Another 52mm of rain overnight which although forecast was absolutely not what the courses needed.  They had just about dried up completely with only a handful of puddles left and when I first saw them at 4.30 this morning they once again resembled a lake.  We had done an enormous amount of work on the bunkers this week, particularly on the West course, and the fear was that it would have caused more washouts.  Fortunately it didn't and the only positive of the rain was that it helped compact some of the new sand.

1R fairway at first light Friday morning.

 

Speaking of new sand, we were finally able to get to the practice bunker today after weeks of cancellations due to weather.  We used our Bobcat operator  which wasn't really my preferred method but earthmoving machinery is in high demand at the moment and very difficult to book.  Once again the only positive of no motorised buggies on the courses today was that the number of people congregating around the practice area was reduced as we ferried the sand in to the bunker.  The sludge that had been deposited there in the February flood was removed and the new sand dumped and spread.  Thirty two tonne of sand or about twenty one cubic metres was placed in the bunker today.  We were also able to get some topdressing sand onto the two short range greens to try and help them recover and fill in the surface.  They have been fertilised and scarified several times so hoping to get a good surface by the time the Ladies Open arrives in two weeks.  Dare I say it but a nice heavy shower of rain would help settle both the green and bunker!!

The sludge removed.

Sand spread and compacted.

Ready for play.

In such wet conditions we are severely resricted in what we can do on the courses and today gave us the opportunity to edge the buggy paths around the courses.  Fortunately we only have them situated adjacent to greens and tees but it still took a team of six the full day to get them edged and blown off.  They hadn't been done for a while due to the more pressing matters of flood recovery over the past five weeks and being so wet makes for a less than perfect result.  Interesting to note that when I first arrived at the club there were no buggy paths and now forty eight man hours are used to edge what we now have.

A long walk.