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

Week 18 update

Well the mornings are starting to cool down, with the couple of short weeks we have mainly been trying to get all the mowing done.

The irrigation is being put in on the 3rd fairway and is to be finished off next week this will complete the system proper then we have to adjust the sprinklers and get stuck into filling the trenches.

The original system will receive a upgrade over the next few weeks so that the whole course is on the latest Toro Site Pro system.

The 15th fairway has been verti-drained and all greens have been feed to get them ready for the cooler weather, as some of you know we have been very short staffed over the last few months and it is good to welcome our newest team member Terrance who started at the end of last week and is fitting in well, so if you see a new face say hi and remember he is still learning the ropes.

We had a visit from the sports minister during the week, it was interesting seeing his perspective as from his last visit to now we were standing near the 15th green and he turned and said "its amazing whenI was standing in this exact same spot just after the floods there wasn't much green anywhere and you were seriously contemplation the loss of three greens including this one (15th ) look at it now. I find that interesting from some one who has seen the area just after the flood and not seen it again to now and how he picks up the improvements and that when we see things every day we don't notice as much.

Well to 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

flood update sunday night

Well the last several days have been a hard slog,emotional,physicaly and mentally draining, special thanks to the boys (ground staff) for coming in and doing 12 hour days trying to save the greens, as you have seen from the news and media the mud is everywhere, we still have to get to the 17th green, but the way thing are at the moment its looking like the 2nd and 15th greens might not survive and the 17th now being covered in mud and salt water for 6 days in not looking good, with only 6 staff we have been concentrating on trying to save the greens and as yet only a few tees have been attended to, as we just dont have the manpower to do the lot.
Tomorrow we will attempt to get the mud off the 17th green and also 18th and 15th tees
removing the mud just takes so much time, the 14th which is our smallest green took over 6 hours to get the mud off then 5 or more hours to wash it down.
The course is still very wet and slippery and just getting around has been very trying... hopefully the ground will be ok to collect and pile up debris on Tuesday so if you have any spare time feel free to come and help at 10.00 am.
The bunkers have to be scrapped out and dry mud collected , and mud removed off several fairways.
Another major problem is we don't have electricity which hampers repairs and maintenance of equipment
The pump stations went completely under so we have no way of getting water to any part of the course in the foreseeable future, with the temperature rising and some hot days coming  the greens that came out of the flood ok now will need water and normal maintenance (fertilising, spraying ect.) which is going to be a struggle to provide.
The greens once having the mud removed and the surface washed down after a few days rest will need to be flushes and chemicals added to assist in the flushing of salt out of the root zone. this will require some wizardry,a miracle, extremely good luck or good management or a combination of all to achieve
Needless to say there will be no golf this week and im not sure when some holes will be available to play.
well that is where we are at till next time take care...pete

Week 46

Well its been busy,busy, busy this last two weeks,
The grass is growing at full speed , we have carted sand and turfed the edges of the path on the 9th, the greens height is down to 3.4mm and remaining healthy and if all is well we will get a verti-cut in on Monday.
The new irrigation system installation started today with ground work and setting out where we are going to take the main lines.Machinery will start arriving tomorrow and early next week, so when you see some trenches and pipe around the place that is what is happening, hopefully we keep getting showers regularly to keep the fairways going so we don't have to get the hoses out.
The fairway areas that we sprayed the weeds out of last growing season have been fertilized up to encourage the couch to send out runners which will help quicken recovery so that we can get the last bit of weed out of them, this will be done over the next few weeks.

well along with mowing and keeping the blades sharp thats about it ...till next time keep swinging pete

Week 41 update

Always a big week, Reno week with so many man hours going into the greens nearly all other jobs we are behind on so for the next week we are in catch up mode.

The greens are coming along very well, and with the rain last night (22mm) that will only help in the recovery. We plan to mow (high at 6mm to nip the leaf) early next week, hopefully Monday.

There are a couple of reasons we leave the greens for a few days after renovation but the main one is that it gives the turf time to extend its root system. As with all grasses there is a ratio that goes, that the length of the leaf directly affects the length of the roots. Thus it is important to take advantage of this time after renovation and get the most out of the root growth as possible as this will put us in good stead during the summer where the plant is under great stress. So our efforts we put in now will be seen in the summer period.

The Bindi in most fairways has been sprayed, and we have mowed as much as possible with the remaining time available.

Next week we will concentrate on the greens, 9th path, and weeds in bunker faces.
well till next time keep swinging....Pete

week 21 update

Well you can tell then the winter is nearly upon us the boys are rugged up in the mornings as can be seen here Trev and Phil with there jackets on.
This is a interesting time for us as the grass growth rate slows down it is important that we keep the turf as healthy as possible and try to reduce the amount of stress placed upon it as much as we can, all whilst keeping the putting surface smooth and at a fair pace.
The big concern for us is if the greens go into dormancy there is no getting them back out of dormancy until spring.
so with the pennants over and with the leaf laying over as there isn't as much sun to stand it upright we will mow the greens less often , we will still dew off for comps , and we have lifted the height by 1mm this will strengthen the plant up while maintaining a good roll
a good example of a green in dormancy is if you look at the back of the first green it has just started to head towards dormancy if let keep going the plant will retract and leaf will disappear then all that is left is the thatch layer , which in our greens there isn't much of.
Well around the course you will notice the right hand side of the 14th has been tidied up at this stage we will let this grow over and now it has been shaped we will be able to mow it
we have also started to plant out the garden on the 4th i'm still waiting to receive my main plants from our nursery
well to next time keep swinging pete

Week 12 update
you by now will have noticed the three bad water holding holes on the 13th fairway have been filled with sand and leveled we have left this for a few days to settle down and compact a bit as sand will compact around 40 to 60 percent next week we will level the surface again and lay turf over the sand
The Greens this week have also had a lot of work done on them as with all the overcast weather the last few weeks and with the high levels of nitrogen after renovation we have had some disease (Pythium spp.)which has been sprayed also the mole cricket has been tended too.
Our new mechanic is going well its great having the mowers all sharp and running well this saves us lots of time and lets the machines run at maximum efficiency
The bare areas on the sprayed fairways have all been sanded and seeded with a common couch we are already seeing a strike on the 4th so over the next few weeks these areas will fill in and be pure couch fairway.
well thats all for now the ladies pennants are all away so i better go and prepare for the weekend comp till next time keep swinging pete