The burst of warm weather last weekend probably gave us the last growth surge we will get on the tees and fairways which is really welcome.  Overnight temperatures have started to drop which means soil temperatures are also dropping and the Poa annua (wintergrass) has started to germinate.  By the looks of it we are unfortunately going to have a bumper year and the fight has well and truly started.  I have mentioned before about the resistance issues that have developed over the past few years and we seem to be getting worse.   The photo below shows some germination on 18R tee even though a pre emergent product was applied.

18R tee Poa

It’s not a localised problem for us as the issue is common place across Australia and indeed the world. The upcoming turf conference in Adelaide has a number of presentations on weed control and then a full day forum on Poa annua resistanca that will be packed to the rafters Hopefully there will be some time for some open discussion on the day to allow for some solutions that some courses have been able to come up with discussed.  

A couple of tournaments with lots of money on offer for pros on either side of the world this past week. The LIV tournament in Adelaide at the Grange is supposedly a sellout with Australian golf tragics desperate to see some of the worlds best golfers play for the massive prizemoney.  The tournament has also been a bonus for other local Adelaide clubs with their timesheets full with the huge influx of visitors and they are cashing in by charging premium green fees. Last week’s tournament at Harbour Town in South Carolina on the PGA Tour was worth $20 million, which is really quite mind blowing and the tournament at Harbour Town always brings back some good memories for one of our staff members Luke, who interned there while he participated in what is known as the Ohio Program. This is a program that places young greenkeepers from all over the world at some of the top courses in the USA for up to two years. Australians are highly sought after for their well known work ethic and it certainly isn't a holiday with most courses requiring their crew to work up to and over eighty hours a week which was certainly the case at Harbour Town. Luke worked there for eighteen months just after completing his apprenticeship @ Gailes GC and participated in two of the annual Tour events.  Luke joined us in 2017 from Brookwater where he was a construction foreman on their greens construction project and was heavily involved here in the front nine TifEagle conversion on the West course.  He has also filled the role as Superintendent at Arundel Hills and also at Araluen golf resort in Perth, so he has a very broad and diverse background in golf course management, which is of great benefit to us on course.  His cousin also happens to be Australian pro Rod Pampling although the golfing ability doesn't seem to run in the family!!

Thirty tonne of bunker sand was added to select bunkers this past week with the bulk being on the West course to start with and more will be added over the coming weeks to top them up.  The sand meets the specification for bunker sand and is also mixed with ''brickies loam'' of all things to give it further stability.  Almost all courses in SE Queensland use the sand for their bunkers and a course in Sydney a few years ago trucked it down there when their bunkers were rebuilt.