The pitchmarks just keep getting worse. The video below is of 5R green on Monday morning this week.  It's pretty hard to get a smooth surface with all these craters.  I counted 25 totally untouched pitchmarks in the front third of 5R green.

 

As mentioned in last weeks Blog, we were able to get the West greens de-thatched on Tuesday to help level the surface up after a faulty bearing caused some damage.  The greens surface has responded well and the surface is back to level, despite some of the lines still being visible.  It was a dry morning so we were able to get the River greens done on the same day in front of the ladies.  A little bit of thatch removal does the greens wonders.  It will be the last chance for us to get to the greens, as player numbers for the holiday period have already started peaking and the week prior to Christmas is normally quiet but numbers this week have been huge. 

The fairways received a liquid fertiliser this week to bolster them up for the play ahead.  At least our exceptionally busy time also corresponds with our peak growth time.  Although the greens take a beating with pitchmarks the fairways get hammered with divots and bad cart driving.  Our growth regulator applications have been timed to perfection with minimal leaf growth occurring on fairways,tees and green surrounds which is really important with the upcoming short weeks.   

 

 

What an amazing two weeks for Australian golf on the back of the PGA @ Royal Queensland and the Open @ Royal Melbourne culminating in Cameron Smith's oh so close moment.  I heard a comment that "I didn't think Couch greens could get this good" about RQ's greens and RM's greens probably lacked a little fire but certainly delivered.  In a first for RM, the greens weren't rolled or mown for the 1st round with a fear that the predicted wind could cause balls to move.  At RM the temperature on Monday of tournament week never rose above 15 degrees and that followed a very wet November where more than 140mm of rain was recorded which is more than twice the average.  Melbourne certainly lived up to it's reputation of 4 seasons in 1 day in the lead up to the tournament.

Back to Tweed and as mentioned last week we hosted the WPGA Tour School last Monday and Tuesday.  What we didn't really want was the 50mm of rain that caused a lot of wash and then some squally winds that nearly blew down every piece of bark off the Gum trees.  After a quick discussion with the Tour, the morning tee times were pushed back to 8am to allow us a shot at restoring playability, and restore we did.  The crew did an amazing job and the River course was presented in first class condition to the amazement of the WPGA Tour.  Considering there were more staff on Royal Melbourne's fairway mowing crew alone for the Open than we had available for 36 holes on Monday morning, it was a testament to the dedication of our crew.  It's a shame more members didn't get out to see just how good the course was.  And there was some good golf played as well with the winner having 14 birdies and 2 double bogies in her 36 hole total of -8.  

Clearing leaf debris off 11R fairway Monday morning.

15W green Monday morning and this was the scene across the courses.

 

The West greens got some damage during the renovation that wasn't noticeable at the time.  A bearing gave way and one of the scarifiers was digging in on one side of the machine causing some marking on the surface.  The greens got an extra dose of fertilser this week to help grow the marking out which is certainly evidenced by their colour at present.  With the course closure on the West next Tuesday we will be giving the greens a reasonably heavy de-thatch that should help smooth out the surface and not cause any real surface disruption.

 

 

A very warm week and a great test for the new irrigation system which it has passed with flying colours.  We are restricted in the volume of water that we can pump down from the treatment plant but the new system makes sure that virtually every drop hits the ground where needed. 

The "heart" of the new system is the pump station which was also totally renewed as part of the project.  Our old station utilised Grundfos brand pumps and we had such a great run with them that we went for them again.  They have now been fully adjusted to suit our requirements and are delivering a perfect flow of water.

Inside the new pump shed adjacent 17R tee.

The greens on both courses are recovering well from the renovation with the West greens a little slower which is normal for TifEagle.  The number of totally untouched pitchmarks is almost to the stage of being alarming.  Every morning virtually every green is peppered with untouched pitchmarks.  Please help us to present a good surface and keep the greens healthy by repairing your pitchmaks. 

There are 8 untouched in this photo of 8R.

5 untouched on 8W plus plenty more elsewhere on the green.