I don't think anyone could say that last weeks rain event was any sort of surprise with the forecast pretty well spot on 7 days ahead.  The volume of rain certainly varied and some people seemed disappointed by that but weather patterns are an unpredictable thing.  We picked up 180mm over the four days with the bulk coming down on Friday but given favourable tides and the fact we were so dry the courses just lapped it up.  We certainly needed the rain as it was really starting to dry out and stress in the un-irrigated areas.  As previously mentioned the new irrigation system performed extremely well, despite less than normal supply.  At this stage this week supply has returned to normal so we hope that continues.

The arrow indicates the courses during Friday's deluge last week.

 

A well timed fertiliser application to fairways just prior to the rain has them jumping out of the ground and looking very healthy indeed.  We do get comments from time to time that the fairways are too thick but with the extreme volume of cart traffic that we get we need as much buffer as we can.  On the other hand, the sanding that the River greens received in the lead up to the rain was all but washed away. 

Over the next couple of weeks we will be giving the tees some renovation via a scarify and scalp and an aeration.  This will generally happen on the course closure day and is subject to suitable weather conditions.  It may seem strange to be thinking about winter at the moment but we need to get as much healthy grass as possible on the tees to maintain a cover through the winter.

On a very sad note our mechanic Mitch is leaving for personal reasons.  He has big shoes to fill and has settled in to our operation seamlessly over the past 2 and a half years and is personally sad to be moving on.  His analytical skills (read problem solving) are second to none as is his skill in setting mowers up which he had never done prior to joining us.  I have mentioned before that Mitch is the unsung hero of our team that most golfers never get to see but I can assure you we are going to miss his expertise.  

We are still having issues with our water supply from the treatment works with flow rates varying from 40 to 100%.  There is a lot of weed on the pond that we pump from and it is causing blockages in our pumps.  It's not too bad during the week when we can access the pumps to clear them (sometimes four times a day) but on weekends we are unable to access the pumps for any type of maintenance.  Still the new irrigation system continues to impress with its even distribution of water. 

We had a Canadian greenkeeper join the crew in November and he has been a great addition to the team.   This week one of his friends also made the trip downunder to join the crew and when he left Ottawa last Thursday it was -25 degrees!!  At least this week has been a little cooler than normal for February for his first few days.  It was almost cold on Monday with a very gusty south wind that kept player numbers down.  His arrival took us up to 19 crew which is as high as we have been for over 10 years.  It won't last though with one of casuals finishing up today to move onto brighter pastures, and much better pay!

Pretty much sums up Monday's weather!

The fairway bunker on 4W had some new drainage installed this week which was long overdue but with more numbers on the crew, more can get done.  Our main fairway spray unit has been down for nearly 3 weeks now and the weeds seem to be growing on themselves.  7W fairway has quite an outbreak of Crowsfoot which we finally got to treat today so expect quite a burn / dis-colouration in the coming days.  It will probably be a three week timeframe at best to gain control.  The fairway was treated with a pre emergent product which seems to have worked elsewhere on the courses but not on 7W.  Hopefully not a sign of resistance developing. 

 

LIV golf returns to Adelaide next week and obviously Cameron Smith is back again.  I will never forget his win in the Greg Norman Masters that we used to hold here.  In 2010 I penned the following for the Blog - 

It's been a long week hosting the Greg Norman Junior Masters but a successful one, particularly for the senior boys winner Cameron Smith, who shot an amazing four round total of 24 under par.  I guess you have to feel sorry for the runner up who shot 17 under as that would normally win comfortably.  The story of the young fellow who aced the 17th River two days in a row was quite amazing too.

 

I don't think it matters where you place the rake in a bunker, some people just refuse to use them! 

 

Lucky they didn't twist their ankle on the rake.  The rake was the hazard this time!