Another frustrating week comes to a close with the weather once again influencing what we were able to achieve on the golf course.  40mm of rain in an hour on Thursday morning certainly washed out the days golf and also the West bunkers again, so another 72 man hours were needed to reinstate them which were hours that I really needed to allocate elsewhere.  However the staff did a great job and the bunkers will nearly all be in play again tomorrow although the forecast doesn't sound good.

As previously mentioned some of the buggy path entry and exit points were re-turfed this week.  A plastic grid material was installed on some of them as well with the theory being the grid will take the load of the buggy while the grass grows below.  It is great in theory and I have used the grids before with spasmodic success so this is a last ditch effort to get the grass to grow in these areas which will be very difficult as almost all the areas that were turfed are heavily shaded.  The grids have also been used in some famous places including the lawns surrounding the Leaning Tower of Pisa and when you think about the number of tourists who would stand on the grass shown in the photo below to get "that shot" the grids must work but then again a lot of sun helps the grass grow!



Plastic grids prior to turfing



Plastic grids under this grass at Pisa!



Back to the Tweed now and hopefully the weather will hold for the works planned for next week which will see us very busy.  The bunkers at the front and right side of 4 West green will be drained and have the sand replaced and there will also be two access points installed on the front bunker to make it easier to get in and out.  Both bunkers are two of the worst we have for non drainage and they have substantial contamination from the sub base with a lot of clay and stone exposed in both.  This work will necessitate the closing of the hole after the Members comp on Monday and the Ladies on Tuesday so that the contractors and our staff are not dodging golf balls all day.  You are welcome to come out on the West course but please don't play to the 4th green.

4 West bunker yesterday.



The bunker to the left of 3 River green will have a grass face installed next week as well.  Those of you who have attended the last couple of course information sessions will recall the history of the bunker that is too detailed to explain here.  Suffice to say that everything has been tried and both the Board and I feel this is the only solution to balls plugging in the face of the bunker.

The trees at the right of 2 River green will be removed as will the Banksia at the left of 1 West green and a number of other dead and diseased trees will also be removed.  As previously mentioned some of the Palms will also be taken down.  Unfortunately the tree contractor I have used over the past few years has sold his business and the cost of pruning the Palms is going to triple so we will be reducing Palm numbers to cut down that ongoing expense.

A couple of low spots on selected fairways, most noticeably both 4 River and West will have some low spots lifted and re-turfed whilst we are going about our business.  All this with one staff member on holidays, the grass growing and a busy week of golf.  Phew!!