We are now on the right side tee on 12. Stripping the area down to the dirt reveals the pitch of the land. Over time this tee slowly lost its shape for various reasons. The new tee will be expanded to the left to claim some vacant real estate and the tee will be separated from the mounds to the right. The land will be graded for some minor drainage purposes, but it is not a major concern. Yesterday we spent time importing new soil to help level the entire area. The next step is the till the soil. Tilling loosens the soil to mix new soil properly, break up compaction and makes the area easier to move soil to level. The greatest impact to tilling is seeing the new sod develop strong roots through the season as roots can easily navigate loose soil to take advantage of oxygen, water and nutrients. In golf we rarely have the opportunity to till and turn over the soil, so I prefer to take advantage of it whenever possible. We are still farmers, just grass farmers. Tilling is the ultimate aerification practice that is centuries old. Works well every time.
Any irrigation that needs to be adjusted during this time is being done. There is a valve box to the right of the tee that needs attention. The shaping process takes into account the direction of the tee in relation to the hole. As a rule of thumb we use the middle of the landing area as our target. In this case it is the middle of the green. Tees that we are renovating are constructed square. This increases the amount of teeing space. Eventually our goal is to square off all of the tees on the property.
Once the grade is close to final, we use a sand/compost mix to arrive at our final grade before seeding or sodding. The final shaping process includes using some survey equipment to ensure we meet the desired grading.
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