Another truckload of 9,000ft2 of sod was installed today. About 4,000ft2 feet of that was Creeping Bentgrass, that went to complete the approach extension on #4 and those on #5 that I talked about yesterday. The remaining 5,000ft2 of the truck was Kentucky Bluegrass, and was used on #1.
To continue my post from yesterday regarding the approach extensions on hole #5, I pulled two Ross drawings of holes #17 and #5. The drawing of the 5th hole was actually created by architect, Ron Prichard, during the 1996 Master Plan since Ross' front nine drawings aren't available. There are several interesting things to note on these drawings. Here they are:
1. Note the width of the approaches are as wide or even wider in some cases than their respective putting greens.
2. Note the swale in #17 approach that was restored this winter!
3. Note the bunkers are in the fairways. They aren't pushed off to the side in the rough. Ross has closely mowed turf leading up to the bunker and beyond the bunker as well.
4. Note the tees are not square. There is no question that square tees offer a sharp look, especially on an old classic golf course, like Highlands CC. This is mainly done as a throwback to the term, tee box. This was a historic time when some golf courses had tees that were literally elevated wooded boxes filled with compacted sand. That is where the square tee idea came from and why it is typically reserved for golf courses from that time period. However, in most cases, rounded or other non-symmetric shaped tees tend to make better use of space as opposed to square tees. You'll see this is what we've done on #2 as well as a lot of the new forward tees. It is also worth noting that rounded tees don't catch your attention like a square tee. Therefore, in the case of forward tees where they can be very visible, using nonlinear lines helps keep your focus on the fairway. Maintenance of rounded tees is also slightly easier because mowing the 4, 90 degree angles takes practice and the corners can wear out quickly if they aren't mowed properly or if there isn't enough room to turn a mower around off the tee surface.
5. Finally, note the shape of the 17th green, which was restored, allowing us to gain that front right hole location.