To tighten the soil and comfort the wounded trees, Welborn prescribed 750 gallons of water per day per tree for two weeks, delivered by an 850-gallon tank affixed to a tractor. Ross is a shaper, a dozer operator who pushes soil into the shapes of greens, bunkers, mounds and tees under the direction of the architect. I've seen expert dozer operators who can't shape. On a recent morning Ross huddled with Scot Sherman of Weed Golf Course Design and looked over a freehand sketch of the new 1st green at the Florida course. With no other direction, Ross started pushing dirt around.
Some greens are easier than others.
The problem on this job is the parched soil, which has so little cohesion that it's hard to shape. It's not too extreme, but it has a lot of movement to it. Spoken like an artist. While workmen in hard hats steadied the tree with ropes, the 140-foot tall crane slowly lifted the tree out of its hole, swung it around to the west and then crept on giant treads to the tree's new home. The trip took about 20 minutes.