Stump Grinding

We were able to get all 45 or so stumps ground this last week with a rental from Vermeer.  The grinder was a SC652 that was a beast.  All stumps were done in about a day and a half.  We purchased the stump grinder rental at the 2015 HAGCSA Scholarship and Research Tournament back in June.  Not only was it a great deal for us, but we were able to contribute to local scholarships and research at Kansas State University and the University of Missouri.

We had to take down a few remaining stumps.  Most were not quite this big

Here is the stump grinder at work up by the clubhouse.

We'll spend the rest of the week picking up the debris, and will soon back fill with topsoil and sod.

Tree Trimming

The following pictures are a snapshot of some tree trimming we did earlier this winter to help with line of sight problems and shade issues around greens and tees.  In all, we completed trimming on holes 3, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, and 18.  The following pictures are from 6 tee box where we removed some tree limbs that were beginning to creep into the line of sight from the back tee box.

This is a zoomed in view from the blue tee.

Here is the view after we did some major work.

This is the 34 foot towable boom lift we rented for the week.

Tree Removal

We had to remove this dead elm tree behind 16 green.

This is a tree on number 1 that was clearly ready to be taken out.

10 Tee Cleanup and Ornamental Transplanting

Here are some more of the ornamental grasses that we divided and moved to the back of 15 tee and 13 tee.

We also divided some other ornamental grasses and ringed the backside of 15 tee.

We did the same on the back of 13 tee along with clearing out more brush.

10 Tee Cleanup

The following are some pictures of clean up we have done along the left side of 10 tee box.  We started by dividing the two overgrown ornamental grasses that were right next to the tee.  We were able to divide these into 15 individual plants which we spaced out along the entire left side of the tee.  In the mean time, we cleared brush and vines along the left side that were becoming overgrown.  This will make a big difference on the appearance of this tee complex.

The two ornamental grasses that we divided into 15 plants.  They are black because we burned them down a few weeks ago.

This is how the tee looked before doing any clearing.  You can see the tree branches were starting to stick out over the edge of where we mow.

After clearing some of the brush back.  Also, you can see some of the ornamental grasses spaced out for planting.

After heavy limning of trees and clearing of brush.

All the newly divided ornamentals spaced out along the left side of the tee.

Tree Trimming

Some much needed tree trimming was recently done around some of our tee boxes a couple of weeks ago.  The trimming we had done was on trees that were to high for us to reach from the ground with our pull saw.  We contracted this work out to K.C. Arborist who did a fine job in a timely manor.  The pictures below are the before and after of 16 tee.  This is a short par 3 that had an ash tree overhanging the left side of the tee box hampering the use of a good portion of it.  Two other areas of trees that were limbed up were on number 5 and 13.  These areas also had trees that were growing in the line of sight from the tee boxes.  We will continue this winter to limb up trees where we are able.

#8 Trimming



Some recent trimming that was done on the golf course with before and after pictures.

View from the left side of #8 tee box.

After multiple trees along the left side were limned up allowing a clear shot.

Trees along the left side of #13 that where impeding the view.

After we cleaned up the trees and underlying brush

Brush that had been allowed to become overgrown behind #11 green.

Much better.

More Tree Trimming

We have continued our tree trimming efforts since returning from the holidays.  The nice weather has provided us with many days of being outside.  To date, we have made a significant impact across the golf course.  The better part of 12 holes have had their trees pruned substantially.  All of our back nine except for 10 and 18 have had all trees pruned.  Last week, we spent the majority of our time on 2 and 3.  With another month and a half until the grass even thinks about growing, I think we can get through most of the golf courses trees in need of trimming.

Pin oaks on the left side of #2 fairway prior to trimming.

After some much needed trimming.  Now I'll have a shot when I duck hook my tee shot!

Tree Trimming

Although the date says December 7, it still feels like early October.  The warm weather this week has allowed us to continue trimming as many trees as we can get to.  We started going down both sides of #15 early this week and wrapped up going down #12 on Friday.  Hopefully we can continue trimming a little each week to make a dent in the thousands of trees on the golf course.

Trees to the right of #13 red tee.

The cleaned-up trees after a little trimming.

Tree Removal

The warm winter provided us many opportunities to remove trees on the golf course.  All the trees we removed were already dead.  The wood was cut into fireplace length, split, and stacked for future use in the clubhouse or to be sold.  This spring we will be renting a stump grinder and taking out all of the stumps that accumulated over the year.  We will then fill the holes with topsoil and add seed or sod.  In the next month, we plan on having the left side of the par 3 eighth hole trimmed back to open up the left side of the tee.  Look for a future post on our progress.  We have hopes to begin replacing trees sometime in future.

 That's Nick the assistant taking down a dead oak behind #18 blue tee.

Behind #18 blue tee after the tree was removed.

 

This oak on the left side of #9 was struck by lightning.  Removing it really opened up the right side for a shot into the green.

This oak on the left side of #12 was dead for a couple years.  It never effected play because it was in the tall grass, but it is nice to remove the eye sore.

This was the largest tree we had to remove between #5 and #9.

Talk about a lot of chainsaw work!  The largest logs of this tree could barely be lifted with the tractor.

There is still a lot of wood to be split.  The winter of 2011-2012 did not provide us many opportunities to burn wood in the fireplace in the clubhouse.  We were able to purchase another set of safety chaps and a safety helmet with our profits from selling seasoned firewood.  We still have more to sell!