Wildlife on the Course

Koala and baby - 7th fairway

Red bellied black snake - 18th dam



Both of the above pictures were taken by keen eyed members of staff during the past week. The koala and baby were spotted by Cathy crossing the 7th fairway on Monday morning and the black snake was spotted sunning itself on Thursday afternoon by Nick and Lee.

The work on the new irrigation installation has continued on the 5th hole, with the green complex and the first four laterals across the fairway completed. The 5th hole has been brought back into play for the weekend and will be taken out of play again on Monday morning to allow the contractors to continue unhindered. The remedial works to the left-hand side of the 9th green have also been carried out by staff this week. This involved the removal of the sod, re-contouring of the profile to facilitate better water movement off of the green surface and then re-laying of the sod. A number of fairways have been sprayed with product to eradicate broadleaf weeds, with the remainder to be completed early next week.

Irrigation mainline installation

Contractors starting to trench the irrigation mainline across the 16th/17th fairways

Work has now started on the 1st stage of the new irrigation system, with contractors installing the new irrigation mainline from the pumpshed over the dam wall and across the 16th and 17th fairways. Work has so far progressed to the rear of the 5th green which will allow us in the coming weeks to continue to install the irrigation to the 5th, and then, 4th holes.

Course maintenance over the last two weeks has also seen staff busy preparing the course for the upcoming club championships and a busy two months of trade days. Greens and surrounds have been fertilised, and fairways are now starting to show signs of Spring growth. The rough is growing at an alarming rate and the rough mower is being used all day, every day to keep on top of things. The weather has certainly been changeable, with a mixture of strong winds, high and low temperatures and rain all within the last seven days.

Another victim of the strong winds

On a lighter note it would be remiss of me to mention the long-serving member of staff who on Ladies Pink Ribbon day made a special effort and looked resplendent in a full length pink dressing gown - a great effort!

Routine maintenance

After coring of greens and tees in the last few weeks, this week was a more normal week maintenance wise with all areas of the course being cut and bunkers being raked and returned to normal after last weeks heavy rainfall. The rainfall pattern for the month of September was unusual in the sense that 66% of the total fell in the last three days of the month.

	September 2011	September 2010	average
Rainfall	100 mm	111 mm	90.5 mm
Year to Date	726 mm	712.5 mm	698 mm
No. of rain days	10	14	-
Average Temp.	19.1°C	16.3°C	-
Average Humidity	64.1%	76.4%	-

As this has been a relatively quiet week I will take the opportunity to enlighten you on some of the finer points of bunker raking

• Before exiting a bunker, a player should carefully rake over all signs of play in the sand, and then leave the rake with the handle pointing toward the tee of the hole being played.
• In the bunker, the teeth of the rake should be used to repair the floor of the bunker and only the flat reverse side of the rake should be used to smooth any damage to the bunker faces/sides.

Step by Step Guide  

1. Your entry into the bunker matters - always enter the bunker at the lowest point. Stepping in and out on a steep face causes unnecessary damage and pushes sand off of the face into the bottom of the bunker. Plus, it's much easier to rake flat areas of sand.
2. Begin raking over the signs of play from the sand - the area where your club made contact with the sand and your footprints. Pull the teeth of the rake toward you as you begin moving back to the edge of the bunker.
3. Be careful not to pull too much sand toward you. The idea is to restore an even surface to the sand without displacing too much sand. If you are pulling too much sand toward you, try pushing the teeth outward a few times. All the while, you should be progressing back to the edge of the bunker.
4. If required, rake other affected areas. Use only the flat reverse side of the rake to smooth any damage to the bunker faces/sides.
5. Do not pile sand at the edge of the bunker. To complete raking, step out of the bunker and push back any excess sand using only the flat reverse side of the rake.
6. When you have finished, the sand's surface should be evened out, with no signs of divots or footprints, and no excess sand having been pulled toward the bunkers edge. There will be little furrows left from the teeth of the rake.

Before you step away from the bunker, the most important thing is that the sand be in as good or better condition than that which you found it in. Make sure golfers following behind you have a good quality bunker from which to play any necessary shots.

Thank you for your co-operation, as the more care you take when raking bunkers means the less time staff have to spend on repairing damage, which in turn means more time spent on other essential maintenance work.