You couldn't get a more perfect day for golf than what we had for todays Pro am on the West course and I may be a bit biased but the course couldn't have been in better condition either.  Oh if you double our staff and cut the play in half we could be better but the crew did an enormous job in getting the course up for the day.  An eleven hour day on Thursday with all the prep work for Friday's 6.30am shotgun completed and we only had time to brush the dew off the greens prior to play on Friday morning.  We broke with the time honoured tradition of a bacon and egg BBQ brekky and opted for the more healthy Subway platters alternative which went down a treat with the boys so much so that I didn't get a chance to get a photo.  Club GM Nicole came down and addressed the boys thanking them for their efforts which was much appreciated around the lunchroom.

After meeting the crew Nicole asked for a bit of background about them and where they have been and it was interesting to find that five of our current crew have had stints at Sanctuary Cove over the years.  And the thirteen permanents currently on the roster have stacked up 199 years of service on the course at CTH which given we have two first year apprentices is pretty amazing.

Anyone who has played the River course this week will have seen the dramatic improvement in the greens surface on 2R following a lift in mowing height from 3.5mm to 4.4mm.  12R green is mown at the same height but the intense shading that 12R receives just doesn't give it a chance.  Prior to my arrival here 5, 12 and 13R greens had actually been planted with Couchgrass and oversown with Ryegrass due to the shade effect so it's certainly not a new thing to see them struggling. 

LHS 1W green.

 

I've been asked by a couple of members why we don't have more signage to try and stop cart drivers driving where they like.  I just point to the two ''no motorised buggies beyond this point'' signs that are on the RHS of 4R green, that are there as much for players safety as anything, and nearly one cart per group just drives straight past them every day.  And then when you see one of the worlds best players totally ignore the sign below what hope do we have at CTH. 

He must nearly hit the sign on his follow through?

I doubt a ''please rake the bunker'' would work?

And I guess you need to be careful how you word signs!!??