We have learned through the years that several members of our crew are very good at stone work.  Their best example yet is the bridge on thirteen that was completely done in house by our staff.  The bridge on hole 1 also displays their work.  Today the task was to create a fire pit off of the back porch by the Pump Room.  Previous to today, the bushes had been removed  in the hedge to make room for the addition.

The stones that have been used are the same style as those used around the pond on 17, but are a smaller size.  The stones were dry stacked in a semi-circle next to the existing porch wall.  The pit was then lined with fabric and filled with stone.  The fabric was put in place to keep the stone from washing through the cracks in the stone during rains.  Once the stone was in place, it was topped of with sand to use as the base for the fire.

The fire pit should be functional shortly.

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The exterior of the clubhouse received a facelift this past week with new exterior lights.  The old lot had 2 broken lights, and all were weathered and deteriorating on the exterior surfaces.  It was a simple procedure, the new lights were able to utilize the existing mounts on the clubhouse so all that was needed was to take down the old and hang the new.

Before:

After:

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One of the inside winter projects this year was to install a pulley system in the shop that better enable us to lift large or heavy objects into the storage area above the offices and break room.  Today while moving the beverage stations out to the course, we utilized the pulleys to move the stations into the back of a trailer.

The railing is removable for the purpose of moving things into the storage area.  The crew fashioned a cradle to hold the beverage station for moving.

They were able to lower the beverage station directly into the trailer for transport out to the course.

This proved to be a much easier method for moving the beverage stations around.  The beverage stations are on the course, but are not being serviced yet.

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The brick work on the columns was finished on Friday of last week and the work on the chimney at the clubhouse was done this week.  A sealer has applied to prevent water from damaging the brick again.

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Over the next few days there will be a crew working at the front entrance gate.  They will be repairing some deteriorating brick in the columns at the front entrance by cutting out damaged joints and bricks.  They will reused the bricks that are still good and replace the broken ones.  They will also be grinding back the mortar over the entire column and adding new to give a uniform apperance.

The columns had cracked in several spots as a result of water seeping into the mortar joints and brick over time.  Once water entered the joints, the freeze and thaw cycles cracked the bricks and mortar.  This allowed more water to enter which exacerbated the problem.  Once the repairs have been made, the columns will have a sealer applied to them to delay any future problems.

There is a spot on the chimney of the clubhouse that will receive the same treatment when the columns have been completed.

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Another step in winterizing the course is closing the Halfway House.  There are heaters inside the building, but as a precaution the water lines are drained and the water is removed from the lines using pressurized air in the same manner the irrigation system was winterized.

The first step is the close the valve on the main water line to the Halfway House.  This valve is located where the old maintenance building sat at the end of the driving range.  Then an air compressor is connected to the incoming water line in the Halfway House and water is forced back through the line to a drain near the 14th green.  This is done to remove the water from the line going to the Halfway House.  Once this is done, the air is redirected to the fixtures in the building.  Each fixture is turned on until air begins to blow out.

When air has filled the lines, RV anti-freeze is pumped into the lines, and poured into the toilets, sink drains and floor drains.

The coolers at the Halfway House are emptied and shut off.  The heaters are then turned on and set for the winter.

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