A really good productive week on the courses with some quieter player days on course which allows us to get a lot of work done uninterrupted.  Tuesday gave the opportunity to spot spray weeds in all fairways with a boom spray and both courses were completed which I don't recall ever being able to do that in a day.  Kikuyu and Blue Couch were the two main targets and a follow up spray will be required.  There will be a bit of yellowing appearing in the treated areas as the weeds die off.

We also continued some knapsack spot spraying on fairways predominantly targeting Crowsfoot, although just about any rogue weed was spotted.  The boys doing this have done a great job over the summer controlling the array of weeds that have appeared following the last years first flood which was a ''dirty'' one.  The fairways are as clean as I can remember them being.

Crowsfoot on the way out.

We have been having issues with water flow from the irrigation system to the short range and practice greens area for a while and it has gotten worse to the point we need to start digging up.  Unfortunately where we need to dig is just at the bottom of the River practice green right in the middle of the path.  The work is planned for Monday so please bear with us while we get it done.

Couldn't pick a busier spot.

The blog will take a break for a few weeks while I have some leave so will be back soon.

I'm not sure if it's an anniversary that you really want to celebrate but this week does mark the twelve month mark since the worst flood we have experienced on course.  In some ways it seems longer than a year but it is remarkable how resilient the course and turf are, not to mention the staff and contractors who put the place back together again.  The week certainly brings back some bad memories and things that I hope I never witness here again.  The cows were a bit of amusement though I must say and I will never forget the farmers daughter who said she would bring her horse in to round them up to which my reply was ''not gonna happen''!!

The things you see on 2W fairway.

Definitely don't want to see this ever again.

 

A bit of a comparison below of rainfall figures from last year to current and they are numbers that we don't want to see again either.

We were able to get the mini renovation of the River greens completed this week and they have come back quite well.  It just shows how incredibly different the surface is on them compared to the West considering they each received the same treatment.  To be fair the River greens are approaching twenty five years of age so have a much higher thatch level.

 

The grass is really growing quickly now and I haven't seen this sort of growth for at least three years so much so that I have used more of the growth regulator so far this year than in any other year.  The fairways normally require treatment every four weeks but we are back to three this year.  It's interesting because I personally don't think it has been that hot this summer but it has certainly been way more sunny than the cloudy and wet past two.