Finally a week of decent weather but not really drying enough with a lot of soft areas left out there.  But as I have mentioned we have been so much more fortunate than so many other courses and thus far most of our turf is in good condition.  I did state very early this year that we would be in for a tough winter period with the low light intensity over summer with all the rain and that is certainly the case.  The photo below shows 11R fairway with the right hand shaded portion of the fairway in much thinner condition and although this happens on an annual basis it is worse this year due to the low light intensity of summer.  And we still have at least three months before some recovery can happen.  At least the winter solstice is next week so hopefully things will improve.

Right of the line so much thinner / weaker in the shade.

 

I am heading to Melbourne for the annual turf conference next week which I am really looking forward to and am obviously not going for the winter weather!!  For the first time our Association is holding a joint conference with the Golf General Managers Association which quite possibly couldn't come at a better time.  High on the list of topics to be discussed is staff procurement, training and retention.  There is currently a massive shortage of qualified greenkeepers in Australia and clubs in some areas are literally outbidding one another to attract or retain staff.  Other sectors in the turf maintenance industry are also playing a part in poaching staff from golf clubs.  I have just recently lost two qualified and long term employees to schools who are paying $10 an hour more for basically just groundstaff to operate mowers.   It is a major issue facing the golf course maintenance industry and something needs to be done soon.  In our local area the cost of rental properties pretty much precludes interstate prospects from even thinking about coming here, if there are any options available anyway.  It will be an interesting week I am sure and I am hopeful for some really positive outcomes.   Over 700 delegates are already registered to attend and if you count the allied trade attendees who are there for the trade show the numbers easily top 1,000.