Well opening day for the first of the new TifEagle greens on the back 9 West has arrived.  11,13 and 16 greens will all be open to play from Saturday December 31.  13 and 16 are just ahead of scheduled opening time and 11 is 2 weeks ahead and is by far the best developed green only 10 weeks since planting.  These greens are still growing vigorously given the amount of fertiliser applied to get them established so the surface will "fine down"as the growth level reduces and a much tighter surface will result.  

The greens have settled a little on the edges in places creating a little ridge so the collars were all heavily scarified to remove some thatch and allow for a smooth transition from green to collar.  A local rule allowing relief from the bare areas is in play.  14 and 15 greens will probably open next week with 10 not far behind which will all be well in advance of the proposed timeline.  All greens are being sanded on a regular basis to help smooth the surface out.  There is also a lot of wheel marking evident on the greens that will be removed once we start rolling the greens.

Brushing in some sand on 10W

Elsewhere the courses are drying out with strong northerly winds rendering accurate irrigation virtually impossible.  A lot of drain and irrigation trenches are showing up which is a sure sign of just how dry it is so the predicted rain next week will be a welcome relief.  Hopefully it will fall overnight so that the "silly season" of golf can continue. 

A very evident trench line at 16W

Not really a lot to report this week other than the new West course TifEagle greens are progressing very well and 13 and 16 are right on schedule to open in the first week of January as planned.  11 has progressed exceptionally well and will probably open at the same time with 14 and 15 not far behind.  11 is the stand out at this stage and the fact that it gets the most sun of all the back 9 greens is obviously a factor in its development.

Irrigation issues have continued this week with some pump problems cutting capacity once again but the courses are holding up exceptionally well.

I have said many times before the condition of the courses are a tribute to the work of my staff.  A couple of untimely and lengthy sick leave events and some planned annual leave has left us with an average of 13 on the courses during December which has been quite a stretch on the rest of the staff but they have done a great job as always.

I trust followers of the Blog will have a merry Christmas and a safe and Happy New Year.

Cheers!!

The cover came off 12W green on Thursday which was the last to be uncovered in the West greens Tifeagle conversion for this year.  It had really moved along and will be catching up with the others very quickly.  This week was 10 weeks since 13W was planted and 9 weeks since 16W and 11W were done.  They received a heavy sanding today and aren't far off being bought back in to play.  There is just some thin areas on the edges and unfortunately they are in the major walk off areas.  These 3 greens and all the others are progressing very well and forming a very good surface.

Other than that it has been a week of getting ready for the busy holiday golfing season with as much preparation done as possible.  The growth regulator will be applied to the fairways next week which significantly reduces the need for mowing which is critical at this time of year.

The cover coming off 12W after 20 days.

 

cooli golf long movie

The video above was done for the Club by our excavator operator Scott King from some time lapse photography and also some drone footage and gives a good insight in to just what happens in the construction process that we go through on the greens.

The other West back 9 greens continue to develop and the cover was taken off 18W this week after 20 days and the coverage and growth was amazing.  The warmer overnight temperatures are keeping the soil temperature up which assists the establishment phase of the grass and this coupled with the higher humidity also accelerates the establishment.  On the front 9 on the West these weather conditions are exactly why the Bentgrass struggles throughout the warmer months.

Some very welcome rainfall this past week with nearly 40mm falling on the courses and getting the grass moving across the property.  The look of the radar as the storms approached was pretty scary and it might be a blessing that they somewhat dissipated as they crossed the coast.  Having said that the lightning we did receive took its toll on a few trees and a few of our irrigation controllers in the field.

Our Irish recruit Sean giving 18W its first mow @ 6mm

 

A week of growing in the West greens with some nice warm weather assisting.  Unfortunately we only scored 3mm of rain from the two storms on Wednesday and Thursday when I was really looking for 50mm plus.  The courses are both drying out and a couple of irrigation issues have meant less than adequate water has been applied to the courses.

The irrigation concerns started on Saturday when an 80mm T piece started leaking on 1R fairway and required immediate action.  Two of the crew responded and the repair was done and the water turned back on but an issue started with the filter which was only allowing 60% irrigation capacity.  A couple of quite stressful days followed particularly on  Tuesday when the water was down for 3½ hours with two four day old greens needing it most.  An electrical fault took one of the pumps out as well on Tuesday night which further reduced capacity.  But we made the end of the week and the main playing areas have survived reasonably well.

The River greens renovation was a great success with the greens being heavily de-thatched then core aerated and the cores rubbed back in to the surface.  The remaining material was then blown off the surface, fertiliser and amendments applied and then top dressed with an amended sand.  Sounds easy?  It's two full hard days for the crew which followed hot on the heels of the eight week West greens project so no wonder there are some tired looks on their faces.  I think they are looking forward to being able to sit on a mower again!!

An 80mm repair on Saturday.

Rubbing the cores back in on 1R green.

  I am continually on the West greens monitoring them and often bemoaning the fact that they are not growing in fast enough.  I got a couple of photos of the same spot on 14W this week taken on Monday afternoon then again on Thursday morning to show the great progress. 

14W Monday pm.

14W Thursday am.