Day 10 — Golf
We cruised out of Aspen, through the oil patch of western Colorado and eastern Oregon, and rested at the foot of the Wasatch Front for the night.
I was nearly blown off the road about 73 times, but we made it. Don't worry, Mom.
At sunrise, we climbed out of Heber City, up the hill, and past the beautiful water of Jordanelle State Park.
We picked up two other BuildWitt team members local to Utah (Tristan and Kjell), met our hosts with BHI, and climbed further, this time up an extremely steep and dusty road.
At the top, the BHI team discussed the day's work and safety considerations. Behind them, the full beauty of Mount Timpanogos was on display in the early-morning light.
What were they building on one of the most beautiful job sites I've ever visited? A new golf course. But not just any golf course… It's a golf course sponsored by the most famous golfer—the one named after a particular jungle cat—the GOAT. If you don't get who it is by now, I can't help you any further.
The project had only begun a few weeks before our arrival, so clearing and topsoil removal was still underway.
Surveyors had marked the boundary of every hole, and BHI crews carefully cleared the necessary trees with an excavator with a mulching head and then piled the chips with dozers.
Once they'd created a blank canvas, dozers and excavators stepped in to scrape the first few feet of topsoil. They will stockpile every bit of the valuable earth to use later once the mass earthwork for the course is complete. Topsoil is a vital component of any project, but it's REALLY critical for golf courses.
My favorite moment was watching a brand new Cat 374 (shoutout to Wheeler Machinery) load articulated trucks with boulders they'd pushed from the earth while clearing topsoil. Rather than discarding them, they stockpiled every stone for later use in decorative structures.
Next month, the bulk earthwork begins. BHI crews will blast and haul over one million yards of earth, filling some places over 30', to build the eighteen extraordinary holes for golfers to enjoy. Once they grade the course within about 1', world-class shapers will take over to finish it. The work is half science and half art. It's spectacular to watch.
Will I ever play the course? I'll never be fancy enough. But that's ok… I like seeing it with excavators better, anyway.
By late morning, we'd taken thousands of photos and hundreds of gigs of video of the beautiful project, and we descended the hill.
Before heading out, we stopped to visit my friend Bridger Snow. At 21, he runs two businesses moving dirt and renting equipment. Young people don't want to work? Think again… The project he was working on was an enormous basement for a 12,000-square-foot home. Nice.
And now for another journey south, to Sin City. Tomorrow's forecast = 115 degrees. Even better, we're checking out paving. Nice and toasty!
