A lot of tree work carried out this week by outside contractors including the removal of about half of the stumps that we have on the courses.  The 9^th West green has also been opened up and you can expect to see a very fast and obvious improvement in the quality of turf on this green.  Over the past 2 to 3 years it has been under performing and under constant stress at all times of the year.  The view from the 9^th fairway now gives the impression that the greenside bunkers on 4 River are actually part of the 9^th West bunker complex.

Following on from last weeks post about the River greens and the weather that has just arrived, read cloudy, cold and rainy, is the very reason that the greens need to be protected.  A lot of the players in the Championships last week were disappointed with the slow speed of the greens but at least they were consistent and fully grassed.  It was interesting to note this week that with the West greens running very hard and fast only 4 players bettered their handicap in the Wednesday comp and only 7 Vets in the Thursday Vets Comp….so perhaps not everyone can handle fast greens??  In the 3^rd round of the Championships only 15 % of the field broke their handicap so it wasn’t too easy out there anyway.

The Open Championship is underway and it’s amazing to see the aerials of the course and see just how much land is there.  It’s also amazing that the fact that Royal St Georges is a male only Club as is Muirfield, and yet there is none of the outcry that Augusta National has been enduring over the past few years.  It is common to take your dog with you when you play many courses in the British Isles and I read once that Royal St Georges had a sign on the 1^st tee that read “No dogs or women allowed”!!

Well I hope the weather forecast is wrong as we have had 12mm of rain so far and it has already dampened the courses which were in great condition given the weeks weather and amount of play this week.  Good luck to all the Club Championship competitors and to our mechanic Craig Plowman who takes an 8 shot lead in to the final round in A Reserve.