We managed to get the River greens solid tined this week although it did take two days to get through them.  The photo below shows the wear on the tine with another centimetre gone and some real reduction in the diameter of the tine near the tip.  So we only get to do the greens once with each set.

 

The River greens also got a fertilise on Thursday morning and some sulphate of iron was added to the mix to bring out some colour which is a commonly used ploy. A beautiful day on Friday with 26 degrees in the compound might actually sneak a little bit if growth in with a bit of luck.

Friday didn't start that well though with an irrigation main blowout on 13R fairway meaning we had to shut the pumps down and facilitate the repair.  I had planned to fertilise the West greens on Friday morning but no water meant it gets postponed till next week.  The break also meant three men were occupied with the repair and subsequent re-charging of the irrigation system for the best part of five hours of unplanned labour loss each.

We were also able to get the tees fertilised this week as they are really showing the effects of the amount of play we are having and the soft conditions due to the rain.  This is particularly the case on the shaded tees such as 4R shown below with the result of just one days play.  At this time of year 4R and 7W tees don't get any sunshine at any time of the day.

4R tee in the shade.

 

As I have reported here previously we are having some ongoing issues with the pump station and seem to be spending way too much time in there at the moment.  One of the unseen jobs we have to do is the maintenance of the pumps and we are currently having issues with one of the main pumps which has an issue with its impellers.  So the pump technician was in this week to strip it down and find out what is happening.  The photo below shows one of the 30hp motors being lifted off the pump so we can find the problem.  The pump station consists of four 30hp and two 20hp motors and was designed so that only five pumps are required to achieve the desired flow so that a single breakdown doesn't effect water distribution.

Top arrow to motor and bottom one to pump.