I came into the courses on Christmas Day following the Christmas Eve storm not really sure what to expect but was pretty shocked to see the amount of debris on the ground.  Fortunately the courses were ‘’closed’’ and for a change this year there was very little play on Christmas Day compared with other years. The storm on Christmas night was another thing altogether and I would rank it in the top five storms that I have experienced here.  We lost about ten trees but the amount of debris on the course on Boxing Day morning was extraordinary to say the least.  To be honest the courses probably should have been closed to play with the amount of material that was on the ground but the five staff that were rostered on got to it and got the greens, tees and cart paths clear and ready for play, which was a mighty effort.

It didn't really help us though with the first five groups off the back nine of the River course on Boxing Day comprising three two balls and two singles with the first group playing their nine holes in under 1½  hours.  That trend of fast play continued with the first group on Wednesday and Thursday on the West Course playing in under three hours and just over three hours on Friday which doesn't give us much time to get to the course and get it cleaned up.  The 500+ players each day (nearly 600 registered on Friday!!!) doesn’t give us much room to move either.

We prioritised the works areas and bunkers have been the last area we have tried to get to and around one third of the bunkers have been blown out today and hopefully we will get some more done tomorrow morning. On Thursday we had a bobcat on site to help load debris onto trailers and forty two loads were taken to the dump in five hours and I reckon there is still another twenty out there.

It's pretty hard to produce a quality golf course this time of year with the short weeks and massive grass growth and with the savage storms thrown on top.  But then you get players that chunk it around as per the untouched divot below and drive through nearly a foot of water where a drain was blocked.  Makes you wonder sometimes?

Maybe hurt their wrist and couldn't pick up a sand bucket??

 

Right through the middle.