Another week of catching up on the grass after the big wet.  Just about everything is back to normal now except for the lake edges which are overdue for a trim.  All bunkers on both courses have been trimmed and all water damage repaired.  Two of my staff are on annual leave at the moment and as I started planning the week last Sunday I didn't think we would make it.  Just to give you an idea of how works are allocated across the courses I will give you an insight in to planning last Monday for an example. 

I had 15 staff available for the day which includes myself and clubhouse gardener Eric.  The River bunker edges desperately needed trimming and the germination of weeds in the West bunkers meant they needed spraying.  The longer the bunkers are left between trimming means the slower the job as there is obviously more grass to be trimmed.  It is a labour intensive task and also much safer for the staff if they do this work with no fear of being hit by golfers, so hence they are generally done first thing in the morning in front of play.  In addition to the bunker trimming, holes needed to be moved on both courses, greens, tees, fairways and roughs mown, fairways sprayed with growth regulator and the area on 6 River fairway prepared for the turf that was due to arrive at 8.00am.  Leaves needed to be blown off the greens, tees and fairways prior to mowing, on course toilets cleaned, clubhouse carparks litter picked up and machines serviced by Mechanic Craig.  To achieve the above about 32 staff would be needed to complete all the duties in front of play and with a 6.00am start on the West course and a 6.45am on the River course, obviously something had to give.  Oh did someone mention bunkers being raked??!!

So the mornings run sheet looked something like this;

Ø      Change holes                                    2 men

Ø      Mow greens                                       3 men

Ø      Trimming bunkers                             4 men

Ø      Clear debris from greens                 1 man

Ø      Apply fairway growth regulator        1 man

Ø      Apply weed killer to bunkers            1 man

Ø      Prepare area for turfing                    1 man

Ø      On course toilets/clubhouse             1 man

Ø      Machinery maintenance                    1 man

Total                            15 men.

So a lot of the necessary jobs needed to be put on the “to do” list that seems to grow every day.  The staff has a morning tea break at 9.00am for 30 minutes and after that we start again.  So the run sheet for the rest of the day was;

Ø      Blowing out and raking bunkers      6 men

Ø      Mow rough                                         4 men

Ø      Assist turf layers @ 6^th River           1 man

Ø      Water new turf as it is laid                1 man

Ø      Mow intermediate roughs                1 man

Ø      Clubhouse surrounds maint.            1 man

Ø      Machine maintenance                      1 man

                              Total                            15 men.

So that was Monday and you will note that there were no fairways or tees mown which again is a tribute to the growth regulator that is applied to them that in the highest growth season we have, they were able to grow for 3 days without the surface being compromised.  On Tuesday morning we were able to get a lot more work done in front of play with a 7.00 am start on both courses, which is why this time in the mornings is so valuable and why I resist all attempts to bring tee times earlier on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  We need time on the course with no play in order to get the work done.  We were able to get the River course bunkers trimmed on Monday this week which left the West for Thursday so Thursday was a very similar day to Monday….read hectic!

Goanna on 6 River

And you know it is hot when the Goanna (Lace Monitor) that lives around the 6 River fairway gets caught out during the day.  I don’t really want to get close enough to find out if it is a he or a she but I have only ever seen it on the very hot days, of which Tuesday this week was one.