As am I am
writing this we should be coming to the end of our greens renovations. Due to
poor weather conditions we had to postpone our renovations by a further week,
and if that wasn’t enough we suffered machinery breakdowns to delay us even
more. Fortunately we could carry out the repairs ourselves so the delays were
frustrating rather than catastrophic.
During the originally proposed week (Monday 21st September) heavy downpours made hollow coring operations almost impossible, and despite a hectic fixture schedule we had no choice other than to postpone. We didn’t however write the week off totally, we proceeded to scarify some fairways with our new Amazone machine (see below), this machine is new to us so we did see some scalping in some areas, which is inevitable on the first use. It is always a learning curve with new kit and we were very pleased with the results. We also set about lifting the canopy on some tree areas and this will continue as time permits, we would still welcome more volunteers to help as clearing up after the work is what takes most time. Let Adrian know if you can help if your name isn’t already on the list please.
You may lift and drop on any fairways that have been scarified, although we are happy that the fairways will soon rejuvenate.
With better
weather the following week we pressed on with greens renovations. We hollow
cored, scarified, seeded, fertilised, and top dressed the greens. We were set
back as I mentioned by a few mechanical breakdowns, but this is to be expected
with old machinery. We are already seeing some good weather to encourage a
quick recovery, how long for is another matter!
We have
installed some ‘gripstrips’ on some of our steps recently. This is a new
product which we are trialling to see if it would be a better option to put on
our steps instead of astro turf which tends to hold moisture and rot the steps.
Any feedback would be appreciated.
Any feedback would be appreciated.
We will be
continuing with renovations, both on fairways and also tees.
We have a large drainage project due to start very soon. We are going to be digging up and renewing the drainage on the 6th fairway, and this will start on Monday the 19th of October.
This work will help to keep the fairway and apron drier through the winter months, so that when the main green is unplayable due to wet conditions, we can still use the apron as a temporary green instead of closing the course.
We hope to have the work completed within 2 weeks but with changing weather conditions and with other work to complete that we will run on into the following week.
Whilst the work is being carried out, there will be a short par 3 of 145 yards set up so that play will not interfere with operations and so that there are still 18 holes available for play.
We ask golfers to adhere to any signage that we put up, and to follow directions from this temporary green to the next tee, your patience is much appreciated. Please see the plan below for details:
We have a large drainage project due to start very soon. We are going to be digging up and renewing the drainage on the 6th fairway, and this will start on Monday the 19th of October.
This work will help to keep the fairway and apron drier through the winter months, so that when the main green is unplayable due to wet conditions, we can still use the apron as a temporary green instead of closing the course.
We hope to have the work completed within 2 weeks but with changing weather conditions and with other work to complete that we will run on into the following week.
Whilst the work is being carried out, there will be a short par 3 of 145 yards set up so that play will not interfere with operations and so that there are still 18 holes available for play.
We ask golfers to adhere to any signage that we put up, and to follow directions from this temporary green to the next tee, your patience is much appreciated. Please see the plan below for details:
Thank you for reading, any constructive feedback is always welcome.
