The Greens have been very soft with the large amount of rainfall so Vince and his team will be cutting with the push mowers so please allow time for the Green staff to complete cutting before playing into the green.
All greens have been verti-drained and over seeded. They have also been fertilised and now are being cut at 5mm by the hand mowers along with the temporary greens.
The map for the buggies seems to be working on the whole although some users need some common sense and not drive through muddy areas.
The small tractor is being repaired and when completed the greens can be tined with the new thicker tines that have replaced the pencil tines.
A turf hardener package will be down in the next few weeks to help harden the turf against the cold weather.
The trees between the 1/18 and the 5/6 will begin to be taken down and whilst felling the 18th and 6th Fairway will be out of play for Health & Safety. Felling will be early in the mornings to avoid too much disruption for members. We will be leaving the bottom metre of the tree for when it is dry enough for a machine to remove the stumps and roots. Some trees will be planted in these areas in readiness for the stump removals. A local rule will be in place during this time. We are still happy to receive any trees that members may wish to donate.
A fence has been installed on the right hand side of the Driving range to help stop the loss of range balls. We are looking at the possibility of installing a card machine to help with the purchase of golf balls on the range and also a new ball cleaner to replace the cement mixer that is damaging the coatings of the golf balls.
During the next few months a programme will be put together for work on all bunkers with the sifting of the sand, checking drainage, building a solid base, reinstalling 3-4” of sand in the bases and 2” of sand on the sides. We hope this help with consistency through the green. There will be some changes to the bunkers that continually cause problems such as the left hand 2nd and the 9th Fairway bunker. Please be aware that when the staff and member volunteers are working on a whole the pin will be moved onto the temporary greens.
We will be identifying tees that are in need of levelling and at present are on the lookout for railway sleepers and would appreciate help from any members that know where we can find them.
Work is also planned to improve on the paths around the course