I could nearly write exactly what I wrote last week with respect to the rain, grass growth and staff shortages.  At one stage earlier this week we had received 22 inches of rain in 26 days.  I don't know of many courses that could take that volume of rain in that timeframe and remain playable.  This week was a shame though as during the course closure on Tuesday the West course was completely blown and mown and looked an absolute treat on Tuesday night.  32mm of rain in a squally weather front soon changed all that for Wednesday unfortunately.

Year to date rainfall has us sitting at 2,706mm which puts it at number 6 on the all time list since 1886.  Rainfall figures for the past 4 years see the following;

2020 - 2,735mm.    2021 - 2,413mm.    2022 - 2,846mm.    2023 - 1,314mm. 

On the irrigation front 14W has finally been completed but some of the main trenchlines are still very soft.  No installation will be started before Christmas with a lot of topping up trenches and tidy up work currently being completed.  Work will re-commence on Monday January 6 on 18W which is also when we will do some work at the LHS fairway bunker on 18W to eliminate the wet area in front of the bunker and will also reduce the size of the fairway bunker and re-drain it.

Another ''500 Friday'' this week with over 500 players booked in and with the way the Fridays fall during Christmas we will probably have a couple of 600 Fridays thrown in.  Hopefully we get some decent weather to allow everyone to enjoy the courses.  It should be noted that when you are putting that quantity (and type of play) through the courses, turf quality and presentation has to suffer.

The practice facilities, particularly the new ''target green'' as we call it are really getting some use and are showing the signs of wear quite badly.  When you are practicing and taking divots on the ranges, the preferred method of arranging your divots is as per the top photo below which will allow for a much more rapid recovery of the area compared to the bottom photo. 

A good pattern.

 

A not so good pattern and sand dump.