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Showing posts from 2015

Tee mower rescue

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Hi everyone, hope your enjoying this beautiful weather. . Today was the big day that the tee mower got rescued  from the pond. We used three chains and the trac hoe did the rest of the work. Everything went great. We put the key  back in  and it started right up. So far the only damage we can see is that one of the front yokes is bent. That's an under statement.  It will be going to the iron pile. We will order a new one the first of the new year. I got the mower back to the shop and I gave it a bath. I just want to say thank you to decook excavating. They brought in there big Trac hoe and the rest is history.  Everyone have a great week. Here's a few pictures of the rescue.  Take care... Dave

Pond bound

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Well what an interesting day I had today. I was mowing the back nine tees this morning and everything was going great. Hole 13 thru 18 were done so I head over to the 12 hole and mowed the drop area tee. I was just driving off the tee and my mower decided we should go sledding down the hill at a very high speed. I was heading straight for the  pond and the rocks. I knew I was in trouble and I had no control of the mower. What do I do ???  Ride it out and pray I don't get hurt or try to jump off and hope for the best. Well I decided to jump off. I got some good bruises on my right upper thigh other than that no broken bones. The mower is still in the pond tilted on its side. We are going to need a big back hoe to lift it out. Enough about that have a happy Halloween and remember to set your clocks back this weekend.  Take care . By the way here's a couple pictures of the mower in the pond. Dave

Irrigation blowout

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We are all done blowing out our irrigation lines. It went really well. We started Friday morning and had the system all blow out by 630 that evening.  We came back Saturday morning  to blow out hole 9 again and blow out the pump station . Hole 9 seems to always hold water so we wanted to go through the green one more time. It didn't take to long to completely blow it out. After the pump station was blown out we took the compressors to soldiers field and they will start blowing out Monday morning. Here's a couple of pictures  of blowing the lines out at eastwood.  Have a great week. Dave

Vandalism

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Well I hope everyone is enjoying this October weather. Tomorrow its suppose to be almost 75 degrees.  Unbelievable! !!!! At this moment I would like to thank the person or persons for driving a vehicle on 13 green. Its so nice to come to work and look down the 13 th fairway and see that something is not right with the green. I was just hoping it was shadows from the trees. Well it wasn't any shadows from the trees. They did donuts in the fairway and on the green and drove through the bunkers.  We were able to patch up some of the torn sod on the green and collars. We top dressed the real bad spots with sand.  We mowed the green to clean things up and it looks a lot better. Now with it being so late in the season there is nothing else we can do to get those spots to heal up. In the spring we will hit it hard with fertilizer and get some seed in those bad spots. Then we will top dress it and give it plenty of water. I'm guessing by June or the end of June it will healed up...

New trees

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Well the men's club has done it again . On Saturday they planted 32 trees on the back nine of Eastwood Golf Course.  It was a beautiful day to work outdoors  . It was a great team effort.  Everything went very well. The digging for Shorty wasn't to bad. He hit some rock and clay in a few places but also found some nice black dirt.  There was trees planted on hole 13, 14, 18, 11, and a tree by 17 men's tee box. I am so proud of our men's club. When they set there mind to do something watch out they get stuff done. The tree planting is not done yet. The Rochester Park and Rec is going to match our men's club tree donations up to a specific amount. I believe it's some where between 4 to 5 thousand dollars. Isn't that great. So if you would like to donate money to our tree fund stop into the club house and talk to Jeff or Drew.  No donation is to small. If you have any questions please call our pro shop at  507 281 6173.  Here is a few pictures to show yo...

Bunker project completed

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Today Jeff and Schafer finished the bunker facelift . They put down over 70 rolls of sod to complete the project.  It looks great. Here's a picture below to show you the end results . Take care ... Dave

Bunker construction

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If your wondering what is happening to hole 11 bunker it's getting a face lift. Jeff Minske has been working on this project for 2 days. As you know when it rains  hard the northeast corner always washes out. Jeff came up with a plan on how to fix this problem.  He found the drain pipe that was in the bunker  and added a catch basin drain to it. He sloped the sides so all the water will run towards the drain. He reshaped the bunker that's why the post and hockey board are there.  He added dirt and used a laser to make sure the slope was correct. We need all the water to run towards the drain. Tomorrow we are going to sod the new area. After the grass takes we will mow it down so we can mow it with our tee mower.  You will be able to chip out of this new area. When you see Jeff tell him thank you .  Here is a few pictures of Jeffs hard work... Dave

Where has summer gone

I can't  believe summer is coming to an end. With Labor day coming this can only mean one thing. School starts for the kids.  Some of the crew has left for college some for football. Its hard to believe this is there last week of work. They have done a wonderful job. The course has looked great all year and it's because of them. I'm very proud of them and I hope they all come back next year.  You are probably wondering what does this mean for the shape of the golf course. Some of the things that you may notice is that the bunkers won't be raked every day. The tee blocks may not get moved as much . Pin locations may not get moved as often  either . The detail work will take a hit. The trees won't get weed whipped as much the yardage plates won't get trimmed as often. These are things I will notice the most. The detail work. I will still have people helping mow tees, green's and fairways.  I will do my best to keep the golf course looking good. Have a great ...

Weekly update

Well it's been awhile since I've written anything.  After this post I'm going to try to give you weekly updates on what is going on with the  course. That was my plan when I started this blog but sometimes work just gets a little bit crazy. The boys have been working very hard this summer. All club championships are done. I believe everything went well and the course was in excellent condition. The crew has been very busy this year doing small projects and detailing the course. Here's a list of some of the things they have done. 1. Edge all bunkers 2. Edge all sidewalks (x 2) 3. Helped Jeff Minske rebuild 9 bunker. 4. Weed whip around every tree on the golf course 5. Edge all tee and fairway yardage plates. 6. Help sod bad areas on the golf course. I could go on and on. I'm very proud of the crew. They all work well together.  One small subject I would like to touch on is the restaurant at Eastwood. Jess and her crew do a wonderful  job. Its a great place ...

Eagle project

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The eagle project is starting to take shape. Sam and his little army where in full force today. I believe this garden is going to look great . Below there is some pictures of all the action going on today.  More info to follow when the garden is done. Have a great day !!! Dave

Spilt rail fence

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Today the men's club added more fencing to holes 12, 17, and put up a new fence by the back tee on hole 16 . The reason the fences are going up is to keep carts out of these areas. Hole 12 and 17 are handicap accessible also. I'm so proud of our men's club. When improvements need to be done to  the course they take it upon themselves to get it done.  They meet and talk about the project and make a game plan. It's a real team effert . It's just amazing to watch them work and get things done. Thanks again guys. I appreciate everything you do !!! I also wanted to give you an update on the eagle project that is going on.  The retaining wall is up and dirt was added. I'm hoping in the next few weeks the plants will be planted.  Sam Panetta is the scout that is doing this project . He will earn his eagle badge for this project. Our men's and ladies club have helped out and purchased the retaining wall blocks. Sam raised 250.00 dollars for the plants and other mat...

sodded fairways and Misc.

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Happy Mothers Day. The sod is coming along quite well. We have had plenty of moister for the sod. The sod is starting to take root. We will be hand mowing the sod soon. We will lower the height of cut each time we mow the sod. Thank you for staying out of  these roped off areas. In  some of the seeded areas we are starting to see grass poke through the dirt. Everything takes time and we thank you for your patients. If it ever quits raining there will be more work done at the club house. If you haven't notice they are prepping the outside of the club house to be repainted. We are also waiting to get a couple of new doors put in. Everything takes time and money. It's exciting to see these projects getting done. As the golf course goes everything is looking pretty good. The aerification holes on the front nine are filling in nicely. We have the water on and we have a couple of leaks that need fixing. Otherwise things are coming along pretty good. If anyone has any questions ab...

Garden beautification day

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Wow what a beautiful day to beautify the gardens today. We had the master gardeners in full force this morning. We also had some strong and ambitious men helping out also. They may not have green thumbs but do they know how to handle a wheelbarrow, shovel and rake. Jane Barton rallied the troops and assigned gardens to her fellow garden friends. The men's main job was to put mulch around the plants in the garden by hole 13. This garden is huge. It has its own sprinkler system compliments of Jane Barton. This is a special memorial garden. It has grown over the past few years. When this garden is in full bloom it looks awesome.  Pictures to follow this summer.  We have a lovely master gardener and a group of lovely ladies that have some serious green thumbs keep up these gardens. They do such a wonderful job. There is no way I could keep up these gardens without them. They do all the work, when they need something I just say when, where and how soon. Everyone pitches in to keep ...