Well that might be the last time I use the "D" word on here!  D for drought that is as mentioned a couple of weeks ago has seen a turnaround  to the tune of 250+mm since.  The courses lapped up the first 200 or so but have stayed quite wet with the follow up.  Some of the totals further south around Coffs Harbour were twice ours so not really complaining and we did really need it.  The wind this week wasn't really all that welcome though with consistent gusts of 50kmh bringing down a lot of debris.  A great effort by my staff in cleaning up today has the courses looking very tidy for the first round of the Club Championships tomorrow.  Good luck to all those playing.

The postponed renovations will take place on Monday with a good forecast at this stage.  The greens will be hollow tine aerated with 5/8 inch size tines.  A balanced NPK slow release fertiliser will be applied along with some Gypsum and then a fairly heavy sanding with the aim being to refill all the holes with a fresh growing medium.

A number of dead trees were removed this past week with more to come and the stumps will be removed on Monday next week.  Over the next few weeks there will be some constant tree pruning works carried out removing low, dead, dangerous and untidy limbs.

Next week will also see the start of some bunker sand replenishment.  Budget will not allow us to get to every single bunker that needs sand but the worst will be treated.  The sand will be the same that has been used over the past couple of years which is a 60/40 mix meaning it is comprised of 60% of sand that conforms to the Golf Australia recommendations for bunker sand and 40% "brickies loam" which adds quite a bit of body to the material to help prevent ball plugging.  We can't afford to go to high with the % of loam so as not to start blocking the drains.

And I know I harp on about bunkers not being raked and pitch marks not being repaired but this was the RHS bunker on 2 West green after the heavy rain earlier this week.  The rakes wouldn't make much of an imprint on such heavily compacted sand but that 10 divots that have been made and each one of those shots left a pitch mark on the very soft green which went un-repaired.

10 more pitchmarks!!

It never rains it pours goes the old saying and the virtual drought we have been having has now well and truly broken with flooding rains forecast across the week end and in to next week.  Unfortunately the first two rounds of the Club Championships were due to be played and have been abandoned for this week end and will now be played as a 54 hole event over the next three Saturdays.  The call was made on this after the forecast was assessed and options discussed at a special meeting of the Match Committee on Thursday afternoon in anticipation of the inclement weather.  After the fears of large rainfall figures were realised with torrential rain falling on Friday and the forecast of similar conditions prevailing on Saturday,  the decision that had been discussed at the meeting was implemented.

Perhaps the main reason for the call to made is that the West greens are in a condition that they can not take very much rainfall before water pooling commences rendering them virtually unplayable as relief from casual water can't always be found.  The reason for the water pooling is that the greens are such a tight surface at the moment which is one of the reasons for renovation where the soil pores are opened up and water can move through the profile more easily.

Unfortunately the greens renovation was due to take place next Monday and as predominantly dry conditions are required to allow the soil amendments and fertiliser to be applied, not to mention the extraction of the soil cores as part of the coring process which is very difficult on wet greens.  At this stage the renovations will be put back a week to Monday September 1st with that days Members competition being moved to the River course to allow for the works to proceed.

UPDATE:
 55mm had fallen on the courses to 5.00am on Saturday morning and whilst motorised buggies are off both courses which drastically cuts player numbers, the good news is that it has been very good soaking rain which is what the courses desperately needed.  Saturday mornings total takes us up to just shy of 160mm for the week with more to come.  Interesting that one forecast I saw predicts showers on Friday, Saturday and Sunday but "rain" on Monday so batten down the hatches perhaps!

A fairly quiet week on the courses with cool breezes which always seem to be around for the Brisbane "Ekka" week.  A few showers have softened some areas of the courses and some significant rain is forecast for the weekend.  Being so dry for so long it is going to take some slow steady rain to wet the soil profile right through so the fingers are crossed.  For the first couple of rain events as we head towards summer players can expect some significant pooling of water until the profile is wet through.

I attended a seminar during the week where I was lucky enough to hear from two of the best speakers on turf management I have ever experienced.  One of the slides put up had the following text;

The constantly rising standard of excellence in the maintenance of golf turf continually confronts the greenkeeper with new problems.  The artificial condition of growth to which turf has been subjected on golf courses undoubtedly increases the damage caused by turf diseases.  At the same time, the improvements in turf have tended to make the modern golfer far more critical and have increased the demand for turf of quality kept free at all times from any damage caused by disease or other agencies.

The room was full of Superintendents and you could hear a collective groan about just how accurate the quote was with respect to presenting a golf course that meets the demands of the players.  The presenter then informed us that the quote was from 1932!!  Things really haven't changed that much after all!!  Strategies for disease and weed prevention were high on the presenters agenda and a couple of tweaks to the management of the courses will take place as a result.

Last weeks photos of the bee hive removal are complimented by a good news story from Europe below;

European bee population in better health than we thought

Bayer CropScience reports that according to recent data of 400,000 bee colonies in 21 European countries, overwintering losses of honey bee colonies are at their lowest level in years. This is a key indicator of overall bee health. Additional data published by a nonprofit honey bee research group shows that the mortality rate of bees in the winter of 2013-14 was 9 percent. The previous winter season in the U.K. and Belgium had losses between 30 and 34 percent.

Well the dry continues with rainfall year to date totaling just 583mm compared to 1917mm last year and 1923mm in 2012 for the same time.  The average rainfall YTD July 31 is 1208mm and this year is the driest since 1986 when just 495mm fell and way back in 1902 when only 414mm fell.

Whilst the dry weather is good for golf the turf really starts to struggle with the only water being the recycled irrigation water.  This water is a godsend from availability and price point of view but the suitability for irrigation of fine turf is questionable, particularly after such a prolonged dry spell on the West greens.  Some soil samples were taken this week and the analysis will be used to determine what soil amendments will be added to the greens profile at the upcoming renovation.

And the weather must be turning with a number of families of ducks on the courses especially this one with 15 ducklings as photographed by a Blog following member last Wednesday.  And whilst they may be cute I unfortunately only think of the mess they will make on the greens, particularly after the renovation when the turf is quite lush and also of the number of weed seeds that are disseminated in their droppings.

One big family

Putting hazard and future weeds

For quite some time now there has been an active beehive in one of the Norfolk Island Pines next to 14R ladies tee and whilst given the plight of the bee community in the world I was very happy to have the hive on course, the prospect of someone allergic to bees being stung was the main factor in organising the removal.  Particularly with the swarming season upon us and the proximity to a tee.  Although not a very large hive, once removed it exposed a large cavity in the tree and is quite dangerous and the tree will unfortunately need to be removed.

Before removal

The start of removal

During removal

An amazing burst of weather this week with my thermometer at the shed reading 26º today which is in stark contrast to the equally amazing burst of weather in Victoria at the moment with snow falling in the coastal town of Lorne!!  Quite incredible that we had the haze from the local bushfires hanging over the course this morning and a two hour plane ride away is so frigid. The fertiliser that has been put down over the past few weeks is seeing a tinge of colour return across the courses but nowhere near enough to cause any grass growth.  The West greens were given a very light application of fertiliser last week and are growing incredibly well and look fantastic although some pace has gone from them with the lush growth.

Sunrise through the smoke haze Friday August 1.

 A trial is underway on the back 9 of the West course where some reflective tape has been stuck just under the flag which from all reports makes it easier for rangefinders to zero in on the flagstick.  It was hard to get a good photo with the reflection as seen in the photo below so it just may help.

Reflective tape on the flagstick.

And with the amount of wind we have it is a regular occurrence for the flagsticks to blow out of the putting cup completely or move around and finish up on a lean.  A new cup is being trialed on 10 West green that "locks" the flagstick in.  Unfortunately it is still the same size so won't help your putting!!

New putting cup.

Some delightful weather to finish off the week and dare I say it but some rain would be most welcome.  It seems strange to be irrigating fairways at this time of year but I guess it's a nice problem to have considering the weather down south.

The West greens responded very well to this weeks sanding and it is planned to get another sanding in before the Club Championships.  The greens on both courses were fertilised and some Sulphate of Iron was applied which gives them the dark coloured appearance that is currently evident.  15 River green is enjoying the full sunlight following the tree removal and the adjacent 16 River mens tee has a full grass cover for the first time ever in winter.  That used to be one of the tees that was oversown to provide a grass cover for winter so that is very pleasing.

Over the years I have contemplated oversowing the River greens for the winter months but have decided against it on a number of counts such as cost and disruption to play amongst others.  The grass that would have been used on the greens was the same that has been planted at the rear of 15 River green.  The flock of ducks that have taken residence demonstrates that it is obviously a tasty dish which would mean they would be over all the greens if they were oversown!!

13 - 18 West as well as 16 and 18 River fairways were fertilised this week.  Once again a high content of Iron was present and should help give them some colour.  One of the challenges with this type of spraying operation on fairways is to get the colour even so watch this space as we refine the operation. 

The member information night last night shows just how passionate Members are about their courses when there was some change suggested by course architect Richard Chamberlain.  The plan is now on display in the Members Lounge and comment is expected and welcome.  As General Manager Brett said last night it is imperative to have a plan going forward and that is exactly what we now have for the courses.

The Open Championship was played in some amazing weather although one of my friends in the UK wrote an article talking about the "sweltering conditions".  I just got back from Dubai and it was still 39 degrees at 11pm which is what I call sweltering.  And speaking of the desert, Sanctuary Cove Superintendent Robin Doodson is making the move to Doha GC in Qatar which is host to the Qatar Masters on the European Tour.  Cool Tweed member Paul McLean has accepted the position as Superintendent at The Cove.  And just a couple of snaps from The Open; 

Rory's happy "selfie"

No comment!!

And a bit of trivia.  The British International Golf Greenkeepers Association (BIGGA) supply course support officials that were mentioned several times during the telecast of the Open last week whose task is to walk with each group and rake bunkers and keep the course tidy.  Hoylake has 82 bunkers and they needed raking 335 times during the first round and a total of 945 times for the week.

Back to work after some leave and the cold weather welcomed me with open arms!  Two days of widespread frosts last week end have certainly slowed the grass down and the shaded areas on the north side of fairways, in particular, are really struggling.  This low level of growth normally doesn't happen until August so it is going to be a long winter until the warmth and subsequent growth re appears.

It is interesting watching The Open Championship at Hoylake as that was one of the courses I visited earlier this year.  The calm benign conditions of the first round are a far cry from the arctic type gale force winds and driving rain that were happening when I visited!

Not much will be happening on the courses with the low growth and low staff numbers with several staff taking some annual leave through the cooler months.  The West greens will have at least one sanding applied in the lead up to the Club Championships in late August.  This will help even out the surface and also fill in some of the un repaired pitch marks.  The sand bins around the clubhouse will also be refurbished over the coming weeks.

The Members Information Evening next Thursday will see Course Architect Richard Chamberlain in attendance to discuss the draft Course Improvement Plan that has been developed over the past months.  Such plans are sometimes referred to as Master Plans but the Board felt that Course Improvement was more suitable to our situation.  There are no proposed major structural changes to the layout of the courses but rather some vegetation control where it is now impacting on play and removal of unnecessary bunkers that have no effect on play.  The following is Richards own explanation;

What is a Course Improvement Plan ?
I have produced these types of plans for many golf clubs throughout the country. Each golf club has a different set of goals and desires for their golf course in addition to their own set of problems and short-comings.
A CIP is simply a plan and a written report that outlines a direction for the golf course. This long term plan can be acted on immediately or broken down into phases over time. Some clubs simply perform general improvement works on their course, as a result of the CIP each year and embark on a single green re-model each season. Effectively the CIP is a fifteen or twenty year plan for the future.
What a CIP does reduce is unnecessary work that is decided on a whim and can often result in the work being re-done at a later stage.
The CIP is effectively a set of conceptual ideas for the golf course so that it can be managed and improved effectively.

Richard has prepared similar plans for Redcliffe, Murwillumbah, Cairns and Middle Ridge Golf Clubs.