat greens.  This is just another example of the inferiority of Floradwarf and further justification for improving the sustainability of our courses with the Bobcat improvement project.

 

 

Bird box success

Last fall The Forest installed 11 bird boxes throughout the Bear course.  Species-specific boxes were put in strategic locations to attract native birds.  We have found some success in the first nesting season and some photos are below:

 

The first photo is a nest of the Great crested fly catcher.  They are known for using snake skin in their nests for safety as a deterrent. 

 

 

 

The next photo is of the 4 baby bluebird chicks living in the nest between #1 and #3.  Great success for year 1 of the bird boxes!

 

Contractor Accountability

Over the past 2 weeks our irrigation contractor for the Bobcat Project, Mike Roach Irrigation (MRI), has begun installing main line piping.  All 4 directional bores are now complete and MRI has begun trenching in the utility easement behind #10 tee/#13 green (below).  When construction officially begins on April 6, 2015 we will have over 2500' of main line already installed.

A great feature of MRI's team is that each individual is factory trained and certified in High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) fusion welding.  For an additional level of accountability, company protocol is to record the time, date and the name of the fusion operator at each weld, recorded physically on the pipe (below).

Transplanting sabal palm trees

Adjacent to Bear #7 green we are in the process of planting 11 sabal palm trees to buffer the green from the passing traffic on Bobcat Dr.  Below are some videos detailing the process.

First, we used our Power Shovel to dig around the tree and cut the roots.  Next we used our Bobcat to remove the tree and place it on our dump truck for transport from #10 to #7.

Then the tree is lifted off the truck with the Bobcat and placed in the hole and watered in to ensure there is no air around the root ball.