As mentioned last week the control interface on the irrigation pump station was replaced this week and it did take the predicted 3 days, one of which was 13 hours long, but it was successful and the pump set is humming away nicely.  The new controller gives an improved pump performance and a smoother flow of water dependent on demand which for an ageing pipe system such as ours is very important.  The photo below is of the installation about half way through.

Who'd be an electrician?

Finished!!

Bunkers are always a favourite topic amongst golfers with all sorts of opinions available on what constitutes a good bunker.  Over the course of this year we have been spending considerably more time on bunker maintenance, particularly raking. For quite some years early in my tenure at Cool Tweed we were raking bunkers 6 days a week which was a great strain on manpower and as staff numbers have reduced so has bunker maintenance.  We don't really have any set pattern on when the bunkers get raked as it depends on what type (and how much) of play is scheduled but they are probably done on average 3 times a week.  Not all bunkers get raked every time with "greenside" bunkers taking precedence.  One of the problems with the machines raking bunkers is the access point for the machine as it is normally worn out turf from the tyres and a lot of sand gets bought out of the bunker on the machine and then dropped on the surround as the machine bounces out.  Over the years I have always been on the look out for hand rakes that are suitable for use in bunkers and have finally found some having seen them at one of the clubs I visited in the USA last year.  They give an excellent finished result although not as smooth as the machine.  The main feature of them is that they eliminate the access problem and they also rake through leaves better than the machine can which is an added bonus as a lot of our bunkers are literally leaf collectors.

Sandy machine access area.

 

Hand rake in action.

I am an avid reader of old golf anecdotes and found this gem last week from 1908 where the smooth state of the bunkers was heavily questioned!!  Quite a few years ago a club in Brisbane started raking their bunkers on a Saturday morning.  When the afternoon field was asked if they noticed it they said no as by the time they got to them they were already destroyed by the earlier players.  Interesting to see Harry Vardon's name mentioned below who was the founder of the almost universal "Vardon grip" in golf.

Bunker was too smooth!!