A Long Dry Spell

It has been a while since the last update, so I better start with an apology. In the last blog I incorrectly stated that our year to date rainfall total was 196mm when in fact it was only 146mm. So far, April (average rainfall 54.4mm) has been an exceptionally dry month, we have only received 3.5mm of rain since the 25th of March, a period of 26 days. Hopefully we will receive some much needed rain over the next week, with falls of 10-15mm predicted for the Adelaide hills this coming weekend. As you can see from the table below we were still well above average for the year at the end of March.

	March 2012	March 2011	average
Rainfall	79.5 mm	99.5 mm	35.8 mm
Year to Date	147.5 mm	174.5 mm	85.8 mm
No. of rain days	6	7	-
Average Temp.	24.7°C	23.3°C	-
Average Humidity	62.1%	68%	-

The past month has seen us carry out a much needed, full autumn greens renovation for the first time in a number of years. All greens received an application of a biologically enhanced organic fertiliser prior to being cored to a depth of 100mm using 19mm hollow tines; they were then sanded and rubbed in, with @50 tonne of sand being used. Greens were given their first cut at a raised height of 4.25mm one week after sanding, and then reduced back in stages to their normal height of 3mm over the next eight days. I am extremely pleased with the speed of their recovery and the fact that we were able to achieve this with what I believe to be minimal disruption and inconvenience to the membership.

Autumn renovation of tees has also been carried out with all tees being fertilised, cored to a depth of 75mm, oversown and sanded to complete the renovation process. Fairways have received their second application for the year of a balanced granular fertiliser to boost their health and colour as we head into the colder months.

Interesting way to leave a bunker rake!