4th 9 holes -- Construction Diary 1998-2000

This was a heck of a project. We began in fall of 1998, and we finally opened in June of 2000.

We had our share of delays: winter ice & mud, permitting, and microburst storming. The drought was positive in that we weren't bogged down in mud; however, it was negative in that it was tough to grow our tender seedlings.

What an adventure!

December 1998. Clearing trees on the new #10 hole. These boys -- the Bahmers and their crew -- have some amazing toys: Shears and rotary blades and chippers. The non-timber trees (most of them) are being chipped and sent to a pulp mill for paper.

Permits are required (and in place) to grind the stumps. Then GolfScapes can go to town and build, build, build. This is #1 fairway, with a wetland area in the middle. #10 is a par 5 that starts "behind" #7 Lakeside green, goes down through the valley and back on up the other side. The second shot will be pretty steep. On the right, in the valley, are the remains of bear pens.

We had to drain the lake quite a bit so that we could build our new pumphouse. The old pumps worked great but they didn't have enough ummph to handle nine additional holes. The old pumphouse is already history.

We're also going to fertigate (add fertilizer in the irrigation water), so we'll need a much bigger pumphouse. This photo shows a crane truck lowering the first third of the concrete wet well into place. DEL Enterprises is, of course, building the new pumphouse.

Greenawald Brothers have been busy on this project, and they built the stone wall pictured. We have two new culverts like this. That's 48" pipe.

Remember the blast of winter? It sure slowed us down. We managed to make some progress, though.

Commercial Stone has made umpteen deliveries, Wilhelm Concrete's trucks somehow keep getting up the hill, and Dave Gossman has supplied us with all kinds of concrete accessories and help. This pumphouse doesn't even compare to the old one.

Getting all of the forms in place was tedious -- try 1200-plus bolts and lots of rebar -- but eventually the concrete pumper arrived and the foundation was poured.

The foundation is insulated, and in the background is the new Red tee for #18. We placed some big rocks in front of the existing small rocks to keep them from slipping away like they have been doing.

Dale & Clyde have been tinkering away, trying to get this huge old 'dozer up and running. They can find -- or make-- parts for just about anything. Dale's truck has over 600,000 miles on it.

The pumphouse gets a floor. At least concrete sets up. We are up to our ears in mud everywhere else. Also, we're making progress on the rocks for the tee.

Thorpes and crew are tearing down our lower barn, an old pig barn. New #15 is going to be just above it's location, and we have to build a sediment pond just below it. We're keeping the red barn by the road.

Smile

February 1999

The pumphouse is finally taking shape. We filled the walls with perlite/vermiculite for insulation. We can't build the roof until the pumps arrive, which probably won't be until the end of March or beginning of April.

Fortunately, Collier Development had one of these machines, equipped with a special winged bucket that digs tapered channels. We have miles of channels now.

This is the diversion channel above the new #18 (the current Lakeside #7 is on the left, and the lake is out of the photo to the right). The channel has to be either seeded and lined with erosion matting or lined with fabric and...

...rock.

This is R3 riprap -- pretty big rocks. A truckload doesn't go too far.

This is super silt fence. It's regular 48" cyclone fence with 2½" posts buried 36". Then silt fence fabric is wired to the front and tension cables are strung along it. It runs the entire length of our lake. We almost hope that we get that "25 year storm" just to see if this stuff really works, but dry weather is much more desirable for our project. Butler's Grounds Crew has been very helpful here, too.

You are looking from the new pumphouse toward new #18 green. Those are just temporary boulders, in a temporary drainage channel, with temporary super silt fence. It will be a lot more playable once the grass grows in.

Dave & Kitty Thorpe, standing on the second floor of the old barn. No more walls.

Ed and the channel bucket. This channel cuts across new #14.

This is the view from the new forward tee on #18. Yes, there is some lake to clear. There is a lot more lake to contend with from the middle and rear tees.

The view is from the new #16 tee, looking back toward the red barn. The top right is existing #7 Lakeside.

New #10, looking toward the green. Rock lined channels are on both sides of this hole. The orange fence surrounds a wetland. To the right of that is a sediment pond.

This beautiful swan appeared out of nowhere last month. It seems to get along well with the ducks and geese. Hopefully, golfers won't scare it away. Paul is very dedicated and has been feeding the ducks everyday for years.

View from existing #6 Lakeside fairway toward new #16. Tee will be on the right (on top of the hill) and the green drops down to the left. This is in the midst of tree removal.