Well I think I can safely say we are now past summer.  The days are a lot shorter now and the dews are heavy and staying around longer despite the beautiful sunny days and pleasant temperatures.  It still hasn't dropped below 20 degrees overnight yet but it won't be long.  The courses have come through summer in great condition, in particular the West greens considering the age of most of them and grass type.  The staff have certainly stepped up to the plate with an average of just 11.3 staff on the golf courses each day since January 1.  How they have been able to keep up is a testament to their work ethic and they are all to be congratulated.

There will be some tree work being performed over the next two weeks with dead and dangerous trees being removed commencing next week.  The following week will see tree removal around 3W green to allow more light to reach the green and surrounds.  You only need to look at the improvement in turf quality around 4R tee, 5W green and 9W green following tree removal adjacent to these areas over the past few years.  All stumps will be ground and re-filled as part of the operation.

And speaking of trees the photo below shows a trench line that was cut as part of the sprinkler installation to the CIP areas on 2W.  It demonstrates just how much the tree roots pull out of the fairways with such a distinct line.

No tree roots on the left anymore!

A pretty tough week on the courses this week with another 80mm of rain falling.  The courses are still pretty wet from the rain earlier in the month so are taking a bit longer to dry out but the one thing in our favour is the strong growth meaning good turf recovery from the wear.  The West greens are still struggling with the continuing heat and their root structure and depth is very poor so the sooner these high temperatures move on the better.  It's extraordinary to think that on the other side of the country, Perth have had just 15mm of rain since November!!

The week was made even tougher with desperately short staff numbers.  Two full time employees are on annual leave and so a couple of casuals had their hours raised to cover but various ailments have meant that there has been a lot of time off.  508 hours were to be worked on the roster this week but with the time off this was slashed to 403 hours worked - a 20% reduction.  At this time of year and with the damage from the rain it means a lot of work didn't get done.

The weather bureau put out a "special climate update" this week covering the prolonged March heatwave that is affecting many parts of Australia.  There have been all sorts of day and night time temperature records broken including the "Australian area - averaged maximum temperature" that was a whopping 38.14° on March 2nd which beat the previous record from 1966.  No wonder the bent greens are still struggling!  Here is a link to the full update;

 

Special Climate Statement  

And if you think some of the bunkers at Cool Tweed are tough take a look at this beauty at Royal North Devon I found this week!!      

Just when I thought the West greens had gotten through summer relatively unscathed they stressed out this afternoon requiring quite extensive back up water to be applied to them.  It was most of the normal places but a few new areas as well.  

I purchased a "soil moisture sensor" late last year and this has been an invaluable tool in managing the greens through summer by taking the guess work out of when and how much irrigation is required.  It has been interesting talking to other superintendents around the country and the figures that they strive for.  Here on the Tweed the West greens get to wilting point at 24% of plant available water which is where areas on greens 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 12, 16, and 18 got to this afternoon.  The River greens on the other hand regularly sit in the mid twenties and as low as 12% without any sign of stress.  The Tifeagle on  17W and the practice green have been as low as 7% and still maintain a healthy sward.  Hopefully the weather cools soon and the West greens can take a sigh of relief (and me too).

The photo below shows the read out on the screen from 75mm long probes.  Its a bit blurry but the top line indicates "Standard Volumetric Water Content" (VMC) % = 9.0.  NO. 17 on the bottom line is the number of locations probed and A is for the average of those areas which is 8.7%.  The photo further down shows the Tifeagle in perfect health.  I would hate to think what a bentgrass green would look like at the same level!!

 

Read out on soil moisture sensor

 

Healthy Tifeagle

A major irrigation break earlier in the week resulted in a huge hole being hand dug in quite uncomfortable weather conditions.  It was on Tuesday when we were getting some showers coming through so fortunately didn't impact on the course too much.  The irrigation lines almost had to be drained completely and then took nearly four hours to refill back up to pressure again.

On the track between 13 and 14 West.

 

Well the forecast of rain was accurate and this time I missed on getting some fertiliser out!!  It was 100mm of the most welcome rain as the courses were really starting to dry out.  Although it was heavy at times I would estimate about 70% of it soaked in and has already had a dramatic effect on the grass growth.  The other bonus was that not too much work time was lost which can often be the case.  It did unfortunately wash the bank of the new practice green again and I am contemplating whether to turf this small area to rid us of this problem. 

The low wind speed of the last couple of days gave us the chance to blow all the debris out of the bunkers and give them a rake which after such a heavy rain was very much needed.  However it makes you wonder why we bother when this greets you within an hour of the bunker being raked.

Why do we bother....

At last a couple of days of light wind and a chance to clean the tree debris off the fairways.  It makes such a difference to see the courses without all the leaf litter although the forecast is for strong southerlies starting up again tomorrow.  Hopefully the forecast of the chance of some rain comes true because the courses are very dry.  A couple of issues at the Council water treatment plant reduced our flows this week and for two nights only very select fairways areas were able to be irrigated.

You know it's dry when you can see the drainage lines

I mentioned last week that I thought the courses were potentially in the best condition I have seen them and I think they may have even improved a tad more this week.  It's been very pleasing to hear the many comments from members and players complimenting the crew on just how good the courses are and thanking them for their efforts.

And the view from 2 River tee doesn't get much better than this on Thursday just before lunch.  The water was crystal clear and blue as could be.  Unfortunately as I turned around the sprinklers started coming on after the builders at the pump shed broke a water line which took pressure off the sprinkler control system so a beautiful day turned nasty for a little while until repairs were carried out.
 

Beautiful one day - perfect the next??

27 degrees and 80% humidity greeted us this morning at 5.00am in the compound and the day just got worse until a bit of late cloud cover seemed to cool it although as I type this at 5.00pm it's still 29 degrees and 70%.  One word - uncomfortable!!  There were still lots of players out there though enjoying the courses that are in probably the best condition I have seen them for this time of year with the West greens in particular holding on well.  The crew are to be congratulated, as they were at knock off time today.

The Couch encroachment into the West greens is always topical at this time of year as it is so obvious with the Bentgrass at its weakest and the Couch its strongest.  The only product available to control the Couch is both very expensive and spasmodic in its results.  Timing is critical and at this time of year once soil temperatures start to drop is the optimum time so we will be waiting until then  to treat.

The Tifeagle practice green came in to play today ten weeks after planting which is a great result.  The leaf of the grass still needs to become a bit finer and it will need a few more light sandings but will give the other practice green some relief as it is struggling coping with all the play.

The "Eagle" looking good!!

And a bit of luck today with one of the fairway mowers hitting a bolt whilst mowing and surviving!!  This would normally potentially mean a new bottom blade and potentially a reel which are expensive but also time consuming to repair which is something we haven't really got with the current growth rates.  We have nearly 36 hectares of fairways which is a lot (most 18 hole courses have 14 - 16 hectares) of area to get mown in amongst the play so any down time is a worry.  Fortunately this wasn't the case and mechanic Craig was rather relieved that the damage wasn't more substantial.  The bolt was about 40mm long and impossible to see in the grass so this was a lucky one.

The guilty bolt

With only a couple of days lost to sick leave and no annual leave this week the crew was at just about full strength and it certainly shows on the courses.  The old staffing mark for the courses prior to my arrival was 22 for summer and this week for four days I had 14 including myself on the courses and that number dropped to 12 on Wednesday.  It's a credit to the crew the work they put in and what is achieved week to week with such low numbers on such a big property.  If only the wind would take some leave and give us a chance to not have to be continually cleaning up tree debris and leaves.

Massive tides this week saw water inundating the short range and parts of 1 and 9 River fairways.  In front of the chipping green where the water lays is a patch of a grass known as Sea Isle.  It is a salt water resistant variety and as can be clearly seen in the photos is much more resistant to the almost pure sea water that pushed in on the fairway than the normal couchgrass turf.

Tidal water

Salt burn on couchgrass

Some herbicide was applied to the fairways this week, predominantly on the River course and players will notice a distinct dis-coloration of the turf for the next week or so.  Not only are the desired grasses enjoying the heat and moisture of summer but the weeds are too.  With the constant wind over the past few months one issue is being able to spray and on the days that are suitable to spray the target has to be prioritised with the greens obviously most important so some times the weeds may be getting out of hand but it is safety first with all spray applications.  

And 17W green turned 1 year old this week!  The Tifeagle is settling in very well and providing an excellent putting surface with no hint of stress from the summer weather conditions or volume of play.  The firmness of the green is easing and the green in general should continue to improve.  The Tifeagle practice green is nine weeks old this week and apart from the wash on the southern banks has established particularly well.  It received the last "heavy" sanding today which should help achieve the final levels.