Welcome Respite

Fox damage - 9th greenside bunker

It's amazing how much damage foxes can cause when they decide to start playing in a bunker!

A much cooler week has given us some welcome respite from the heat before temperatures climb back up into the mid 30's by the middle of next week. As well as all of our normal routine maintenance this week has also seen us fertilise greens, tees, the new sod at the 10th and the new 4th mounds. Greens have also been sprayed with a combination of products to control some small areas of disease which had appeared after the high humidity of the previous weekend. Some small areas of sod repairs have been carried out around the course using some of the better sod salvaged from the 10th tee carry and a large volume of pine needles have been cleared from inbetween the 2nd and 3rd holes.

Irrigation Wiring Problems and 10th Tee Carry

I'm sorry for the absense of the blog over the last two friday's, as you will have noticed from the additional work that has been going on around the course we have been busier than normal over the last two weeks.

These following two photos show an Irrigation contractor at work tracing wiring faults and a completed repair underneath the 16th green. The problems that are now occuring to the undergound wiring are primarily caused because of the age of the wiring which is now starting to degrade and breakdown at joints and on bends where there are additional stresses on the wiring. This is a time consuming task which not only involves the irrigation contractor but a member of staff to assist and then make good.

The other major project that has been undertaken in the last week has been the conversion of the 10th tee carry from a mix of cool season grasses to Santa Ana couch. The reason for the conversion was because of the poor quality of the cool season grass, due to heat stress during the summer months over a number of years in such a high profile location. The area was sod cut, cleared, rotary hoed, levelled and then rolled prior to being re-sodded by staff and a couple of willing volunteers (thanks - Warren and Steve!) at the end of the week.

Sod cutting the weak cool season grass

Removing the cut sod

The finished article!