Between the Holidays, our contractor has continued to work with a scaled down crew. The 4.5" of rain we received early in the week slowed our progress, but now that the course is drying out, we're back at it. The main focus of the work this week has been on #10 "island." All of the rough on the island has been removed and will be resodded with new Kentucky Bluegrass sod. While this fairway landing area would benefit greatly from sand-capping, this year we are reworking the drainage that is there and the extending the amount of fairway turf to match the drawing done by Donald Ross in the 1920's. Sand-Capping is the process of removing 6-8" of the soil below the turf and replacing it with sand; a modified, simplistic version of a USGA spec green. Sand-capped fairways drain a lot better and the surface is much firmer, even during rainy periods. In a climate like Highlands, sand-capping is money well spent.
