The club Construction Committee got together on January 14th to go over the final scope of work for the rebuilding of the club greens. Ross and Bill couldn't make the meeting. Ross participated via phone.
Numerous items were discussed at the meeting including seed testing results, permit requirements, cedar board prep and irrigation. But, most of the meeting was spent going over the Scope of Work prepared by Roy Pritchard.
The Scope of Work is a detailed document that spells out to a contractor what we want done to the greens. It covers the excavation plan, drainage work, the depth and type of sand fill, ditch construction and when the work needs to be completed. But, to me, one of the most important items within the Scope of Work is the elevation requirements and surface grading tolerances - down to the millimeter(mm). Building the greens to these tight standards set by your construction committee will make bowling on the new greens a "enjoyable experience" for all our members.
Roy spent a lot of time putting the Scope of Work together. Our thanks to Roy for doing this.
A thanks also goes out to Tim McGiffin, Gord Hamilton, and Jim Irvine for cutting and storing the cedar backboards and plinths.
I would have also thanked Percy Cowan for his efforts testing our new grass seed. Note that I use the term "would have". This was our second trial. The first sample failed because the tempature we used for testing (October temps) was too low for the seed to germinate. The latest tray samples brought in by Percy showed impressive results. Using a higher tempature, resulted in green grass with lots of root depth. This was a extremely important test for making sure our project could proceed within our time table and that the seed chosen will work. I wanted to post pictures of the test so that we could share with all the members our success. I was planning on putting marbles in the tray to make it look like miniature bowling. Unfortunately, Percy used the healthy sample trays to fill holes in his own front yard.
All joking aside, Percy did a great job. This test removes a lot of uncertainty. Our thanks Percy.
Stephen Rikley