West course greens renovations

How quickly the weather can change and cause havoc with the best laid plans.  The scud rain showers that started on Saturday afternoon that blew away the wedding I was attending on the 10 River ladies tee also developed and blew in 50kmh average winds and at last count 152 mm of rain or a touch over 6 inches in the old terms.  The effect on the greens renovations has been disastrous with about the only positive being the excellent performance of our new aerating machines. 

Removing the cores from the greens and then fertilising and sanding requires dry conditions, particularly the sanding as it needs to be smoothed into the surface.  I didn't even attempt to sand any greens on Monday, and on Tuesday I tried but the rain was so torrential at times that the sand was literally washed off the surface.  Wednesday cleared slightly although there were still just light showers that still delayed the smoothing process although it cleared long enough for the process to occur.  The greens still need more sand applied as the goal is to fill all the core holes with the fresh sand and fertiliser mix.  One of the main problems we will experience in the coming weeks is the tyre marking that will show up in the greens due to the soft ground conditions but this will gradually disappear over time.

Apologies for the course not being available as scheduled although the past few days have not been very pleasant or conducive to golf and the forecast is equally unpleasant.

And just so you can see one of our new aerators in action I shot a short video of it in action on the 9th West green, whilst it was still sunny!!