A couple of light showers during the week but after what we have had it was definitely classified as a dry one.  The courses look totally different without the pools of water about the place blue skies and bunkers dry and in play.  Unfortunately the threat of not having an operational  irrigation system for a couple of days after some serious pipe issues earlier in the week meant that the planned mini renovation of the West greens couldn't be done on Tuesday although we did get an edge and a de-thatch in while the course was closed.

Speaking of bunkers there were lots of comments on social media last week about the bunkers at Grange GC in Adelaide for LIV golf after Ian Poulter, among others, put up a photo of a razor sharp bunker lip.  A couple of members from CTH put their two cents worth in the comments as well with most experts lamenting how bad the bunkers are on their own mud heap, as Alister MacKenzie always referred to a golfers home course.  Bunkers are simply money pits and in an exercise that was done a few years ago here at CTH, we found that we actually spend more money on bunkers than greens - as do most clubs - and they are a hazard.  And to be honest the way most players swing at a bunker shot they are never going to be any good out of them.  Given that Grange had a crew of 57 for the event and only two were allocated to mowing greens, I would suggest that the ''bunker crew'' may have numbered 20 for the week.  It's also a shotgun start so they would have had 5 hours to prep the bunkers prior to play and with some of the best players in the world, the bunkers don't get a whole lot of use.  And then there are only 54 players.  Come back to the average Friday at CTH and we have 450 - 500 players then on Saturday morning a ''bunker crew'' of 2 have about 3 hours to prep the damage from the day before.

Next week we start work on the wet area on 12W so the hole will be closed to play.  The area will have turf removed, sand imported, drainage assessed and some re-shaping of the fairway to allow water to move off the area to some collection pits.  Two bunkers will be removed and the one closest the green properly drained. The area will then be re-turfed on Monday March 3.  

The irrigation contractors are still working on 18R but will then move to 12W late next week to install the new irrigation following the earthworks. 

Another week and another downpour of rain which is getting more and more frustrating as we fall further behind in our work schedule.  85mm was the weeks total but at least it wasn't accompanied by destructive wind this time but heavens it's wet out there.  It seems that just as we dry out we get slammed again and it's getting annoying.  The only good thing about the rain was that we had no water supplied this week from the treatment plant which is a very rare occurrence as there was an issue at the plant.  We were actually budgeting water earlier in the week but that certainly changed around.

We were able to get a mini renovation done on the River greens on Tuesday with a solid tine and sanding getting done. The greens have come back quite nicely and very little of the sand got washed off the greens as has happened several times in the past.  It gave us the opportunity to give our recently acquired aerating machines a run and as there predecessors had done, they were faultless.  It's one of the big advances in the greenkeeping industry.  In my early days aerating machines were prone to constant failure and breakdown but no more and that's a great thing.  Manuel, our Spanish intern, was at the controls of one of the machines and his lines were perfect as demonstrated in the video below.  He leaves us next week and it has been a pleasure hosting him and hopefully he may return one day to escape the winter snow in Switzerland where he works at the moment.

 

The plan is to do a mini renovation on the West greens next Tuesday.  We will be pulling a small diameter core on them as they haven't been cored for over two years and are desperate for it.

LIV golf once again descends on Adelaide this week and the course looks superb once again.  The Grange is a 36 hole facility and their normal crew of 32 (yes that's right) is bolstered by 25 volunteers for the week.  They were nervous about having a February date given the strong possibility of 40 degree days occurring but have a low 20's forecast so they will be relieved about that.  Not only are their staff numbers at the other end of the spectrum compared to us, nearby Adelaide Oval has had 37mm of rain since the start of November, against our 1325mm (yes that's right) or just on 53 inches. 😥

Almost a week of normal greenkeeping maintenance for a change and not having to worry about wild storms.  The rain that came through on Tuesday was enough to disrupt a lot of plans though.  Most Tuesdays one course is closed to allow us some player free maintenance time which is a huge bonus with what we can get done.  Unfortunately sanding 18W fairway and sanding the River greens were both postponed yet again due to the rain on Tuesday morning.  At this stage the plan is for the River greens to be solid tine aerated and sanded during next Tuesdays closure which will allow for some much needed air to get into the rootzone.  The following Tuesday is the West greens turn and they will get a ''mini renovation'' as we will be using a small diameter hollow tine which means a core will be removed.  The greens haven't been cored in over two years with weather playing havoc with the normal renovation.  This one won't be too invasive so no long term putting green surface disruption but it will give them some thatch / organic matter reduction and some air into the rootzone.

18W fairway has come along really well and has worked a treat in the several downpours we have had since finishing.  There is a wet spot in the middle where the Bobcat had some issues on the final trim so we will be putting a drainage line through this area to dry it up. 

The irrigation install continues with both 12 and 18W greens being installed this week.  But more excitingly, the suction line for the pump station was installed.  This needed a Franna crane to pick it up and lower it through the pump shed roof into the well.  We are utilising the existing well in the old pump shed and it all fitted seamlessly and the foot valve now sits five metres below the shed floor surface.  So we're not far from the new pump shed coming on line.

The foot-valve circled.

 

 

 

Just a few small piles of tree debris left out on the courses after a huge effort by staff, volunteers and contractors. We have had storms of this size before but when you have three in a week and two of them as severe as they were it becomes extraordinary.  Hopefully we are now past the worst of them although some of the long range forecasts are not good with respect to potential rainfall over the next three months.  At the moment I am actually back to planning some greenkeeping tasks next week rather than having half the crew dedicated to storm clean up.  I don't like to individualise, but the bunker restoration crew deserve the biggest pat on the back.  As I mentioned two weeks ago, we had just restored them and then bang it all happened again.  Shovelling sand in mid 30 degrees heat in a bunker where it is probably 10 degrees hotter is not the most pleasant task but they got it done and all bunkers are now back in play.

I put a photo up last week of the huge tree that came down on 14R and as I said the photo doesn't do it justice. I forgot I took the photo below of my cart next to it which really demonstrates the size of it.

One of the biggest to ever come down on course.

A worrying week with power issues affecting our old existing on course irrigation controllers with three still not operational but we have got all greens operating which is most important.  The new system install continues with some of the mainline pipework laid this week close to the pump shed which isn't far from coming on line now which will make a huge difference to water distribution. 

18W fairway has settled in well and will receive a heavy sanding next week to assist with levelling the surface out.  Work on 12W fairway in its wet area has been planned and we are now waiting for a suitable time when the irrigation install, earthmovers and turf layers all come together for the job but at this stage it looks like the job will be completed and turf down by mid March.

I could probably just cut and paste what was written last Friday after another enormous effort by the crew in cleaning up the courses.  There's no doubt there was considerably more taken off the courses today.

Another added issue from this storm is that it has taken out 8 of the on course irrigation satellites on the old system after some sort of power surge that we are still trying to get to the bottom of.  We do now have irrigation water available after a couple of other issues that meant we couldn't pump.  Going in to a long weekend with no water wasn't a good prospect. 

And a gusty southerly change is forecast for tonight!!

The third storm in 7 days and I think this one was more severe and the damage is certainly worse than last week.  Only 38mm of rain but the damage as a result of the wind is significantly more with about 12 trees completely uprooted.

I heard a plane on a strange flight path then checked and it was going to Sydney but was going the wrong way!!  I then checked the radar and saw the front coming and realised why it was going the wrong way.  

A bit of deja vu for the crew with a rinse and repeat of last Friday amid the carnage on the courses.  Both courses will be closed on Friday to give us the best shot at the clean up and we should get the main turf playing areas on both courses cleaned.  Bunkers and roughs will need to wait.   If the courses were open to play, and even without carts, we would probably be lucky to get 9 holes done so closing is the best option.

A few pics from the courses after the storm.............

Never seen this flightpath before?

Just missed the satellite on 15/16R.

LHS 14R.

LHS 6W.

LHS 11R.

RHS 11W.

 

This weeks portrait!!

An amazing effort once again by the crew on the daunting task that confronted them when they arrived this morning.  The courses were unplayable and thus why they were closed for the day but to be honest if you hit the ball straight down the middle right now and don't look sideways or into the bunkers, you would barely know anything happened.  We have all the River course playing surfaces cleared and ready for play and only about half the West but all greens and tees are fine.  We lost count of the number of loads taken to the tree dump but it was literally dozens with our Bobcat operator not stopping all day.  Two new staff members join the crew next Monday and they are in for a rough start with probably a week shovelling bunkers!!

We finished up with 75mm with a few late showers on Thursday which is nearly double what most sites in the Northern rivers received.  That takes us to just shy of 250mm for January and since November 11 we have now had 993mm or just shy of 40 inches.  Just WOW. 

The rain forecast for the weekend isn't good but with no further rain carts will be good for the River course on Saturday and a decision made in the morning for the West.

We only had 3 holes of West course bunkers to restore when I called the crew back in just after 1pm Thursday afternoon as a safety measure given the approaching storm.  I really thought it might just slip through below us but how wrong I was.  I actually think we got the eye of the storm as the on course damage is extraordinary when compared to other streetscapes around Banora and Tweed.

I had a phone hook up with GM Nicole and President Tracy around 3pm Thursday and suggested that both courses needed to be closed to play on Friday.  Understandably they were a bit sceptic, but I suggested they go for a drive to a few select locations to see for themselves.  After doing just that, they remarked that it may not be in play for the weekend!!

I would place it in the top 5 storms / wind events I have seen here.  Below is a selection of photos from Thursday afternoon.  I am estimating that it will take a crew of 8 all day to just get the greens and tees playable let alone worry about the amount of debris on fairways and in the treelines.  Don't even mention bunkers. 

72mm of rain and hail was recorded in the brief but volatile storm which is far more than any other locations in the local area. 

Some of the views in no particular order........

The radar.

 

3R tee.

6R green.

2R green.

LHS 11W fairway.  4 x uprooted trees.

2W green.

16R green.

8W green side view.

8W green from rear.

3W green.

 

A pretty scary look taken by Pro Shops James Bonnor.

To be honest the photos don't do it justice as the amount of debris on the ground is extraordinary.  There's lots of water too but that will drain away with few problems although the tides are very big at the moment.  Once again two of our main contractors rang me to see if we needed help in the clean up and both will be onsite at 7am tomorrow.  We have ''been there  - done that' but this is a big one.

25mm of rain came crashing down in Thursday's storm which was only brief but certainly packed a punch.  That rain wasn't really much used to us as the bulk ran off but the 12mm that followed was, dare I say it, most welcome.  We were really starting to dry out so it came just in time and thankfully there wasn't too much wind associated with it so not too much mess out there.  By way of comparison, Kingscliff water treatment plant which is next door to Chinderah golf, got 55mm in the same storm on Thursday.  Now that would be too much.

The course is in the middle of the circle.

 

The heavy rain helped settle down the new works on 18W and 3R which were completed this week.  18W bunker was re-drained, although it barely had any functional drainage in it, and there was no water standing in the bunker after the storm had passed with the new drainage.  All of the surface water on 18W fairway also did exactly what it should and all flowed to the drainage pit with minimal damage to the surface.  The area will be re-worked next week after the irrigation is installed and prior to turfing on Tuesday.

Player numbers retreated a little this week though numbers are still high with 500+ players per day the norm.  Almost literally at the other end of Australia, one of our crew went down to Ocean Dunes GC on King Island last year as the Assistant Super and they had 24 players today and have a huge day of 45 players booked on Sunday!!

Happy New Year to all readers of this Blog as I start informing Members and followers for the 15th year of what's happening on the courses at Cool Tweed.  I don't know of another course anywhere in the world that have had this amount of information made available to members for so long.  The Blog now receives an average of 1,500 ''hits'' a week so it has certainly grown over the years!!  Listed below is where some of the past weeks audience numbers have come from, with Australia obviously the most popular viewers.

Ecuador 7

Kenya 6

Russia 6

Azerbaijan 5

Bangladesh 5

Pakistan 5

Ukraine 4

Nepal 3

2024 closed out with 2,785mm making it the fourth wettest year since records began in 1886.  Let's hope we get a break as the four of the past four years have seen more than 2.4metres of rain each year.  We have certainly had a good break over the past two weeks and haven't the golfers come out to play, especially over the past week since Christmas, with well in excess of 500 players a day.  It's not just the numbers that affect our productivity and quality but the speed of the first group.  New Years eve saw the first group in the members comp around in 2.45 hours which doesn't give us much time to get anything done of any real consequence.  It is just a matter of hanging on and hoping we get through to next week when the numbers return somewhat to normal but still very busy. 

The chance to host the the WPGA Tour School earlier this week gave us the chance to really showcase the West course with tee times not starting until 7.30am on day one which gives us a two hour break on the play and the quality of course presentaon was spot on.  The crew really stepped up to the mark and produced the goods.

The courses have certainly dried out and we are now in full irrigation mode with many old drain and irrigation trenches starting to show like the one on 18R below.  The new irrigation system is certainly handling the dry well with a very even cover of water across the playing areas installed so far and already a much reduced volume of water being used.  It is still not as good as it will be when finished as the success of the system is reliant on all the new pipe being installed to allow for an even flow of water to all parts of the courses which isn't there just yet.  But what we are experiencing now is very encouraging going forward.

You know it's dry when this happens.

 

Another drainline showing is one of the ''aggie'' pipes near the fairway bunker on 18W shown below.  Several of these are showing in this area and given how wet the area gets they are obviously useless.  There are also four collection pits in the area as well so prior to the irrigation being installed on 18W we will be re-shaping this area in the same manner as done on 4R two years ago and moving all surface water to one pit.  While we are there the fairway bunker will be reduced in size and re-drained.  The area will then be rid of the ''melon holes'' that have formed there over the years when it has been so wet but still subjected to carts traffic while wet. 

18W drainline showing.

 

And while the machinery is onsite the front bunker on 3R will be reduced in size and become a bit more of a pot bunker style to the left of the play line to allow some of our less abled players to access the green.  These works will be done next Tuesday and due to the location the hole will be closed for the day.

The irrigation contractors are due back onsite next Monday and will be starting on 18W. 

One thing that has certainly happened this season is an absolute explosion in the germination of Crowsfoot across the property.  I doubt I have ever seen this much which is down to three things.  The weather pattern obviously has a lot to do with it but I believe a huge amount of seed made its way on to the courses in the 2022 flood and subsequent minor flooding we have experienced over the past three years has helped spread it far and wide.  The other factor is that we have used less pre-emergent products over the past year due to the irrigation installation and the need for a lot of turfing to be done.  We have been spraying quite a few areas successfully over the past weeks and continued today with both boom and hand spot spraying happening.