Well the bureau had been predicting rain all week and it finally arrived today, albeit a day after it was supposed to get here.  Dare I say it, but the courses were drying out again after December's torrent of rain and what we have had this week has been reasonably good soaking rain which is just what we want.  A very nice 30mm for the week.

We were able to get some de-thatching done on the West greens and the actual putting surface is excellent and it was nice to hear the same comment from a few of the Vets on Thursday and some other players as well.  What we did miss was an application of fertiliser to even the greens colour up a little.  The heavy rains had all but leached out the available nutrient in the greens leaving them a little blotchy in places.  The same thing used to happen to the River greens when they were new and is caused by the free draining nature of the soil profile.  The greens are due to be renovated on Monday and Tuesday January 18 and 19 following the postponement late last year.  The greens will be scarified to remove thatch then hollow tine aerated so a core will be removed to help further reduce thatch.  We don't need to go very deep due to the greens age and it will be an 8mm size hole.  Some soil amendments will be added and the greens sanded.  The West course greens collars will be done next week as we don't have enough time to get them done within the allocated two days. 

The threat of some bad weather reduced the fields on Thursday and Friday and we were able to get all the main playing surfaces double cut over those days.  Such a difference when we can get a good run at the courses with no hold ups waiting for players. Very disappointing to have the Twin Towns Open cancelled as the courses are in great shape and ready to challenge.