Course Update

It has now been just over a week since we started the maintenance on the greens and after applying more dressing yesterday the work is now complete and we can focus on getting the remainder of the course up to scratch.

The work didn't go as smoothly as planned with late deliveries of the sand and top dresser forcing us to close more greens at once than anticipated. We are of course sorry for the inconvenience caused and I have certainly learnt a lot from the week. Am sure the next time we do our maintenance certain elements can be changed to ensure a smoother process.

The kiln dried sand which we do have to have delivered last minute to ensure it remains dry has been worked into all the greens using a total of around 38 tonnes and the dresser we normally hire has agreed to be purchased which will give us more flexibility in the future.

Greens were fertilized on Thursday to aid the recovery and are now being cut daily at a slightly higher cut. Once the sand has completely disappeared from the surface we will continue cutting at a reduced height with our new mowers.

The greens are currently being ironed and will continue to do so to improve the surface.

The greens are also being pencil tinted at around 2 inch depth which will help with the recovery process.

General maintenance is back under way and we can get back on top of the cutting and defining the course once again.

Would like to say thanks to all the greens team for their extra efforts last week as well as a thank you to Adam, Ian and John for their help.

Also a big thank you to all the members for their support and patience during an unpopular process and am sure we will all benefit from this week for months to come.

Thanks again

James

Last week we unfortunately had another leak on one of the mowers which I'm sure you have noticed on the 11th green. The hydraulic fluid was quickly washed with wetting agent and water to minimise the damage.

The greens were sprayed with a pre competition mix on Tuesday and with a fungicide cocktail for some diseases which are prominent at this time of year.

Dry patches have been hand watered again using wetting agent

The majority of the bunkers have been topped up using a total of 32 tonnes and hopefully this will bed down nicely.

Thank you for all the golfers who are repairing their pitch marks as a noticeable improvement has been made. Please continue you to help us out.

The aeration work will commence today and hopefully the weather is on our side. Temporary greens will not be in use so please pick up and go to the next hole if the green is being worked on.

Thanks

James

Course Update

After another busy week where we had 2 shotgun starts and a two tee start in which it is difficult to work around the golfing schedule we overcame a few obstacles. Difficulties with the greens mower at the start of the week caused us problems but having the hand mowers fully serviced in the winter and the greens iron saw us through okay.

The old mower was scalping which is what you may have noticed on the greens but also mechanically wasn't working at full capacity.

We have now upgraded our greens mowers with two more modern mowers which will help us with busy schedules and also competition preparation. One of the mowers will allow us to cut at heights which we have never been able to achieve which gives us more options.

A big thank you to John Pownall for his continual support.

The greens have been sprayed with a liquid feed and some plant sugars to maintain health and the tees have been sprayed with a pgr/ fertiliser mix.

The leaks have been fixed whilst I have been on holiday and the mixed weather allowed us to do this as we to drain the system.

Sometimes when we're a staff member or maybe two down some areas of the course do slip and I have heard a few grumbles regarding this. Don't forget it is not the green staff that put the footprints in the bunkers.

We now have a bay full of sand and will be topping up the bunkers as time permits. The bunker master will be used when it is required and not just for the sake of it. It is the ideal tool to use during wet periods after the bunkers have drained.

This week we will spike the greens and verticut the greens and catch up on jobs from last week.

I know some of you may be frustrated in knowing that the greens maintenance is quickly approaching. This will benefit you all in the long run and we don't do it for the sake of it. If the weather is kind recovery should be relatively quick and we should reap the rewards. The process will be as follows:

Cut green

Double verticut

Micro core at 2.5 inch depth and at 2 inch spacing’s (increasing to 2.5 if required)

Top dress with 100% kiln dried sand

Brush

Iron

Fertilise and water

We may pencil tine after wards to aid recovery.

Continuing ironing every other day

In the meantime enjoy your golf

Thanks

James