Wow so much for my call last week that Cyclone Jasper had fizzled into a rain event and thoughts are with the communities in the far north.  I guess we know how they feel after the 2022 floods, but I am sure that is of little consolation to them.

A busy week on the courses here with as much mowing and trimming done as possible to get ready for the expected onslaught of players and grass growth in the next two weeks.  The week before Christmas is normally fairly quiet but this week has certainly bucked that trend with large fields despite the oppressive heat early in the week.  Today saw 475 registered players on the timesheets and given that next Friday is traditionally the busiest day of the year, I shudder to think what will come through the gates.  The weather may well have a say in that and there seems to be several different forecasts doing the rounds for the coming week so we will wait and see.

The trial of Couch encroachment eradication on 9R green has not been successful as there are still shoots reappearing after five herbicide applications.  The depth of the thatch makes it almost impossible to achieve a 100% kill and at this week's Board meeting it was decided that the green would be re-surfaced.  The green will be ‘’welled out’’ as per the works carried out on the West greens in 2016 / 17.  This means the removal of the existing growing medium down to what is known as the gravel layer which is where the drainage is.  Unfortunately 9R has 720mm of growing medium instead of the usual 300mm meaning that the existing green was built on top of an old green which is what happened several times on the West project.  We have dug some pilot holes and it seems to be pretty consistent at that depth across the green.

The process will be the same as on the West greens with the existing sand profile removed, the drainage checked for clear operation and then the new sand added to the green.  The top 150mm of the green soil profile will be amended with a number of products once again as per the West greens.  The idea behind this is to create an “old or mature” profile for the turf to grow in rather than trying to grow in straight sand or being amended post planting.

The green will be planted with TifEagle and the work is due to commence on January 22.  The work should take four days and the same team that worked on the West greens has been engaged for the works.

TifEagle has been selected as it is really the only sustainable choice in this climate.  The lack of encroachment in the West greens is a huge plus as is the quality of the surface and a distinct lack of grain compared to 328.  1 and 13R greens are edged as per the West greens, to remove and prevent encroachment, but the encroaching grasses power through the open profile of the 328 turf.  If you ever see a Couch runner in 1 or 13R you can normally pull them out quite easily whereas it is much more difficult to pull a runner on the West greens due to the tightness of the surface, which also helps prevent encroachment.

9R green was selected as the trial site for the eradication of invading Couchgrass for several reasons.  First and foremost it had probably the most contamination of the River greens but perhaps most importantly it is one of the River greens that would not need any alteration to the surface in any future works.  The front greenside bunker is also not really ‘’connected’’ to the greens surface and once the green is finished the new irrigation installation can take place without having to touch the green.  Its proximity to the clubhouse and car park makes machinery access that is required for the works much easier.

The Club has been in discussion with a number of golf course architects with respect to forming a conceptual plan for potential future works on the River course, particularly around greens complexes and bunkering, and 9R green is one of the few that has been earmarked for little or no alteration to the putting green surface.  

And on a lighter note.....