Mowing in full swing

With Spring now upon us the mowing frequency has been stepped up. We are now mowing fairways and tees twice a week and greens nearly every day. The greens are not mown on Sundays unless there is a special event on. The groomers are being used each week now to help thin the grass and smooth the surface. This will help produce a truer roll and therefore increase the speed as the ball will not bounce around as much. Groomers are small vertical blades that slice a small amount grass and thatch from the green. These are attached to the greens mowers and are lowered when the greens are groomed.

The greens were also dusted on Monday to help smooth out some of the pitch marks and other small imperfections. This should help the smooth the surface and provide a truer roll also.

The bunkers are now being raked twice a week, at the beginning and then again at the end of the week. This has improved the quality of the bunkers over the last few weeks. There is some heavy rain forecast, so we might end up with a number of bunkers being flooded for the weekend, not great timing if it eventuates.

On bunkers, you may have noticed that many of the rake handles have a sticker on them indicating that the rake should be placed back in the flat of the bunker when you have finished raking. You are now able to rake the bunker before you play your shot as long as you don't improve your lie. This should make it easier to grab the rake and rake your footprints as to walk to your ball. The rake must be placed back in the flat of the bunker with the head facing the direction of play. Don't put them on the side of the bunker so that they trap someone's ball on the slope of the bunker.

Greens

With the onset of the warmer weather we have started getting some growth in the greens. The greens have had a fertilised with liquid and granular fertiliser over the last couple of weeks to promote growth. The mower blades have been lowered to 3.2 mm down from the 3.5 mm over the winter months. The greens are now also being groomed on a regular basis which helps smooth out the surface providing a truer roll. The greens will also be dusted (light top dress) this week which will help fill in any small holes/dents and again help provide a smoother surface.

The renovation of the greens will occur directly after the men's club championships. This involves coring, application of fertilisers and a heavy top dress.

The greens are now being mowed on Saturday mornings (if there is no frost) with the increased growth.

Course Update

The pipe from the river to the dam at the 5th is now in place. Testing has been carried out to check the flow rates and the results are better than expected. We are now waiting on the transformer to be put in place and connected to finish phase 1 of the project.

The grasses on the mound on the 11th hole have been removed as they were suspected to be a weed that seeds prolifically. We plan on planting some small shrubs on this mound so that it still encourages players to hit to the right. This will still provide a bit of a hazard but should help speed up play as time is sometimes spent looking for balls in the grasses. Other similar grasses on the course will also be removed.

The area under the tunnel to the 3rd tee is being cleaned up as the new drainage work seems to have fixed the problem of water continually laying on the path. The garden beds around the 10th white tee have been removed as they were unsightly and hard to maintain. The banks will be grassed SO that they can be maintained more easily and look more attractive.