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.