Back on Line Again

I introduced the blog some 7 years ago now in a slightly different format to improve communication with the  membership, since then the club commenced facebook posting, introduced monthly newsletters with the blog taking a backseat as I felt there was enough information floating around with these formats. With recent events and changes I think its time we fire this old chestnut back up again and resume blog updates. 
With a small staff and ever increasing work demands I hope to update at least monthly with shorter intervals and smaller single updates as required. 

So lets get stuck in....


Greens have recovered very well from renovations, by the end of this week (3 weeks since renovations) we will be back down to our summer heights of 3mm with full coverage. Presently on 3.7mm this week but well ahead of anticipated height movements greens will remain a little slow until full recovery but we are well down that track.
 
Greens remain soft so please pay extra attention to repairing ball marks and take extra care when on the greens.  The more care taken by players and staff alike during the recovery period provides for quicker and better results. Thank you

During the renovation course closure, all Greens, Green surrounds, approaches and back 9 fairways were cored. Green cores were removed with the other areas having the cores smashed and rubbed back in then finally the thatch left blown clear. Sanding of greens and selected surrounds also carried out along with various product applications

All these areas are near full recovery.

Over the next 2 weeks, Selected green surround area will be seeded and sanded, and we will commence tee renovations consisting of a mix of de-thatching and coring. 

Thankyou for your time 
Happy Hooking.

Popular posts from this blog

November 2023

Image
Welcome to another instalment of the Course Maintenance Blog, I will try and slow down the typing, because we have been going at a cracking pace on the course over the past 6 weeks that would leave the Cup hopefuls in our wake.   The Finish line is in sight for a number of projects undertaken over the last month and looking forward to holding back the reigns( ok no more cup puns) to give time to consolidate the previous work performed.  My thanks to Ben for his tireless efforts, with a great many extra hours worked, my staff who have also worked extra hours and of course both of our major works could not have been completed without the wonderful help of our ever present volunteers. This should never go unnoticed, coming from a metro golf course background, where volunteers were scarce to say the least; I am forever appreciative for the help these members give. Forget the profit and loss sheet for a moment or the condition of the course/ facilities, the true strength of a NFP club l
Read more

Saltene and Couch Grass

Image
I thought I would talk about this subject instead of what has been run of the mill course work updates lately, nothing like a bit of variety to keep it fresh... It is this time of year (summer if you didn't know better) the couch and saltene in the greens become more visible and start to out compete the bent grass. If you have been good students and followed the turf 101's on this blog you would know Bent is a cool season grass preferring cooler temps, Couch and Saltene both warm season grasses preferring hotter temps for optimum growth. So what happens when the two compete against each other year round ?   During the cooler months,  April through October the Bent grass out competes the Couch and Saltene, the Couch and Saltene are still there just not as pronounced as during the warmer months, thanks to their vigorous rhizomes even tho the bent has control of the top, the couch and saltene are waiting to pounce when warmer temps arrive due to their extensive rhizome syste
Read more

Hydraulic Oil Leak

Image
Over the weekend we had a Hydraulic Oil leak under the mower when mowing greens, unfortunately as it was pre-dawn mowing with a heavy dew, the operator only detected it when the sun came up after he was halfway through.   Of 13 greens mowed, 8 are effected of which 4 are cause for the most concern. Wishful thinking, I am wondering, and will find out soon enough, with the greens renovations only just completed whether the vigorous growth we have encourage to recover from Reno's and the higher cut we were mowing at will lessen the impact and we may be able to cut out most of it....Experience tells me IT IS wishful thinking. With this type of oil leak, it isn't so much the oil but the temperature of the oil that causes most of the damage, instantly killing the grass it contacts. We have applied Activated Charcoal, and a dilute detergent to deactivate and dilute the oil, there isn't much more we can do I am afraid.  We have sanded the 15th to see if that helps, unfo
Read more