Friday Update.

Another busy week aided by some good weather, we still have damp mornings due to 

the heavy dew, but that’s typical of September.

We managed to put around 5 tonnes of sand onto the greens on Monday morning, which 

was washed in during the day (5mm fell).

This small amount of sand is enough to smooth the surfaces, but not enough to interfere 

with play. 

I hope to continue this little & often approach right into the winter (weather depending).

Can I remind players to repair their pitchmarks on the greens, as at this time of years the 

surfaces can soften and recovery from the damage is slow.

The start of the week was dominated by a round of essential bunker maintenance. This 

consists of flymowing faces, trimming edges, weeding, moving sand around to manage 

depth, blowing and final raking. 

Its a labour intensive job that can take 3-4 staff up to 3 days to complete. Usually, we finish 

this work and a deluge arrives to undo all the good work. Fingers crossed etc.

The course is still receiving a lot of cutting due to the mild weather. It is also the time we 

keep our eyes peeled for any signs of disease on the greens. Any significant scarring now 

will take a while to recover. 

With this in mind, I will spray a nutrient & trace element cocktail early next week, followed by 

an application of Compost Tea. This should help the turf build up its natural defence 

mechanism and hopefully reduce the need for costly chemical applications.

One treatment we have applied this week is a worm suppressant & Iron mix. Earthworms are 

essential to the soil eco-system, but their casts smear the surface, introduce weeds and 

create bumpy surfaces. The tees, winter tees, approaches & temporary green sites have 

been sprayed to reduce their impact.

The course has received a full divot this week.

We plan to carry out some essential drainage work on the 5th hole next week and also start the 

construction of a winter tee on the 8th hole. Please be patient while this work is completed.

Enjoy your games.

Mark & the greens team.