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.