CAPEL GOLF COURSE MAINTENANCE

  Hello and welcome to the November Course update. Over the past 2 weeks since renovations, the course continues to recover very well, greens are just 0.5mm off our normal cutting heights with most areas knitted in nicely. Some patches remain where aggressive measure to remove poa occurred but will fill in as we increase mowing frequency with lower heights. Fairways are also recovering well, a granular fertiliser applied last week is now starting to kick in which will increase fairway recovery and should be in excellent condition in the next 2 weeks. Fairways received their first cut since renovations last Thursday and came up a treat ! Though tee renovations were planned to continue through November on a rolling basis between other course maintenance works, the renovation bug kicked in and we completed all Tee renovations early last week. We decided to work extra hours to get them done, rather than have it hanging over our heads for an extended time, basically means we ...

  OCTOBER 2025 Over the past 3 days the staff have been very busy with course renovations, despite unfavourable weather conditions with showers and heavy clouds ( we are getting use to reno= rai, equation), all objectives were completed. Greens were cored, cleared, soil amendments and fertiliser applied then sanded and rubbed in All green approaches were cored and sanded, including par 3 fairway areas, practice tee and lawn. All fairways were verti cut, scalped mowed at a lower height and cleared of debris. Various spray applications and fertiliser applied. We were a little more vigorous than past greens renovations using larger hallow tines with smaller spacing, we also heavily verti cut selected greens, with all greens being given a lighter verti cut, namely to dilute the iron contamination in the soil from irrigation water but also to reduce thatch. For this reason we expect the greens to come back a bit slower than you maybe use to still allowing for a 4...

 Welcome to course Update for February, and what a roller coaster the past 4 weeks have been !!! We were extremely happy with the course, particularly how the turf surfaces handled the extreme heat through most of the 4 week period and how it was responding to increased maintenance to prepare the course to peak in condition for the Summer Cup, in fact we couldn’t have been any happier with the way the course was tracking, I was about to prepare the blog update with how much better the turf surfaces and greens handled the summer period over that of when I first arrived here years ago !   Then on Friday 31 st January, we experienced a major main line pipe rupture, under the extended car park area. The location of the break and a butterfly isolation valve failing meant we could not isolate the pipe from the system meaning no water to the course.  Of course this coincided with a few 38 degree days !! As thrust block installation required at least 24 hrs   ( normal...

So begins another year, it seems to come around quicker as you get older ! On behalf of the course staff we truly hope the new brings you joy on the course, happiness with your scores and laughter in the club ! For those members who are unwell or caring for a loved one that is, our heartfelt wishes are with you, and with all family like clubs if anything we can do, don’t hesitate to ask.   As we finish up preparations for our first main event of the 2025, the Capel Junior Open it is pleasing to look around the course and see what we have achieved, we can only hope the wind stays down and doesn’t start howling this afternoon with screaming Easterlies as it has been the past 4 weeks. It is always challenging to set the course up for this event, the public holidays, and general Xmas / New Year “spirits” have us at skeleton staff for a good week or 2 and then have just one full week in which to prepare for the event. Constant strong Easterlies as always make matters all the m...

 Welcome to the last of the blog updates for 2024. It has been another busy period to catch up on, and again for most of it we have been at least 1 staff down due to leave or other commitments.  I would like to thank Ben for taking charge for 3 weeks whilst I was on leave and to the boys for getting on with what they know is expected. During my leave there was a number of important events including fours champs and the MMMM charity day, the feedback regarding the course presentation from participants was exceptional, so once again My thanks to the staff and particular Ben for achieving these very high standards. Unfortunately, limited availability of the equipment required to commence works on the 1 st and 16 th bunkers has forced us to postpone till when the equipment does become available, this is totally out of our hands so ask for some patience. In the meantime, we have revisited options for 16 bunker and in the process of looking at alternative measures, we will kee...

 Two and half weeks since the end of renovations and I could not be happier with the result and recovery of the greens and fairways.  Remarkably we are back at normal cutting heights, though the greens will be slower as the extra nutrients applied and desire for promoting root growth over the next 4 weeks before the stresses of summer hit, take priority.   Through the renovation period despite some minor interruptions with showers (5mm) during the sanding process I am please to say all our pre renovation plans have been met and exceeded.  With Connor at TAFE and Dean limited hours, my thanks to Ben and Jack for getting stuck in and working some long hours to complete our goals.   Also many thanks to the volunteers organised by John for picking up the cores without of which would severely impact how much we could achieve.    Greens  All greens were hallow cored 3 x 3 to 6 inch depth Amendments applied  Sanded  Wetter and l...