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