A beautiful week of weather and maybe spring has now sprung?  On Tuesday we had a very sleepy Carpet Python crossing 13R fairway and several bee swarms as well as the return of the Rainbow Bee Eaters to the courses, which are all good signs of spring.  Some of the grass is also starting to move which is not before time as with the amount of cart traffic and play we are experiencing some areas are just plain worn out.  The seed head is starting to show on some of the different Couch varieties around the courses which is also a sign of warmer temperatures.  Fortunately we have had better rainfall this year which helps enormously with the turf's resilience.  The past two years we had around 230mm of rain falling between May and August compared to 425 this year and most forecasts are for a wet summer so we will wait and see on that one.

A productive week on the courses with the River greens de-thatched and double mown on Tuesday which as I have mentioned before is quite a rarity for us to achieve, within our maintenance time frames.  We also started on some tree root removal in some fairways and will continue that in the coming weeks.  The tractor mounted root pruner will also make an appearance over the coming weeks down the sides of fairways.  

Tree root snaking out on 5R fairway.

The world of golf's eyes are pretty much firmly on the US Open at Winged Foot and as always there is much talk about the course.  I haven't seen any first round coverage yet but people seem to be upset that the scores were so low.  It was apparently quite soft and calm and with the shortened daylight hours at this time of year they were probably concerned about players finishing.  They are estimating that 90% of the course prep work will take place in the dark which they are well set up for with mobile light towers and obviously all machinery having lights.  The normal crew of 55 will be bolstered by 85 volunteers which is amazing that so many were allowed given Covid.  And speaking of lots of people, apparently there will be up to twelve marshals on each hole basically acting as fore-caddies to prevent lost balls.

Kudos to the crew though as the early photos I have seen has the course looking pristine.  The course was completely overhauled between 2016 and 2018 and the focus since that finished was June 2020 for the US Open.  Earlier this year thanks to Covid, that became September 2020 and threw up a major curve ball as it is the end of summer and it is a cool season turfgrass course, so they had to keep the grass totally pristine throughout a full summer, which is no mean feat.  Don't get me wrong, Winged Foot is always pristine, but to maintain US Open level pristine, including five inch long rough throughout a summer, is phenomenal.

A lot of the restoration work focused on the greens which are, and always have been, treacherous.  All bunkers and tees were re-built and several holes were lengthened.  Most of the play lines are as they were as can be seen at 18 tee below.  The photo at the top is Jim Furyk on 18 tee in 2006 and below is 18 tee for this year.  Pretty tight lines??!!

Furyk on 18 tee 2006.

18 tee this year!!

22mm in the rain event yesterday and hardly a drop ran off which was very welcome as we were getting quite dry again and the pump situation hasn't been helping.  It has been a very dry August and September period although the water table is still holding up which is evidenced by the dams at 7 / 8 West still holding a good amount of water.  The 22mm takes us over two metres of rainfall for the year with three months to go.  Rainfall records for the Tweed Heads site have been kept since 1886 and in the 134 years there have only been 30 years when over two metres has been recorded with eight of those happening since 2006.

Back to the pump station and a couple of repairs this week have us pumping at about 80% and with a new manifold delivered today and hopefully installed early next week we should be back to full capacity which will be nice.  It was a good week on the repair side as well with no pipe blow outs and just a couple of niggly little problems in the satellite control boxes.

We were able to get the greens on both courses de-thatched today which is quite rare to get that done in one day.  The forecast rain obviously put a few people off and we were able to take full advantage.  We also started to de-thatch the West collars today which is the area immediately around the green.  The constant edging and work done to the greens means that the green surface level can fall below the collar and create what us turfies call a "well'' effect.  So we will be starting to de-thatch the collars more often to try and combat this issue.

I was watching some old golf tapes last week and came across this promo from the 1998 Victorian Open and Golf Australia had their own show with none other than Cool Tweeds Nicole Lowien as host.  I must say I don't remember the show but it just shows how far golf has fallen down in the ''must watch'' stakes.  Hopefully the boom that is currently being experienced in golf around the world will lift the games profile back up somewhere near where it was.  That 1998 Vic Open was played at Victoria GC in Melbourne and the crowds were absolutely huge and it was played without any big names apart from the leading Australians of the day.  Incidently it was won by West Australian Brad King who was a looong hitter in those days....wonder whatever happened to him? 

 

Another frustrating week in the pump shed after a very optimistic start on Monday when the foot valve (arrow to it below) was pulled out.  Upon inspection there was considerable corrosion along one of the welds and several small holes were evident which pointed to where the air was getting in.  The rubber gasket was also badly worn which would not have helped.  We replaced the foot valve and re-connected and after pressurising the system we still had air affecting the flow rate of the pumps.  It is still spasmodic and affects different pumps so is extremely difficult to find.  Two new components are being fabricated at the moment for installation next week to hopefully solve the problem.  It is still affecting our capacity to irrigate as the pumps will sometimes shutdown mid cycle and therefore no water gets to the courses so obviously the greens are the first priority.

Suction pipe being lifted out of the well.

  

One of the reasons there is a skylight in the pump shed

!!

The fluctuation of pressure throughout the courses is also wreaking havoc with the pipework and we had five ''major'' irrigation repairs that were done on Thursday.  There is already another one ready to go on Monday near 9W green.

The course closure on Tuesday this week gave us the opportunity to de-thatch and sand the River greens and the closure on Friday afternoon allowed us to get the greens double cut and rolled which is a very rare occurrence for us.  The early morning tee times and speed of the first groups makes it very difficult for us to get that amount of work done in front of play.  Unfortunately the wind has dropped a lot of tree debris around the place but other than that the River course is good to go for rounds three and four this weekend.

 

We have had a kangaroo out on the courses over the past couple of weeks and it has now invited a mate along for the hop!!  I have seen a wallaby on the courses a few times before but this is certainly a new one.  Hopefully they won't start breeding and take up residence as they can become quite a nuisance both with their droppings and potential aggressiveness towards golfers.

 

And then there were two!!

 

 

A nightmare of a morning last Sunday while trying to prep the course for the mens foursomes.  The pumps went down just after we started which was crucial as we use a high pressure hose with a special nozzle to blow debris off the greens prior to any work being done on them.  And given the way it blew on Saturday there was a lot of debris to move!!  Using the water is faster and obviously way quieter that petrol blowers so it was quite a disruption.  Then we had another pipe blow out on 13R that required some specialty fittings that we don't stock.  It was one of the ''specials'' that we so often find when we uncover pipe work!!??

Alas further pump shed dramas during the week but at least I have been able to get some water out to greens, tees and some selected fairways with the station operating at about 20% capacity.  We now have two new problems with some air getting sucked into the system which means the pumps start pumping air instead of water and overheat as a result.  It doesn't take much air to cause the overheating and finding it is exceptionally difficult when it isn't an obbvious pinhole as we have had before. 

And the foot valve that connects to the bottom of the suction pipe that is in the well has got a leak which will most likely be a gasket that has worn, or at least here's hoping anyway.  The foot valve is basically a check valve that stops the water from draining out of the suction line and cause the pumps to lose their prime.  The foot valve does all its work 12 feet down the well in the pump shed under water so it is quite an operation to get it out and a franna crane truck will be required to assist.

The footvalve.

The course closure on Tuesday this week gave us the opportunity to de-thatch the West greens and we were also able to get them done again on Friday afternoon during course preps for round one of the championships.  As I mentioned last week you get a far superior result when the greens are dry hence the confidence of going out the day before round one.  In contrast to the River greens there was no sand applied to the West as the surface is so tight there is virtually nowhere for the sand to go so it sits on the surface and then really interferes with the mowers.  Good luck to all competitors in round one tomorrow, we think the course has come up a treat and is good to go!!

We got up to 30 degrees in the shed compound on Wednesday this week which was most welcome but the nights remained a bit cooler which doesn't help turf growth.  The westerly winds that are common at this time of year have kicked in with near gale force experienced on Wednesday afternoon.  As a result this is a messy time of year with tree debris constantly being blown down.  

We did remove the covers from the River course tees in readiness for this weekends Foursomes Championships and it was interesting to see the result.  5R tee is not as shaded as 4 and 18 and it showed with the amount of growth it had put on which required mowing with an old school walk behind spin cut mower.  Considering 4 and 18 are both in total shade they did quite well although it was mainly just leaf growth and there is no real body to the turf cover.  If you have a look at 18 on the extreme RHS there was some more growth there where the tee does get some sunlight.

5R tee lush growth.

 

18R much greener but still sparse.

 

We were able to get the River greens de-thatched and sanded on Tuesday after the ladies with the course closed to play to allow some unhindered maintenance.  Both jobs get a superior result when they are done in dry conditions.  The sand applied contained some gypsum and humate which will not only benefit the greens nutritionally but also helps level the surface. 

And we will start preparing a temporary green on 1R next week just short of the creek.  This is to allow some remedial work done on the creeks rockwall and we will also be removing the foreign grass invasion into the greens surface.  This has been tried before but only one application of herbicide has been applied and the areas cut out and re-turfed only to see the foreign grass recover.  This time we will be applying herbicide on three weekly applications to ensure a kill.  The areas will then be cored and then the green will be renovated and the renovated material will be placed in the cored areas of the dead zones to re-generate and cover in.  The temporary green will be in play when the green is sprayed for at least a day at a time and then for four weeks while the turf establishes.  If all goes to plan the green will receive its first herbicide application on September 21 and then be planted during the River greens renovation week in October.

A whole week without an irrigation blowout dare I speak too soon?  We did have a leak on a town water line to one of the bubblers but that was quite minor so very happy indeed.  All is still dry and humming in the pump shed which is also very relieving.

Not much else to report on the courses this week with a fairly busy time prepping for the first two rounds of the Ladies Champs and dealing with lots of play.  A dual public holiday for Brisbane and the Gold Coast today certainly saw some players arrive.  Some mid-20's temperatures this week as well but no sun yet reaching the shaded tees but hopefully some warmth.  I haven't peeked under the covers on the tees as yet and they will probably stay on until late next week.  The cancellation of the NSW Open qualifying event, whilst disapointing, also took a lot of back tee play pressure off the tees which with Club 4somes and champs plus the Twin Towns Open will be quite intense over the coming month.

What did happen this week was that this blog turned ten years old.  So over the past ten years there have been 469 posts made on the blog to inform members of what is happening on the courses and I trust it has been an informative journey.  It isn't always easy coming up with some pertinent text every week but I think it has been worth the trip to be able to inform members of what is happening on and sometimes off the courses and in the maintenance shed.  Upon flicking back through some of the posts the weather seems to be the dominant subject throughout, which is quite understandable as it is the greatest influencing factor on the game of golf. 

Prior to the blog there was a bi- weekly email newsletter that went out to members that started in July 2006.  There was a section of that one pager that was devoted to "course matters" so members of Cool Tweed have indeed been spoiled with the information they receive from the course as I don't know of any other club that has had such a regular update from the Course Superintendent, particularly for fourteen years.

It's been an amazing ride and I well remember that first newsletter which was born from a conference I attended in 2006 where the presenter encouraged us to "use the internet to communicate with your members"!!  My now wife Michelle was Golf and Functions Manager at the time so we decided to put a newsletter together.  You must remember that that was in the day when people were very cautious in giving out their email address and bulk emails were unheard of.  But we put a sign on the bar and got 24 members signed up so we added our own and some other colleagues and staff (and family!) and the first one went out to 50 addresses with  three simple rules that there was to be no advertising, it would only ever be one page and there would be a section called "course matters" in each issue.  To our amazement the next morning we had over 20 replies saying it was the best thing the club had ever done and so the ride began.  Pretty much the only negative comment came one time when we put a 3mb photo in it and it took  "too long to download" which was of course back in the dial up speed days!!  Circulation finished up at 1100 addresses after four years and then with all the positive response to the course matters section, the blog was born.

 

The first newsletter in 2006

The blogs popularity grew quite quickly and by late 2011 the blog was getting around 65 hits a day.  Early days publication timing was a bit spasmodic but then I settled in to a routine of posting on Friday afternoons at the end of the week and the blog now averages around 100 hits per day and on Friday / Saturday that number regularly exceeds 500 so it reaches far and wide.  So much so that in the past week there have been 38 page views from Ukraine and 22 from Russia!!  Some of the highest page view numbers came when Cyclone Debbie slammed on to the coast in 2017 and earlier this year in February when we recorded nearly one metre of rain.

WEATHER on the blog.  2017 Cyclone Debbie this time.

 

The repairs at the pump station got a couple of tests this week with the system needing to be shutdown due to pipe breaks in the field.  When this happens we have to ''re-prime'' the irrigation lines and remove the air so starting the system up from scratch was a good test for the pumps and they passed easily.

With the amount of back tee play coming up over the next two months and the poor state the shaded tees find themselves in due to lack of sun and wear from our excessive play, we gave those tees a light renovation this week.  This included a hollow tyne followed by a heavy application of fertiliser.  This was followed by covering the teeing areas with the same growth blanket that was used during the West greens establishment.  This will do two things.  Firstly it will keep any unauthorised play off the areas which is becoming commonplace and save some significant wear and tear.  And secondly, and most importantly, hopefully promote some growth by warming both the canopy of the surface and also the soil.  The photo below shows 18R tee at midday on Wednesday this week and as you can see there is virtually no sunlight hitting the surface but at least the covers will warm it up.  They are planned to be on for at least three weeks.

18R tee covered.