Course Update June 2010

May and June have seen first unusually cool weather and at the same time unusually dry weather. This has meant that we have had to concentrate on activities that help promote the growth of the grass whilst continuing to present the course as well as we are able. Due to the weather conditions we have had to spend an amount of time, which was not planned, hand watering the greens, tee boxes and other parts of the course.

In the last couple of months we have top dressed the greens at least three times and in some places more. In addition they have been treated with the chemicals requested by STRI. Do not lick your balls. This effort and that over the previous years hopefully will be shown to be the right way forward in the excellent state of the greens in terms of a true run. The work we did on the tenth and eleventh greens last autumn is bearing fruit in terms of the drainage of those greens.

I quite often get asked by members, why our greens are not faster? They are quite fast but we have to balance this request with the creation of a true roll and the amount of wear and tear we get due to the course being busy with both members and visitors. The amount the course is played also impacts the amount of time we have available, so please can I remind members that Green staff have priority on the course before 9am every weekday and I would ask that you be courteous and if possible do not fire balls at them. Please if possible by-pass a hole where they are working and most importantly of all, do remember to fill your divots on tee boxes and replace your divots on fairways. In addition do not forget to repair your pitch marks.

We will be looking for volunteers to help divot the fairways over the next couple of months and notices are being sent out but if you want to help out on the course in anyway please contact me and we will try and utilise your skills.

Other work we have done you may not have noticed but this includes repairs to the irrigation system after the harsh winter, work around the bridges over ditches.
In terms of planning for the future we are looking at potential drainage work to repair existing broken drains and inserting new drains where needed. We will also be doing some work clearing the ditches on the 13th to allow better playability for those bailing out on the right. In addition we will be doing work re-spreading sand across the bunkers and I would like to enlist your help by reminding you not to rake the sand to the back of the bunkers but to push it to the centre when smoothing your marks. Ideally you should stand in the bunker whilst raking towards you and then step outside to then rake your lone footprint. Rakes should also be left with their heads in the bunker and handles out of the bunker resting on the back parallel to the direction of play.

Finally I hope you are enjoying the course in its current condition. We have had a lot of great feedback from societies and visitors alike. So why not get your golfing friends down and ask them to join the club. The more members we get and more green fees we take the more money we can potentially spend on the course to make improvements.

John Dixon

Greens Chairman