What was achieved by my crew in 4 days this week was simply amazing.  Only 14 crew (compared with 19 at the same time last year) and with the help of 3 of the best machine operators - Trevor, Chicka and Peter Mc - I have ever seen and a battalion of member volunteers on Wednesday you would barely know anything had happened.

Number one pile of what was taken off the course

Number two pile.

 

 

The pile of "towed off trees"

 

 

1 and 9 River on Tuesday morning

1 and 9 River Friday afternoon

Burnt leaves

                                       

You may notice some brown leaves developing on some of the trees in the coming days.  They are not dying but rather suffering from a salt burn from the water that was in the wind that was lashing in from the ocean.

But a very sobering end to the week with the news that Bundaberg GC Course Super Sean Stuchbery and family have lost everything in the flood up there.  After the hike in premiums following the 2011 flood (which Sean’s house escaped) and the low wages of a regional Superintendent, coupled with the costs of raising a young family, Sean was unfortunately not insured.  Sure puts life into perspective when you look at what we went through here.

Well I have just clocked up 64 hours on site since Monday so I think I’ve earned a beer.

 

Just a vote of thanks to the 40 odd volunteers who turned out today to help in the clean up.  It was pretty oppressive conditions in which to work but  the amount they achieved was outstanding. 

Another working bee at 8 am on Thursday morning at the course maintenance shed for those who couldn't make today or want to back up again after today!! 

The contractors and my staff have done a great job as well and if all goes to plan you will hardly know anything unusual happened by Saturday.  At this stage and barring no more rain both courses should be fully playable on Friday.

A lot was achieved today on the first clean up day following the storm event of the week end.  Two Bobcats, a front end loader and a rented truck assisted in clearing a lot of debris.  The quickest way to move such a volume is to actually drag the full tree across to the dump area as can be seen in the photos.  This is mainly possible from the northern side of the courses which is closest to the dump.  There is some minor damage to the fairway but to get the courses playable again as fast as possible it is the best way. 

The West course is still very wet and we will need to be much more careful once we get there.  All the River fairways had the debris blown off them today which is a monumental task when you look at what they had to shift.

There will be a working bee on Wednesday and Thursday this week starting at 8am at the maintenance shed in Davey Street.  All are welcome and all you need is a hat, gloves and sunscreen.  The task will be stick picking and piling them up which makes it easier and quicker for the machines to pick up the debris.

One of the problems with this storm event is that there has been so much rain in the hinterland and as that comes down and meets an incoming tide the water inundates our low riverside holes.  1 and 9 River and 17 West are virtually impassable at the moment and worse on high tide.  It sounds ridiculous to say that "we only got 300mm" but when you hear the rainfall totals for the hinterland your mind boggles.

Clearing fairways

Tree down near shed

Cleaned up already LHS 4 River



Towing away!!



2 trees down near 6 Ladies tee

1 & 9 River fairways - literally



I think I will let the photos do the talking:

 



17 West from the green




Big gum LHS 4 River


 

Between 4 and 10 West



Well washing my car last week end certainly bought the rain which is what I wanted but enough's enough!!  We have had about 140mm for the week so far and most of it has been fairly light soaking rain which is just what the courses needed after such a prolonged dry spell.  A number of Clubs in south east Queensland have been buying water for their irrigation requirements over the past few months which must be a first for this time of year so they will certainly be breathing a sigh of relief.  Fortunately for Cool Tweed we have the supply of recycled water to keep us going although as I have previously mentioned the wind makes even distibution difficult.  Coupled with some gremlins in the transfer pumps and the dam we pump from actually running dry 2 weeks ago, it hasn't been the easiest summer.  It got me thinking to how diverse my job is and the number of situations and little crises that Superintendents the world over have to deal with.  Pumps, machinery and staff are probably right up there with the weather and hopefully we will miss the worst of what is predicted over the next 24 hours weather wise, particularly the wind gusts of up to 100 kmh due this evening. 
 
I follow a number of blogs around the world and have put together a few photos of what is going on elsewhere on the worlds golf courses.

 

Cairns GC this morning



Briarwood CC in Chicago



The work goes on at Briarwood!!



Hazeltine GC in Minneapolis hosing the snow off the skating rink
on one of their dams

The source of water in the photo above at Hazeltine -
 just drill a hole through the ice!!
I am sure we will see a vastly different Hazeltine when
they host the 2016 Ryder Cup!!

 

 And at Carnoustie GC this was the part of the report for December; 

The early part of December was very cold with the ground being frozen solid and the daytime temperature rarely above 2degC.  CHAMPIONSHIP COURSE - The greens were cut once and rolled twice during December

 

The world of golf sure is a strange place!!



It's been a hectic time to start the New Year with high player numbers making it difficult to get our work done in amongst it all but the courses are drawing lots of good comments from the visitors which is nice.

 

It is stating the obvious to say that we need some rain and the one weather record that I don't really want to set is for the lowest ever January rainfall which is what we are heading towards.  What a difference 12 months makes with last year virtually inundating us to this year with the driest conditions I have now seen in my 13 years.  The irrigation system is stretched to its limit and can't really keep up in the hot dry conditions we are experiencing.

 

That situation wasn't helped when a malfunction at the Council treatment plant this week meant I lost a day and a halfs water supply which is certainly not what was needed.  Players today would have seen the staff hand watering tees which was done to not waste any with overspray.  Hopefully the wind will ease tonight and some of the irrigation will actually hit the ground.

 

The only upside of the lack of rain is that the roughs haven't started the normal summer growth although the number of leaves on the ground still make it hard to find balls.

 

The green surrounds on both courses were sprayed for some weed control over the past two days which will result in some temporary dis-coloration.



We have had quite a run of quite major irrigation problems of late and today was no exception with a big repair required on 1 River fairway right in the drive zone.  We knew it was going to be a dangerous spot and unfortunately our Irrigation Tech was struck in the head but fortunately no damage was sustained.  It never ceases to amaze me though when the next two players came through and were laughing about it.  We accept that the job is one where being hit by a golf ball is always a possibility but I can assure you that it is no laughing matter.  We rigged up a temporary fence and parked a tractor in front of the boys working on the repair to protect them and they finished the job in somewhat safer conditions.

Temporary protection for the staff

Due to the prolonged wet conditions earlier this year the irrigation system was not in use for probably the longest period since the new control and pump system was installed over ten years ago.  We have then gone into a sustained irrigation period of some four months and I suppose that the aging system just can't cope with the continued use.  One of the most important aspects after a repair is to re-pressurise the sysytem very slowly to prevent further pipe damage from water hammer and air locks.