Just about the perfect week weather wise and great for both playing golf and preparing the courses for play.  The relatively calm conditions allows us the opportunity to get the blowers out and really clean the playing surfaces up, particularly the fairways.  The warmer days have still got the grass just ticking along which is a bonus and just about everything we need to do in readiness for winter has been done.

Winter is the most difficult time for the greens on both courses with the lower growth potential evident but then compounded by the amount of play we receive.  This amount of play puts the greens under a lot of stress and there is nothing that can really be done to grow the grass as the soil temperatures start reducing.  Soil temperature and light intensity are two of the many key factors for successfully growing greens quality turf in winter.  All of the disease and insect control and nutrition has already been done so the greens are in good shape heading in to winter.

Unfortunately winter means lower staff numbers and we have farewelled our summer casuals.  One of our casuals has landed a job on the irrigation installation team at Burleigh GC and another has headed to Europe to work on the super yachts over there during their summer.  We have a couple of part timers who stay on so the crew drops down to thirteen (including the clubhouse gardener) for the winter which is pretty lean for a 36 hole course.  Prior to my arrival the staff numbers were eighteen permanents plus four casuals through summer and on my first day there were nineteen staff available for work and due to the contractors that were employed at the time, the club didn't own any fairway or rough mowers!!  Just gives an indication of how well and hard the current staff work to prepare the courses for play.

And from the past comes a photo of pre concrete buggy paths.  Although not a fan of too much concrete on a golf course it is indeed a necessary evil on a course that is as busy as Coolangatta Tweed.  The installation of the concrete paths certainly tidied the green and tee surrounds up quite considerably. 

16R tee prior to concrete in 2002.

16R tee after.