CAPEL GOLF COURSE MAINTENANCE

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 1...

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....

With most pipes and fittings delivered, compound set up and 3 holes marked out for install, tomorrow (Wednesday 16th) mainline trenching and install will commence on the 11th hole. This hole WILL be closed for play.    MORE TO COME !!! Once the line is in and solenoid valves in place lateral pipe and sprinkler install will follow, likely to be  Thursday. The irony of installing irrigation when the 5th looked like this -

Evening folks  With the major works of the stage 2 Irrigation Upgrade set to commence on the back 9 next week I thought it was time to fire up this old chestnut to provide information updates and be the main source of my communication to members on the progress of this much needed and anticipated upgrade to our present manual irrigation system.  Total Eden will be onsite Monday 14th to commence preliminary works, and proposed mark out of lines and sprinklers. Full install will  not commence till Tuesday afternoon / Wednesday Morning when Main lines and laterals (laterals being installed by staff and volunteers) will commence on the 11th followed by the 10th.  Of course disruption will be significant during the works and we appreciate your understanding as always.  You will need to keep informed of hole closures and other temporary play conditions by the clubs notice board and facebook page prior to playing. My thanks in advance to members who have volu...

I would like the thank the volunteers who turned out Sunday morning to assist with the greens renovation clean up prior to the Corer breaking down, delaying our work for up to 2 hours. Your assistance and willingness to help was appreciated.  For the few who came back to continue on after the repairs were complete we are indebted to you and a huge thank you to you for without your help we would have been here that much longer. Graham Mick, Rod the two Peters and Big Red, Troy, I cant say how appreciative we are that you did so.  Thanks again.    4 days since the Greens were renovated, verti - cut for thatch, hallow cored and sanded and I am happy with the recovery and where they are at present. The recovery of some greens maybe inconsistent specially in the early stages depending on the amount and type of grass weed control undertaken prior to renovations as explained in a previous post. Some greens will be slower and / or have larger areas or patches within re...

We have a guest blogger for this weeks Course Update, Ben reporting on his experience at Lake Karrinyup Country Club for the World Super 6"s.  Pour a cuppa, pull up a chair and enjoy the read ....  ............................................................................................................................................................ First of all, I would like to thank Superintendent Max Suckling and The Capel Golf Club for allowing me the opportunity to volunteer as part of the Course Maintenance Crew for the ISPS HANDA World Super 6 tournament at Lake Karrinyup Country Club. I would also like to thank Fraser Brown, Superintendent of Lake Karrinyup, for taking me on board and giving me the opportunity to work alongside his staff for the week. This was a great experience from day one all the way through to day 8, and I would definitely do this over again if the opportunity arises. Volunteering at Lake Karrinyup for such a major tournament was...

Greens Renovations are less than 2 weeks away and I would like to take this opportunity to inform members of some important pre renovation practices and the temporary impact these practices will have on the greens appearance.   Twice yearly in Spring and Autumn prior to greens renovations we commence product applications for the suppression / control of certain grass weeds in the greens, namely Saltene and Couch encroachment, both grasses being extremely difficult to control in Bent grass greens and we do historically have a large amount. Unfortunately one product does not control / suppress both weed grasses so there is a need to apply different products multiple times during the control periods prior to renovations.   The application of these products will lead to a sharp down turn in the appearance of the greens. Discolouration and some thin weak areas will result in the lead up to renovations.     The degree and type of discolouration will vary green ...