A huge week on course with the amount of grass growth coupled with a short public holiday week and the re-working of 9R green thrown in on top.

9R green works threw up some challenges but the finished product is very good and is ready for grassing on February 6.  One of the main issues we had was getting enough sand on site for the job as the logistics of getting sand here is way different (read difficult) than when we did the West greens.  We also had to take out nearly a metre of fill across the green which means more fill sand being required.  The sand also came in very wet following all the rain so because you now buy per tonne rather than per cubic metre, we were buying a lot of water as the moisture makes the sand heavier.  Getting the trucks in also became problematic with a road needing to be built and the existing road base had turned to mush following the rainfall and was useless.  The truck carrying the second load out of the green got bogged which wasn't the greatest start either.  And with all due respect, truck drivers aren't what they used to be.

Bogged on the way out.

The sand we used is almost identical to that used on the West greens and once again the top 100mm was amended with a variety of product with the aim being to create a five year old growing medium.  You can see in the photo below the difference in colour of the amended sand (darker) compared to the straight base sand.

Darker amended sand.

And one of the most interesting things we discovered was that the actual green area we have been mowing was actually bigger than the original green size as designed, as we cut out way wider than the ''gravel layer'' which denotes the green profile.  The photo below shows the ''green well'' which is indicated by the darker profile.ThIs was the same around the entire perimeter of the green.  We only cut out and replaced the area that had been sprayed out previously but it looks to be a huge area.

Original green edge indicated.

 

185mm rainfall for the week and 368mm for the month thus far with rain being recorded on all but two days.  And from the start of November we have had 812mm.  That's over 32 inches of rain.  😢

The combination of the heat, humidity and moisture has the grass growing as furiously as it can.  The constant rainfall has us weeks behind in our spraying programmes, particularly the growth regulator which is one of the most critical applications we make.  Virtually every profile of any type of greenkeeper asks the question ''what is the one product you could not live without'' and the most common answer is growth regulator.  

Everything is in readiness for the 9R green works that will start on Monday.  The sand has been stockpiled in the lower carpark and the road to the green completed today to allow for truck and vehicular access to the green site.  We are lucky as 9R is probably one of three greens we could do given the sodden state of the courses with its proximity to the carpark and hardstand.  All going well the green should be finished next Thursday but won't be planted until February 6 due to stolon availability and delivery issues amongst other reasons.  Grow in should be very rapid given the weather although heavy rain that causes wash is the great fear at this time of year.

The road to 9R.

An annoying start to the week with a tree coming down on to the entry road on Monday morning.  It was on a tight bend and with traffic control deployed as well as chainsaws and trailers, 6 men spent 2½ hours out there when they could have been on course on one of the few dry mornings we got for the week.

 

With no further overnight rain carts should be allowed on the River course tomorrow but the West is very unlikely.  Website will be updated before 5.30am Saturday morning.

It depends who you want to listen to as to what is going to happen rainwise next week but after this week we've had enough thanks.  Only 125mm for the week but every time we sprayed, it seemed to rain within the hour and wash the product off the leaf.  Not to mention the washout for the WPGA tour school on Monday and Tuesday which was really disappointing.  The course was coming together so well and with a two hour head start on the field we were really getting the place looking sharp.  The photo below is of the prepped LHS bunker on 3W taken at 7.31am just as the field hit off.  The first group got to the 1st green and had marked their balls when 30mm of rain in 40 minutes hit us and washed everything away.  A quickly re-scheduled 1pm shotgun was again washed out with a 15mm downpour around 2pm but they re-started and finished on dark.  A couple of really good scores in the conditions as well which was very impressive.  Tuesday converted to a 9am shotgun and they got through in 4.15 hours which given what was at stake was some pretty fast play.

CEO of the WPGA Tour Karen Lunn penned the following which was nice to hear that the boys efforts are not missed - 

On behalf of Swanno and myself, I would like to say a huge thanks to you and the boys for all your help earlier this week at the qualifying tournament.

I cannot thank you and all of the staff for their hard work which was instrumental in us getting the event completed.

We are very grateful for everything you did which of course included getting the course in mint condition following on from the Christmas storms before the deluge this week. 

LHS 3W ready to go.  😞

 

And given the persistent rain this poor old Butcher bird sought some respite under the eaves of the pump shed.

Kind of know how he feels.

 

Just a quick update on this morning’s rain event.  I’m not sure exactly when it started but it finished at 6.35am and we had received 52.4mm.  This is on top of the 80mm since Sunday.

By comparison these were local recordings for the 24 hours till 9am this morning.

Kingscliff        4mm

Chinderah     22mm

Banora           41mm

Bilambil          16mm

Clothiers Ck  1mm

Airport            35mm

To be honest the amount of water that was on the courses it looked like we had 152mm.  A couple of photos below.

4R fairway.  (New RHS drianage works working.)

2W fairway @ 6.45am.

 

Hazard peg in 11W dam.

 

 

 

 

I mentioned a while back that we were excited to get our crew numbers as high as they have been for twelve years thanks to a Board decision to increase our numbers by two.  But sadly with a few departures that didn't last long and we have been on the lookout for some extras since.  A couple of advertisements have been placed and it's almost a carbon copy of what has happened over the past couple of years with a lot of applicants, but they obviously just need to send out resumes to maintain their Centrelink payments as there is never any response when I try and contact them about the job.  I even got an applicant for the greenkeepers role who had a "bubbly front of office personality".  I kid you not.  But I have been fortunate enough to land two very promising candidates with an international greenkeeping traveller from Ireland and a greenkeeper from the Glades who is moving closer to home so on Monday we will have seventeen of us with one on annual leave.

The way the weather has been though I could have fifty and it still wouldn't be enough.  The grass growth at the moment is as vigorous as I can recall in recent years and the wind has been its usual strong self and blown debris down on a continual basis.  It's really hard to keep the playing surfaces clean, particularly fairways and the bunkers, which should really be called ''leaf collectors".  The photo below has been all to a common sight for us recently with the Eucalypt trees shedding their bark and leaves constantly.  The volume of play has also been next level which also makes it hard for us to get work done.

A regular sight on 4W fairway.

We are hosting the WPGA qualifying school next Monday and Tuesday and with prizemoney approaching $3M on offer on the tour this season there is certainly some interest being shown.  Sixty plus players from fifteen countries are entered and by the look of those who have already been out practicing there will be some serious talent on show.  It will give us a great chance to showcase the West course so hopefully the wind will be relatively calm and it's a 7.30am 1 tee start so it gives us as much prep time as we can get to get the course in shape.

Speaking of the weather and thoughts are with those courses that have been decimated by the recent weather events.  Fortunately for us we somehow dodged the worst of it which is exceptionally unusual as we are normally right in the thick of it.  So I guess my complaint about a little bit of tree debris about the place pales into insignificance when you hear of what happened to several courses, including some that have never had to close due to a weather event before.