27 degrees and 80% humidity greeted us this morning at 5.00am in the compound and the day just got worse until a bit of late cloud cover seemed to cool it although as I type this at 5.00pm it's still 29 degrees and 70%.  One word - uncomfortable!!  There were still lots of players out there though enjoying the courses that are in probably the best condition I have seen them for this time of year with the West greens in particular holding on well.  The crew are to be congratulated, as they were at knock off time today.

The Couch encroachment into the West greens is always topical at this time of year as it is so obvious with the Bentgrass at its weakest and the Couch its strongest.  The only product available to control the Couch is both very expensive and spasmodic in its results.  Timing is critical and at this time of year once soil temperatures start to drop is the optimum time so we will be waiting until then  to treat.

The Tifeagle practice green came in to play today ten weeks after planting which is a great result.  The leaf of the grass still needs to become a bit finer and it will need a few more light sandings but will give the other practice green some relief as it is struggling coping with all the play.

The "Eagle" looking good!!

And a bit of luck today with one of the fairway mowers hitting a bolt whilst mowing and surviving!!  This would normally potentially mean a new bottom blade and potentially a reel which are expensive but also time consuming to repair which is something we haven't really got with the current growth rates.  We have nearly 36 hectares of fairways which is a lot (most 18 hole courses have 14 - 16 hectares) of area to get mown in amongst the play so any down time is a worry.  Fortunately this wasn't the case and mechanic Craig was rather relieved that the damage wasn't more substantial.  The bolt was about 40mm long and impossible to see in the grass so this was a lucky one.

The guilty bolt