Reflections from Bill McAllister
09 DEC 2024
At this time of year for many Superintendents it’s a time of reflection. Looking back on not just 2024 but the last three years of our property’s renovations, what immediately comes to mind is a big thank you to many people who made our bunker renovation project an overwhelming success. To our Membership and Guests, your patience and support from day one to the finish of this project was undeniable. Thank you all very much!
To our partners; the suppliers of all our sand, soil and gravel, who never let us down and kept our supplies stocked without fail. Our contractors Rhino Golf Services and Green horizon Sod were always there when needed. Thank you
To all of our turf staff who contributed to this project. I know there was a lot of extra hard work and none of it went unnoticed…thank you!
To John Finlayson, Craig Cupido and our amazing company ClubLink. It was so much fun working with you on this and thanks for your trust and support!
Three years ago, we began the process of renovating our bunkers. Our goals were removing and replacing old contaminated sand, replace drainage, install a bunker liner to protect our investment, reduce footprint of sand surface (removing and decreasing to create a more playable course), and to not affect the integrity of our courses. Well, we achieved all of the above.
We learned along the way and even though our planning was extensive, plans changed in the field. We built new tee decks, we created bent grass bail outs and island bunkers, planted many trees, made ponds bigger and changed many sod lines to cater to our new bunkering. All of this was to be completed ‘in house’ with our contractors and to not close golf holes or affect golfer play significantly.
We installed 5,500 tons of bunker sand that came from Ohio (barged up to Burlington docks and trucked to Rattlesnake), 50 acres of bent, Blue and fescue sod, 7,000 tons of topsoil, planted 90 trees, and went from ten acres of bunker surface to less than five acres. This could be described as a golf course renovation.
Where we stand today is in an amazing position. Our renovations are complete, but we still have some remedial work to finish next spring. Quite a bit of asphalt work is scheduled for early spring and some cart path sod works from tractor traffic damage. We will open up a fully renovated golf course with perfect bunkers!
We are going into the winter with all our turfgrasses in excellent condition, our property is extremely clean from debris, and we are setting up with some great staffing for 2025.
If you would like to reach out during the winter, we are still here working on the course when we can and in the shop when we cannot get on the course so, please feel free to drop a line if you would like.
We are setting up our cuttings of pine, spruce, and cedar trees if any would like to come and help yourself. The cuttings will be outside our maintenance facility so please come by!
Wishing you and your families a wonderful holiday season!
Bill McAllister
RattleSnake Point Superintendent