week 33 2011 update

Well with the weather providing great days the turf is slowly starting to move, we continue to top up the trenches and we have also started to feed the fairways to help the growth along.

Our plan this growing season is to take advantage of the flood water which took out allot of the weeds in the fairways and this spring we will spray out the remainder of the weed so at the end of the growing season all the fairways will be similar to the 4th and 5th which were the fairways done first with the weed eradication.

We also have to address the issue of the sediment that remains just under the leaf surface so over the next few weeks we will be applying gypsum and other products that will help break down the sediment and help incorporate it into the soil profile. Along with our product applications we will also be verti-draining these areas.

Renovations this spring will be very important as the greens missed out on the February renovation. If you want to see what greens go like if you dont renovate take a look at the 12th and the practice putter the compaction effects show up very well on these two at he moment.

Unfortunantly the coring contractor we use is closing up his business, so we will have to fend for ourselves, which is going to be interesting as we don't have equipment to do this, so at the moment we are in the process of finding equipment we can either hire or loan. So this reno we will be starting late Sunday afternoon the 3rd of October.

The turfed areas are all taking well we have feed these up over the last two weeks and the root system is down about 7cm so we are getting closer to being able to play off these a light topdress and another 7cm of root growth should be right on the money so possible 3 weeks if all goes well.

so till next time ...keep swinging  pete

mid july

Just a quick one today we have been very busy filling trenches and rebuilding the social mens18th tee. This has been levelled and made allot bigger, when back in play it will have the mens white markers and ladies black markers on the tee top.

The tee will take a while to put its roots down so hopefully we don't get any storms before then.

Today we are starting work on the 2nd green bunkers and waterway edge along the 2nd green pathway so for this week we have cut in a temporary green.

The irrigation pump stations are all back and online, we still have a few leaks out there to be fixed and a couple of teething problems and with the computer not online yet we have been manual watering which consists of me changing the banks every half hour throughout the night ...so if I have been crabby the last few weeks I appoligise as lack of sleep will do that to you.

It was great to get some rain (14mm) this weekend, not so good for golf though and luckily not enough to overflow the creek and wash the 18th tee away although it came close, and which is the reason we have left the small dam draining..... well the excavators have just turned up, better go and fix these bunkers up... till next time ..keep swinging.... pete

Mounds between 8th and 9th

                                                     Trees On the Mounds


After advice from council and industry arbourists we have taken out the remaining dead trees as they are not going to come back.

After the floods it looked like we were going to loose 80 to 90 percent of the trees in the mounds, I then got advice that allot of these trees will come back if we give them some time and used our irrigation system to irrigate thus putting water up onto the leaves, so this is what we have been doing and it has worked very well as most trees came back with new growth and are recovering well. So in the end we actually only lost around 7 percent of the trees we have also cut back the grasses around the edges and some of these are going well others will have to be replanted out this winter.

So this is the reason that we left the trees in the mounds, to give them every opportunity to recover and so by not jumping in too early we have saved 40 to 60 trees that otherwise would have been removed unnecessarily.

Week 4 2011 update

Well for being only week 4 in the year we have packed in more than I thought possible in several months.

The flood clean up is going along ahead of schedule as of this morning we have opened up the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th 6th, 7th (temp green), 8th, and 9th.

These holes being open will be dependent upon the weather. If it rains the 2nd and 3rd will be a safety issue as the mud will get slippery again, thus no play on these hole if that happens.

The temporary greens on 7th,14th and 17th are ....well....challenging but it lets up get up 17 holes the 7th green should be ok to use late next week but 15 and 17 are a good 2 to 4 weeks away.

Hopefully by the end of today we will have one pump up and running to supply water to the irrigation system thus enabling us to get some water on to the greens which are getting pretty dry with this hot weather.

I have also just organised for some more bunker sand and possibly next week or early the week after we will hold another working bee to spread the sand out in the bunkers.

Well that is about all, we have plenty of mowing and still cleaning up debris as well as treating the greens and tees to flush the salt and sediment through the growing profile whilst also adding chemicals to encourage root growth as the turf recovers from recent events...but so far so good with the turf health coming along nicely, and once the 15th and 17th catch up we will start to lower the heights and get the surface back to where it should be.

 Thanks again to all the help and kind words of encouragement please support the club in any way possible it all helps and is much appreciated by all.  so till next time ...keep swinging  pete

Week 17 Update

Well another short week, and some beautiful weather, great for golfing and judging by the number of golfers out this morning (Friday) plenty of people taking full advantage of it.
Well we got a verti-cut in on the greens on Tuesday but i don't like our chances of getting another verti - cut in as the mornings are getting a bit chilly around the 11 to 13 degrees, we will have to see how the greens recover and take it from there.
The garden bed on the 4th has been mulched we will let it settle then start planting it out over the next few weeks.
The dangerous tree on the 12th near the green has been trimmed and some dead trees have also been removed near the 3rd green.
The bunkers on 2nd, 14th and 15th have been topped up with sand and weeds in the faces have been sprayed.
the fairways have been fertilised along with the tees to try to get as much growth before the winter temperatures slow things right down.
well that's about it for this week till next time keep swinging pete

week 16 update

Week 16 update
well a bit of a wet one this morning with 35mm falling yesterday and last night, great for the course as we were just having to gear up the watering to maximum so with this rain we will be able to put the hoses away for a week or 2 which is a huge time saver for us as it ties up 42 man-hours just setting up then moving irrigation for the week, this will free up some time to get into our job list
This week we got a verti-cut in on the greens we haven't been able to do this any sooner as each time we tried we bought up to much sand, we will try to get in as many verti - cuts as possible before the nighttime temperature drops this will smooth out the greens, rip out the older leaf of the turf and thus encourage new leaf which is stronger and more healthy thus getting the golf-ball up on the turf instead of in it ( if we are lucky we may get one or two in)
The garden area on the left side of the 4th has had its topsoil added and we have resprayed the area which because of the rain will have to do again next week, the 4th path has had a topper on it we will let this pack down then do(top with crusher dust) again in a few weeks
Lots of mowing done this week especially the rough which we deliberately left long for the Mcleod cup which seemed to tighten up the course going on the scores of the day.
The walkway between the 2 bunkers on the 8th has been opened up we still have a little bit of work mainly on the edges but for now it will be good to get some weight on the area and see how it goes. well till next week keep swinging pete

Week 13 Update

well a short week this week, that means we have to keep moving to get all the weeks general golfcourse maintenance jobs done and then try to fit in the special projects (13th fairway turfing patches and 8th bunkers walkway) as well as some tree planting to boot, this means that we all get in and attack the projects as a group thus allowing us to do it quickly and properly and get back to our regular maintenance jobs as soon as possible, its a shame that we cop some criticism on the Tuesday when we were all getting in and fixing the pathway on the 8th, that some recon that we had too many staff there helping.
to that i say that it was a very labor intensive job, all work had to be done by hand and we are using new materials and different methods(see next blog) than have been used in the past, thus it was a good opportunity to show all the staff how i want this type of project done in the future, so my main message is that unless you know all the facts don't criticize on what you know nothing about.
The weeds in the greens have been spot sprayed, and will be followed up over the next few weeks as the chemical we use is slow acting thus giving the couch time to fill in underneath the weed and not leave a hole in the turf
The mole cricket have had a second dose of bait thus most of these are gone and we have also sprayed the greens with Neem oil thus making the area unattractive to these pests.
we attempted to verti-cut the greens on Monday (back of 1st green 4 runs of mower) but we were still bringing up to much sand so we till try again next week, as i would like to get 2 verti-cuts in before winter this will smooth the roll of the ball and give us a little more pace on the greens.
You'll notice a few new palms on the 2nd hole i plan to make this a feature of the 2nd so if you have any palms in pots that you would like to donate they would be most appreciated thanks and until next time keep swinging pete

Why Greens have to be renovated.

Why Greens have to be renovated!


Renovations Love it or Hate it ……. actually I haven’t found anyone in my 27 years green-keeping who love it but each year, on or around the third Monday in February and on the first Monday in October, the greens are renovated. This happens each year and the dates are always in the fixture book. No doubt members think that this happens every year just when the greens are at their best. The reason that they are at their best is because they were renovated the previous year.

Greens face two major problems, one compaction and the other thatch. Compaction is caused by foot traffic, machinery, irrigation and rainfall. Thatch is a layer of organic matter between the top of the grass and the soil, it is naturally occurring in that the older leaves lay over and die as new leaves grow up through the turf surface.

Compacted greens do not allow water to get down to the roots. This will result in greens drying out and eventually dying back. If die back occurs greens may never recover or at best take many years to recover. To stop die back occurring it is necessary to core the greens. This involves the use of a machine, which takes out a large number of pencil shaped pieces of the green. These holes, so created, allow the oxygen, nutrients and water to get down to the root zone. As we do not have our own renovation equipment we have to employ outside expertise.

Thatch is removed during the October renovation, by a special machine, operated also by an outside expert who is booked from year to year by a number of courses. The material that the machine removes is actually large amounts of thatch. Thatch that is not controlled can cause the greens to become soft and spongy, roll inconsistently and be much more likely susceptible to disease spreading through them.

Unless renovations are carried out the greens can become diseased, play inconsistently or even die back which then to make right becomes costly and time consuming Thus it is important these renovations are carried out at the optimum time for turf recovery so that for most months of the year we have greens that run true and are in good health..
to next time keep swinging....pete