CAPEL GOLF COURSE MAINTENANCE

On behalf of the Greenstaff I extend our best wishes for Xmas to all our Members, Management and Directors. We hope everyone has a safe and happy Festive season with their loved ones.

The temperatures remained over 30 and into the mid 30's for the past 8 days announcing the official  arrival of Summer, staff were kept busy nursing the putting green seeded area and on our toes for other heat related issues that might have occurred on course, a few dry patch issues in the fairway as a result of wind interference to the irrigation system was the only effect and will soon recover. With more extreme weather to come for the remainder of summer staff will be kept on our toes. It is also a perfect opportunity to remind all our players of a few Summer conditions Through Summer you will notice, except for special events, the greens will run slightly slower, only marginally as we raise the heights slightly by less than 1/2mm as a protective measure for the Bent surfaces through the added stress of Summer Heat. As explained HERE... http://capelgcmaintenance.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/summer-green-spe...

Has it really been that long since I updated the blog ? How time is flying by, extremely busy on course these past 5 months, my apologies for the tardiness.....  Before moving forward, A recap of some of the works these past 5 months. Our two main winter projects, Front 9 tree pruning and Bunker base levelling were completed successfully judging by the great comments we have had about the work. The back 9 will targeted next winter in more of the same in preparation for the 2014 Vets Next November.       As you would be aware, unless you live under a rock, the Practice Bunker and Chipping Green were brought into play and now provides the membership with a great new practice facility. September rain impacted on course conditions and maintenance work however 20 mins after this picture was taken the rain stopped water drained and play resumed. Renovations were successfully completed in October, sticking with our program of alternating ...

Sounds like a bad round doesn't it, better see Jim for a swing check, in really it is only our winter works program in full swing.   We have commenced pruning trees, we are focusing on the first line of trees along fairway edges and trimming low lying dangerous branches along with unhealthy suckers and damaged limbs. This type of work is very subjective, I can assure you we are taking a conservative approach, only removing branches posing a risk to staff on equipment and cart users and only trimming trees in the first row, the inside area or bush will be largely untouched. It will result in a safer work environment, a healthier turf cover on the edges of Fairways with reduced shading and a more aesthetically pleasing appearance. Works will progress in sections as we have a limited stockpile area and we need to dispose of these before continuing. The other major winter work project, levelling Bunker Bases, this ...

One question that has been popping up a lot lately, "Will the greens remain at the same pace they are now for the rest of winter "? Members are obviously relishing the pace of the greens at the moment, they are running pretty slick and the stories of just how quick are being added to daily, so what's the answer to the question on everyone's lips. The simple answer is yes, we plan to have the greens at present pace or there abouts for the rest of winter. For the more complicated or should I say detailed answer, read on Factors in our control are our maintenance inputs which effect green speed like Green mowing heights and cut frequency, moisture management, nutrient management, winter grass suppression techniques and a wide variety of other maintenance practices which directly effect green speed will be or are planned to be similar for the rest of winter, this equates to the greens being of similar pace for the rest of...

Its been 4 weeks since we seeded the chipping green, time for an update to inform you of the progress to your new practice facility. The green is where we had planned it to be despite the heavy rain recently causing some wash out areas which will require reseeding, Believe it or not we are cutting the green at 10mm presently and with healthy growth continuing we  will be lowering the height to 8mm by the end of this week. The washout patches will be reseeded and the whole green given a light top-dress in 2 weeks by which time the young seedling grass will be strong enough to withstand a light sanding. From there we will be regularly lowering heights and giving light topdressing until the green is open for practice, baring any unforeseen events that should be in approx. 8 weeks. This week is a huge week for the staff and the club, We have the Pro Am on Wednesday, followed by the 2 day Capel Cup major event, all our efforts have been focused on th...

The first 2 weeks of May has brought a little over 100mm rain, 67mm falling last Tuesday night, the rain was very welcome as a start in recharging water aquifers etc. and lets face it no mater how much water you irrigate with, you just can't beat the rain for results, the downside is as it fell in short bouts of heavy downpours it did cause washouts which kept us busy. Another concern is the effect the heavy rain has had on the germinating seed on the chipper, some washout is expected to impact on results. In the coming 2 weeks our focus will be solely on preparing the course for the upcoming Pro-Am and Capel Cup, we take great pride in maintaining a high standard of course year round but we do strive to take the course up a few notches for our major events, this requires attention to the 5% jobs which we generally do not have time to get to in the normal operation of the course with low staff numbers, examples of the % jobs I re...