CAPEL GOLF COURSE MAINTENANCE

Sorry it has take a while to get back to updating the blog on course matters. We have been busy preparing the course for major events, catching up on work not attended during the back 9 Irrigation install project and commencing Octoberfest, (no not drinking beer but the start of course renovations Greens October 2, Tees October 9 and Fairways October 11) The renovations continue what has been an incredibly busy 3 months so the beers will flow once complete :)........ The latest update on the Back 9 upgrade..ITS IN !!!!!!! The system tested and its working mighty fine! Whilst the majority of the main work was completed early September other work commitments meant the minor associated works with the install project get done between other priority work. The scour valves, nursery and isolation from old pipes at the bore pump all completed last week. The wiring of the back 9 pump into the system will be complete this week ready for the summer and irrigation season ahead. We have been

All Green, Tee and Fairway sprinklers and lines have now been installed. TE contractors did their final touch ups Monday and are no longer on site.                                                    Packed up and ready to roll out     We still have some surrounds and scour valve lines to install when we have access the trenching machine as Jetline required it for their own work.                                                   One of the final "cuts" in the last trench Work will now commence on cleaning up excess spoil, consolidating /compacting trench lines for final grades and we will commence testing tee and fairway sprinklers.  Wire circuits / comms and V.I.H greens sprinklers have all been tested successfully.   We had a little set back with a 200mm tee leak from the stage 1 works not related to the stage 2, this area has been isolated and will be fixed this week.  During the next week we are also attending front 9 V.I.H maintenance before the irri

I have received some questions regarding the differences in the outer appearance of sprinklers from the stage 1 Front 9 sprinklers installed 8 years ago to the back 9 sprinklers being installed as part of the stage 2 install. Namely the difference in size of the exposed "top" The Toro Flex 800 B sprinklers being installed on Tees and Fairways have exactly the same internal components and specifications as the front 9 ones, the only difference is in the casing which has a lower rated pressure capacity (still within our requirements) with a smaller footprint.   Two main reasons I decided on these sprinklers, firstly it was more cost effective, saving a considerable amount of funds, bringing down the overall cost of the system along with other measures in order for it to be affordable and actually go ahead and  also allowed for extra funds to improve the green V.I;H sprinklers.                                               Flex B series being installed on back 9       

The contractors finished installing the man line, The greens V.I.H and wired them into the wire loop they will be installing lightning protection rods this week along with some final clean up and their work will be complete.                                                                See how its done ! The wiring will be brought online with the updated new works and specifications uploaded into our Central Computer System By Toro Techs. We may need to run a separate cable run to the back 9 bore pump before we can bring that on line which is being reviewed. I wished I could say our component went as well, but with 2 trencher breakdowns we lost 3 days trenching and associated pipe install work.                                                This "aint" digging nothing!! We hired a small trencher and worked well into the night Wednesday to at least get some smaller areas trenched and ready for piping in an effort to keep moving forward. Staff also prepared and pre

Must have been a sign for the week .. A big turnout of volunteers this week to help with trenching and back-fill and a some fantastic weather made for a smoother week with a great  number of tasks accomplished.  My thanks to the many volunteers who have come along, not only for the irrigation but for the greens mowing and bunker raking on competition days. To many to name individually,  know the staff and the club appreciate your efforts immensely. On that note if you do plan to turn up, we would appreciate advanced notice rather than just rocking up, we need to organise tasks prior to the day so all can be organised, it does make it more difficult allocating work on the spot when trying to work ourselves. We finished holes 11, 13 and 14 including flushing the irrigation lines and sprinkler install and have started down 15, Staff have pre-joined a number of fittings over the weekend to reduce time in the field for install so I am hoping to have 15 16 and 10 completed th

It wasn't the smooth start we were hoping for this week, first we had some Trencher machine issues to overcome and then the heavens opened on Friday dumping 40mm in 4 hours, a look at the radar showed a line of heavy rain heading straight for Capel !  We were planning to have the 11th hole Fairway banks and Tees completed which included trenching, pipe install, flush and sprinklers as well as backfill by Friday but despite the valiant efforts of staff and volunteers and a huge thank you to all that did, with the delays and rain we only managed to trench all the necessary banks. As a result the 11th hole remains closed this weekend.  My thanks to Ben (2ic) for giving up his own time this weekend in an effort to help me get some piping installed and catch up on loss time ready for Monday.  Total Eden have done very well, with mainline completed on Holes 11 12 and 13,  Micheal has been an asset very willing to assist and advise accommodating our requests.  Some other pi