Works associated with the Course Improvement Plan have continued and from the players on course there has barely been a negative comment.  This past week saw 1 West / 18 River works conducted which is the biggest area of works planned covering an area of some 2,000 square metres and the removal of 3 bunkers.  We will be having a break from works this week to allow bunker repairs to be carried out following last weeks storms.  Works will then recommence for a further 2 weeks prior to being halted for the Ladies Club Championships and the Senior Matchplay event.

I would like to commend my staff for their efforts over the past week in restoring the courses to a playable condition following the storms.  When you consider that when I started at Coolangatta Tweed in June 1999 there were 19 crew available to work on my first day in the middle of winter and in March 2010 I had a crew of 20 in a similar summer season to what we have just experienced.  These numbers compare with the 12 crew who were on hand last week which has been the number all summer.  I made the decision to leave the bunkers till last and restore all the grassed areas first and as mentioned above the bunker works will start this week.

And whilst on the weather here are the rainfall figures for the past 6 months; January – 441mm, February – 432mm, March – 143mm, April – 203mm, May to date – 186mm.  That’s 1.4 metres of rainfall and if you include December 2014 (410mm) it’s 1.8 metres!!  The annual average is about 1.6 metres.

The Bentgrass nursery green planting was delayed in anticipation of the heavy rainfall which proved to be the right decision as there was substantial wash on the area following the rain.  Establishment should proceed quickly given the beautiful weather we are having.

Soil erosion on the nursery area.

First irrigation for the nursery following seeding.