Dams full

With the recent rain the course has received a much needed drink and both main dams are now full. Good rain in the past couple of weeks had helped, but with around 40 mm at the course on Saturday afternoon and evening we should have enough water to get us through the summer months. The pump was to be installed in the river in early January if we didn't recive signicicant rainfall. We will now be able to wait until our dam levels reach the point where we need to consider installing the pump.

Fairway margins - you may have noticed some blue lines on the margins of some of the fairways. These blue line represent the suggested mowing lines for the fairways. This is done each year to re-align the fairways and align them with the guidelines. These are:

• Average width of around 25 metres – allowing for some narrower areas and wider areas depending on the hole and the distance from the tee (landing zones) 
• Keep the fairways on the flat areas that had been designated as fairway – allow first rough cut on the flat area also 
• Avoid bare areas caused by trees and tree roots 
• Emphasise shape of hole encouraging players to play a certain line especially on holes that have a dogleg

These guidelines have been developed using material from previous reports including the Goodfellow report (2007) and in consultation with the course superintendant. With the current sprinkler system the most effective watering occurs within the head to head sprinkler area. Our fairway sprinklers are rated at effective range of 16.5 metres and currently the average spacing is around 20 metres. Therefore relying on sprinkler irrigation alone we can only maintain good quality grass to around the 20-25 metre range.

There are areas on slopes that we have struggled to grow grass in the past and the fairways have been shaped around these areas to avoid bare areas on fairways. An example of this is the tongue on the left of the 3rd holes in the medium driving area. The quality of this grass has improved over the last couple of years with renovation and we are now going to trial cutting some of this back to fairway along with part of the tongue on the right closer to the tee. There are other areas where we have marked to lengthen or widen the fairway to correspond to the fairway sprinkler irrigated area. We have also marked the right of the 2nd fairway further left to slow balls down running towards the ponds. These are some examples of the marking that has been performed in the last few weeks.

Overflow near ladies 9th tee submerged

Course update

Well that raps up the Snooze Club Championships for another year. The course held up pretty well with few players breaking their handicap and the course providing a good test of golf. The greens were a bit quicker being double cut each morning and the rough a bit of a penalty. The scratch rating for the blue course is 74 and the daily ratings for the four days were 73, 74, 74 and 75.

Now that the championships are over what does the maintenance program look like. The greens will now going back to being cut 5 times per week. The greens are normally mowed on Saturday (single cut) and not Sunday unless there is a special event. We are also now not mowing the greens on Thursday and they are rolled with our light weight roller. This helps smooth the surface and increase the roll without having to mow. The greens were dusted (light top dress) between the the weekends of the championships and we will continue this once per month in the growing season. This helps with smoothing the surface and increases firmness slightly.

The growth of the rough should slow now with the drier and warmer weather we are starting to experince. The cut of rough to the tree line is done weekly and if we don't get any significant rain only the watered areas will remain as thick. This should make it a little easier to play when off the fairway. PS. If you are having trouble hitting it out of the rough, you could try a lesson from Matt to see if you can straighten up your drives. You could also try hitting a 7 iron from the rough and not expect to be able to hit your 3 wood from anywhere on the course.

For those avid readers I have included a link to an article about green firmness. I thought it was a good read.

Firmness First

Club Championships approaching

Club Championships start this weekend with preparations at full steam. We lost Tuesday due to rain with around 32 mm falling over a couple of days on the course. This has given the course a good soak and topped up the dams again. This rain will get the rough growing rapidly and will take days to get on top of it. The large area mower will be going constantly over the next 2 weeks to keep on top of the rough.

So what else has been going on:

The bunker on the 9th has been completed and is now in play. The recent rain has drained through the sand immediately providing a good playing surface. Some work still needs to be done around the surrounds of the bunker and this area is still GUR with a drop area at the front of the green.

The greens - these have been cut down to normal playing height of 3 mm for a couple of weeks now. The groomers are being used each week to help smooth the surface and they are being rolled on Thursdays to help smooth the surface also. The greens will be double cut each morning of the champs and should provide a good roll. Cam is also looking to dust the greens early next week depending on the weather conditions. Primo has also been applied to the greens and fairways to reduce the vertical growth of the grass and help provide a better surface all day.

The fairways have also been sprayed with a herbicide to kill the broad leaf weeds and will be mown twice more this week to provide a good playing surface.

With the rain a number of the bunkers filled with water. These have been now pumped out and with some further drainage and drying weather should be in reasonable condition for the weekend, Let's hope we don't get any further substantial rain.

Renovations nearly completed

The remainder of the tees, green aprons and some of the bad patches on the front nine fairways remain to be renovated. This will be completed this week and with some warm weather and water the grass should start jumping out of the ground.

This year we have renovated the back nine fairways. These were scarified, verti-drained with thick solid tines, seeded and top dressed. Cam plans on fertilizing these in the next couple of weeks once the seed has germinated.

Once renovations are completed the boys will start back on the work on the left of the 9th green. The bunker should be completed and back in play before the spring classic. The bunker has been shortened slightly as there was irrigation pipe running through the back of the bunker. The mound at the front of the bunker has been lowered also to improve visibility from the tee.

9th green after scarifying and coring

9th green after top dressing

18th fairway being verti-drained

Top dressing the greens

Why top dress the greens after scarifying and coring? 
The purpose of this process is to remove thatch and organic matter and introduce new soil to the soil profile assisting in drainage through the surface.

How much top dressing should you put on?
You should only put on enough top dressing to fill the core holes and smooth the surface, this should be able to be brushed into the canopy with no top dressing remaining on the surface.

Here is an interesting article about top dressing from the North Carolina State University.
Refining Your Putting Green Topdressing Program
by Dr. Rich Cooper, Dept. of Crop Science, NC State University

Course Update

We are coming out of winter and gearing up for the course renovations. Renovations will begin the week beginning August 25th. We will be coring, scarifying, fertilizing, seeding and top dressing the back nine fairways this spring. Last spring the front nine were done. Some of the bad areas on the front nine fairways will also be renovated. In addition to this the greens, tees and green approns will also be renovated. Large hollow tines will be used on the greens and a heavy top dressing will be applied with fertilizer to kick start the growth of the greens.

Work on has continued on the areas between the 9th green and first tee. The path has been completed with drainage work to stop water collecting on the path and eroding it. The green tee has been completed with a bridge across the drain. The bunker has been cleaned out and the drainage point is clear for connection of the new drainage pipe. The bunker will be shortened slightly on the back end as there is an irrigation pipe running through the bunker. This will be covered with soil and the bunker shortened slightly. Some of the soil has been taken off the front mound so that the bunker will be more visible from the tee. Some low maintenance shrubs will be planted in the large bark area and a row of photinias will be planted in the long bark are between the paths.

Course Update

Winter has struck with cold windy conditions and 24 mm of rain in the last couple of days. Let's hope that is it for now as the course is saturated and many bunkers are now full of water. The boys have completed a great job on the bunker on the 8th which is now back in play. The turf around the bunker will remain GUR until it has knitted in well. Black lines have been put around the greens to indicate where carts can drive. Can you all ensure that you advise any playing partners to stay outside these lines as carts will cause damage especially in these wet conditions.
The next project is the bunker on the left of the 9th green and the surrounding area between the 1st tee and the bunker. Below is a run down of the work to be done.

9th green area proposal

Green Tee

• Build new green tee in the same spot as the existing temporary tee – existing tee to be moved towards the dam in the interim.

Path

• Extend existing path closer to the first tee to stop carts driving close to the green and damaging turf areas – this will extend along the side of the concrete path and join the path from the 18th to the white teeing area of the 1st tee. These paths to be timber edged and filled with granite. There will be around a 3 metre gap between this path and the concrete path which will be planted with photinias with mulch at the base between both paths.

Mounds

• Mounds to be constructed between the edge of the bunker and the tree line to stop water run-off from the first tee entering the bunker on the left of the green. This will be constructed so that water will be diverted in-front and behind the green. Allowing a mower width between the edge of the bunker and the start of the mounding. Mounding to be around 600 mm at the highest point blending into the surrounding turf areas so that it can be mown easily with the rough mower without scalping. Mound at the front of the bunker to be reduced in height by around 300 mm to increase visibility of the bunker.
• Area between the mound and the new path to be topped up with fill and grassed.

Bunker

• Bunker to be renovated with new drainage and sand. Lip to be raised on the green side at the back of the bunker. Base to be levelled so that ball rolls to the base of the bunker. Edges to be angled so that shot can be played near the back edge of the bunker which is currently too steep.

Update

• Greens – greens are being mowed now around 3 times per week with limited growth at 3 mm. Mowers will be raised to 3.5 mm in the coming weeks when the temperatures fall.
• Bunker – work on the bunker on the 8th is near completion. Sand needs to be brought in and turf replaced around the edges.
• Fairways – currently being mown once per week at 14 mm. Growth has slowed considerably in the past month.
• Rough – the length of the rough was lowered slightly after the wet period around 6 weeks ago. With the slowing of growth and the rough now under control the rough mower has been raised back to the original height of cut.
• Sand drum on 17 – this has been repaired. Some handy brick work by Chris.
• Black line for carts – Cam has put the black line around the greens to keep carts away from the green surrounds. Other areas will be roped off to stop cart traffic. Can all carts keep outside the black lines, especially with the recent rain as many areas will be extremely wet. Pass the word around and encourage all members to try to preserve the course for the enjoyment of others.
• Paspalum – spot spraying of this on the fairways has continued and help reduce the weed. This is done each year to reduce the spread from the rough. This will cease soon with the colder weather.
• Grass behind 16th green - the long grass behind the 16th in being removed as it has become taken over by weed in recent years. Other areas of similar grass will also be removed.

Course Update

• The course has dried significantly in the past week and staff have been able to get the bulk of the rough mown. The height of cut of the rough has been lowered slightly since the heavy rain in an attempt to get it down to a controllable level. Once the growth has slowed we will look at putting the mower back up a little so the rough provides some penalty. The bulk of the rough cut prior to the weekend. Bunkers are also receiving some work with removal of weeds, edging and additional raking.
• Greens – greens have recovered well after the renovations. They have been groomed a number of times in the past week and a half in an attempt to smooth out the surface and increase the speed slightly. They will be double cut Friday, Saturday and Sunday this week for the Men’s Open at 3mm. The championship flags and pin sheets will be used for both the Men’s and Women’s Opens. Des and Cam selected the pin positions today for the weekend. Hopefully not too many tricky ones.
• Paths – white dots have been put out on all the paths and roads where players can get relief. Des completed the job placing further dots to mark the end of the paths. The new rule is now in place allowing relief from the paths and road marked with the dots along with the concrete paths on the course.
• Bunker – work will recommence on the bunker on the 8th immediately after the Men’s Open. Poor weather and short work weeks have delayed this further. The staff will then continue with more bunker renovations over the winter months.
• Fairways – reels on the newer of the 2 fairway mowers have been ground and new bed knives installed which has improved the cut. We are currently cutting fairways twice per week at 14 mm. This will be cut back to once per week once the growth has slowed down.
• 13th tee – the white plate on this tee has been moved back to 172 metres to have the hole measured to more accurately reflect where the markers are often place and to reduce the wear at the front of the tee where the ladies markers are.
• Paspalum – spot spraying of this on the fairways has continued and help reduce this weed. This is done each year to reduce the spread from the rough. This will cease shortly as the cold weather approaches and the chemical is less effective. The staff have been cutting any remaining stalks on the fairways and tees to improve the playability and presentation of the surface.

Greens verti-drained

The greens were successfully verti-drained and top dressed over the last two days. The boys were hampered by rain on Monday afternoon, but with a dry day today were able to get the sand on and brushed in quite well. We had around 7 mm of rain which will be good for the course, looks like there is more on the way over the coming days. The verti-drain machine has solid tines and punches deep holes in the green of around 8 mm in diametre.

We will be moving the white plate on the 13th tee back to around 173 metres to better reflect the distance that is usually played and to lessen the wear on the front of the tee ground.

Greens renovations

The greens will be renovated on Monday. This is a light reno and the greens should be back in good condition within a couple of weeks. You may also notice a few white markers on the edge of the gravel paths around the course. The local rule will be changed to allow players to take a free drop from paths marked with the white markers. I have put these out on around 70% on the paths and also need to do some of the main access roads. Once complete a suitably worded new local rule will be put in place. This should provide some clarity on which areas players are permitted to take free relief.

As always we are looking for volunteers to help out on the course. There is a group on Tuesday and Thursday that are doing some valuable work around the course. It would be appreciated if you or someone you know could spare a few hours on one of these days to help out. It would be also good if we could find someone to help raking the bunkers on Monday or Tuesday each week. I raked the bunkers on a Tuesday a couple of weeks ago and it made a real difference to the playability of the bunkers. I did get a small blister on my hand, but that has cleared up now. It will only take around 2.5 to 3 hours to rake the bunkers. If you can help either contact the office or drop down to the shed and speak to Cam directly. Any assistance is greatly appreciated.

Course greening up

After around 160 mm the of rain fell in the last few weeks and the course is starting to green up with the rough springing back to life. A bit more cutting for the green staff but a much better test for golfers.
The green staff had a huge week leading up to the Pro-Am with an enormous amount of work being done to get the bunkers and paths back into decent shape. The greens were double cut each morning of the Pro-Am at 3 mm and provided a good test for all.
Renovations – greens will be renovated the week beginning 24 March. Contractors will verti-drain the greens with solid tines and our staff will complete the rest of the process. The greens should be back in good shape 2-3 weeks after this process. Other bare areas on fairways, tees and green surrounds will be renovated in March. Wet areas in front of some of the greens such as the 4th, 6th, 8th and 16th will be cored and sanded to help with water infiltration.

Storms Wednesday 19th February 

And down it came!!

Just had a look at the course after a storm went through and there is water running across the 18th fairway into the dam and the creek along the side of the 10th was flowing strongly. This should top up the dams and give the course a much needed soak. In total we have had 65 mm since Thursday night. Looks like it is all gone now.

Bring on the rain

Looks like there is a bit of rain on the way, let's hope we get a good drop to irrigate the course and put some water in the dams. The dams are getting low and we have started pumping water from the river. Water is pumped into the dam at the 5th near the back tee and then transferred during the day up to the main dam using existing irrigation lines and the pump on the 5th dam. Water can only be transferred during the day as the pump and lines are used each night to irrigate the course.

With the extreme weather the staff are spending a lot more time fixing sprinklers and hand watering greens to keep them in good condition.

The greens will be renovated during the week starting 24th of March. A contractor will be brought in the verti-drain the greens. The verti-drain machine punches holes deep into the green with no core taken out. The holes are smaller than during the spring renovation and less sand is applied and we expect the greens to be back in top condition within 2-3 weeks.