CAPEL GOLF COURSE MAINTENANCE

First of all Good luck to all players in today's Jetline Pro -Am and for those playing in the 2 day Capel Cup this weekend, The course is in fantastic condition, the greens running quick and smooth. Well after nearly 2 weeks of perfect weather, for course conditioning and for playing, (we are so use to strong winds in the lead up to any major event, almost like a curse), the wind picked up this morning with gusts up to 39km/hr, not the strongest we have had to deal with but enough to make presenting the course frustrating with leaves blowing everywhere, you can't control mother nature and I am proud of the staff, more so because it was only three of us this time around being 1 down, to present the course as we have, allot of out of normal hrs work went into it without complaint from Dean or Anthony and my thanks to them for their hard work and dedication. For the next 2 days after the Pro Am it will be just a continuation of course preparations for the weekends event a

A promising start to the month with 60mm rain recorded has tapered out and now we are back to dryish conditions for the past 2 weeks, the dry conditions are forecast to continue for another week at least. A sign that winter is upon us with much colder morning weather resulting in a patchy frost areas on the course, these areas are mainly in the longer cut roughs, we rarely have blanket frosts but with the weather over the past few years being anything but normal who's to say we won't. 10th rough frost  We ask any early morning players to be aware of frost areas, and more so AVOID them, travelling over frost covered turf can damage the plant and leave unsightly brown marks. More info on this will be posted as the need arises. Other than the staff teeth chattering first thing in the morning, the weather for golf has been fantastic by midday, clear skies and warm weather perfect for the afternoon comp players. This week the staff have been busy with preparations

The blue lines on the approach to the greens are back for Winter    For those of you who do not know what they mean or why we put the lines out here's why....... The blue lines indicate to cart uses NOT to cross or go past the line towards the green and to follow directional arrows when approaching the greens. They also indicate to players with push buggies they are in a high wear area and to avoid if possible or at least take care when they pass the blue line. Pretty simple hey, if your in a cart DON'T cross the blue line. We do this as one measure through the non growth and wet months when the turf wears down easily in high traffic areas to protect the surface and continue to give you a decent lie for your short approach shots. These areas extend to the outside of the greenside bunkers, again where high traffic forces the grass to lay over or at worst wear out, remember the grass isn't growing so no recovery = poor lies for you.  It is b

The following are the reccomendations to be given to the greens committee for assement When assessing the methods used to make recommendations I have to consider 2 main issues with the trial 1) We are only concerned with mid-summer green speeds 2) the short length of the trial meant the cumulative effect of methods used could not be assessed, as such   my recommendations are not only based on this trial, they are also influenced by previous research carried out in relation to green speeds in general and accepted greenkeeping practices implemented to achieve speed outcomes. RECCOMENDATIONS TO BE ASSESED 1)       Not to proceed with grooming or dust in methods during summer. 2)       Conduct more frequent grooming in spring and early summer. 3)       Introducing a light sanding at the time of our present grooming practices in spring as part of  maintenance practices. 4)       Continue the practice of grooming greens prior to major events only, in summer. 5)

Results are expressed in cm difference between the readings taken prior to the method being implemented and after. Height of Cut and Rolling readings are expressed in cm difference at each point compared to the H.O.C. when at 3mm under present practices. DAY GROOM TOP GROOM & TOP H.O.C /Roll 2 6 6.5 6.5 4 6.5 8 9.1 7 6 9.5 13.7 10 5.9 9.5 15.5 12 5.5 5.8 14.2 15 4.9 3.8 9.7 21 3.1 -1 3.6 Rolling 3mm 32 Rolling 2.8mm 57 2.5mm H 36 2.5mm HD 56 2.8mm H 25                                               Impact on Turf Health Grooming – The impact on turf health from mechanical injury was evident a