Merry Christmas!

A busy week in the lead up to the Christmas period with greens and fairways receiving applications of fertiliser. Greens, tees and fairways have also received an application of wetting agent to help with water infiltration over the coming weeks. Bunkers have been edged and most areas of the course have been cut in preparation for the short Christmas week.

The men's 15th tee is now open for play, along with the new concrete path down to the tee and  the anniversary path leading up to the 16th tee. The new concrete path alongside the 11th tee will be opened for use once we have landscaped along both sides of the path.There are still a number of smaller jobs that need to be completed before all of the project work is complete but we can finally start to see the light at the end of the tunnel. 

 

I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone who takes the time to read the blog updates a Merry Christmas from all of the course staff, and if you are finding these course updates informative and the photos interesting please tell your friends and playing partners.

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Major Project Work Almost Complete

A number of people have asked me recently about why there has been an abscence of blog posts over the past two months. The simple answer is that as well as all of the regular course maintenance tasks, we have also been exceptionally busy with all of the additional project work going on around the course and I have found it very hard to justify spending time in front of the computer to carry out the numerous administration tasks needed in my role as Course Superintendent. Having said that, now that the project work is almost complete my aim is get back in the swing of again producing regular blog posts.

	October 2012	October 2011	average
Rainfall	27.5 mm	33.5 mm	62.5 mm
Year to Date	812 mm	759.5 mm	765 mm
No. of rain days	4	7	-
Average Temp.	22.6°C	21.4°C	-
Average Humidity	64.8%	65.6%	-

	November 2012	November 2011	average
Rainfall	13.5 mm	21 mm	38 mm
Year to Date	825.5 mm	780.5 mm	803 mm
No. of rain days	4	7	-
Average Temp.	26.3°C	27.1°C	-
Average Humidity	60.2%	58.3%	-

As can be seen from how quickly the course has dried out and from the data above, the past two months have been exceptionally dry. This year's total spring rainfall has only been 86.5mm, compared to our average of 192mm. this has meant that this has been our 6th driest spring since we started keeping records in 1970, a period of 42 years.

As I have already mentioned, as well as trying to balance all of the jobs needed for the general maintenance of the course, the main emphasis for the course staff over the past two months has been focused on major projects and working with contractors to complete the various works and numerous additional tasks needed to complete the works around the course. I would also like to take this opportunity thank all of the volunteers who have helped throughout the duration of the works.

                                    

 Irrigation installation - 15th fairway

Below is a list of tasks that were completed during the irrigation installation, re-building of the tee and re-shaping of the approach on the 15th hole -

• @1300m² of sod was harvested from the 15^th approach prior to the re-shaping work and re-laid on -
• 6^th tee (625m²)
• 5^th mounds (315m²)
• 15^th pumpshed mound (360m²)
• @1100m² of sod was harvested from the practice fairway and re-laid on –
• 15^th tee (420m²)
• 15^th dam bank mounds (400m²)
• 15^th pulley path end (180m²)
• 9^th path end (100m²)
• Install drainage lines to 15^th approach (x3)
• 2000m² of imported sod was laid on the re-shaped 15^th approach.
• 6^th tee enlarged and re-levelled (including retaining wall edge and irrigation upgrade).
• 15^th tee rebuilt (including retaining wall edge).
• Re-shape and sod path ends on 9^th and 15^th holes
• Mound soil alongside new concrete path from 9^th tee in preparation for sodding

 Drainage installation to the 15th approach

 Looking back from the 15th green at the 15th earthworks

Laying the sod on the 15th approach

 Looking back at the finished article from the green

Storm Damage, Spring Renovations and Stumps

A quick apology for the absence of posts over the past month, the growing season has started and we have been exceptionally busy trying to keep on top of the many tasks that need to be undertaken to maintain the golf course at this time of year.

Red Gum limb - 1st fairway

The month started with the exceptionally high winds which caused damage across the majority of the state. Considering the strength of the winds we experienced I think we got away fairly lightly losing only one large Red gum limb on Wednesday 5th and the Cypress pine that was uprooted in the early hours of Thursday 6th. 

Fallen Cypress pine - 6th tee

The weather then cleared perfectly in time for us to undertake Spring greens renovation. Greens were fertilised prior to coring to speed up the recovery process, they were then scarified on the Monday to a depth of 25mm, cored with 19mm hollow tones to 100mm depth over the next two days using a closer pattern than previous years to impact a greater surface area. They were then sanded on Monday/Tuesday, with the 18th green completed in front of the field on Wednesday, with some greens then receiving a top-up of additional sand on Thursday morning (a total of @100 tonne of sand was used this year compared to @70 tonne in previous years to complete the renovation process). The sand on the greens was worked into the core holes using a rotary brush and dragmats and received their first cut at 4.5mm one week after coring. They were then reduced back to their normal height of 3mm in stages over the next week. I am extremely pleased with the speed of their recovery and also the fact that we were able to achieve this with what I believe to be minimal disruption and inconvenience to the membership.

Stump munching contractor at work

A number of stumps around the course have been ground out by contractors, cleared and refilled by both BGC staff and Volunteers. These areas will be turfed in the coming weeks using surplus turf harvested from other areas of the course. The garden bed by the sand bin at the clubhouse has been cleared by BGC staff and then replanted by volunteers from the course beautification group with more appropriate native species so as to match the other garden beds around the clubhouse.

Newly planted clubhouse garden bed

Greens have been sprayed with fungicde to target some small areas of disease that have flared up after coring. Fairways have been sprayed to eradicate the Poa annua that has germinated since the last application of product.

August Statistics

	August 2012	August 2011	average
Rainfall	106.5 mm	102.5 mm	112.6 mm
Year to Date	738 mm	626 mm	607.3 mm
No. of rain days	16	12	-
Average Temp.	13.5°C	15.9°C	-
Average Humidity	75.6%	73.9%	-

Another steady month of rainfall which has meant that this winter has been the wettest since 2004, with all three months recording in excess of 100mm to give us a combined total of 421mm (@17 inches). That is a significant amount of rainfall, even by Adelaide hills standards! We are also well above the year to date average and considering the amount of rainfall that we have had in the last three months the course has held up fairly well, with only a few areas starting to show signs of winter wear. On a positive note, the main dam is now at full capacity and overflowing steadily.

  

A large proportion of staff time over the past month has been spent clearing the predominately noxious and invasive weed species (Pittosporum, Cypress and Radiata pines, Lucerne and Olive) from around the 15th tee to prepare the area prior to the construction of the new tee once the course starts to dry out over the coming weeks. The new mounding alongside the 6th tee has been shaped in preparation for couch sodding, which will take place in conjunction with the rebuilding of the tee.

 Storm damage - 24th August

Demolition work!

 Obviously too far to go to get the rake!

A steady month of rainfall following on from a very wet June has meant that the course is now starting to become very wet and boggy in all of the usual places. The upside of this is that the main dam is now at the point where it will start to overflow after the next significant rain fall event. Despite the inclement weather the greens are still reasonably firm, true and quick; and are in a healthy condition with minimal disease present.

	July 2012	July 2011	average
Rainfall	106.5 mm	125.5 mm	130.7 mm
Year to Date	631.5 mm	523.5 mm	494.6 mm
No. of rain days	20	11	-
Average Temp.	12.5°C	13.3°C	-
Average Humidity	78.8%	73.3%	-

The following pictures are of the demolition of the old 6th tee drinks shed, now that the shed has been removed this coming spring will see the tee squared off at the back, levelled and have new brick edging the same as at the 3rd and 9th tees.

Drainage work and more rain

5th fairway - 11.00am Tuesday after 9.5mm rain in 40 minutes

Over the past two weeks staff have been busy with two drainage projects that will see a significant improvement in the areas targeted. The first project undertaken was the wet area between the righthand side of the 4th green and the boundary fence. This high traffic area has been a problem area for a number of years, and having now installed new drainage lines I can fully understand why. As some of you would be aware, predominatley here at Blackwood we have a heavy clay subsoil covered with an average of @150 -200mm of topsoil, this was certainly not the case in this area, because upon investigation it was found that we had only @50mm of topsoil over the heavily compacted clay.

New drainage lines - 4th surround

The second project carried out was the draining of the 10th greenside bunker. The works needed to carry the project were undertaken in the following stages -

• Old sand removed
• Re-grade base of bunker
• Dig out drainage lines (herringbone system)
• Install Geofabric liner to base of bunker
• Install drains (100mm slotted ag-drain/stone/shade cloth)
• Add sand/shellgrit mix
• Consolidate base and shape/pack faces

 New drainage lines

Liner and trenchlines covered with stone

 

 Sand/shellgrit mix being added

 The finished article!

Lots and lots of rain

New 15th green water feature

The past two months have seen the course receive well above average rainfall, which has led to the soil reaching field capacity and, as a consequence, the course becoming very wet and boggy. As previously mentioned, we had a relatively dry start to May, with the rainfall we received spread fairly evenly until we recorded 86mm for the last eight days of the month. This was then followed by a significantly wetter than average June (wettest since 1996), where to date we have recorded 200.5mm, 167mm of which has fallen in the last sixteen days.

 

This last sustained period of rainfall caused a large amount of washout damage and substantial flooding to the majority of the bunkers; the decision was made to temporarily declare all of the bunkers on the course GUR for fairness to play and to allow staff the necessary time to carry out essential repair work. Staff have spent a total of @60 hours over the past week to return the bunkers to a playable condition

 

13th fairway bunker

On a positive note, all of the drains throughout the course are now flowing steadily, with the masterlines discharging into the smaller 15th dam, which is now full and overflowing into the main 15th dam. The level of the main dam has risen dramatically over the last two weeks and I anticipate that it will be full before too much longer.

View form the clubhouse roof on Wednesday (note the blue sky!)