The temperature finally dived below 20 this morning for the first time since mid December which was a welcome relief.  The day time temperature has also fallen below 30 which is the first time probably this year.  Soil temperatures have also dropped which are critical in 2 ways the first being that the bentgrass roots can start growing again and the couchgrass roots start going to sleep.

85 mm of rain also fell this week with the big one on Tuesday morning that dumped 50mm in an hour just before the ladies were due to hit off.  Unfortunately most of this water ran off the courses but a couple of follow up overnight fall have been very welcome.  We were able to take advantage of no play on Tuesday and got the West greens solid tined which allows for some much needed air exchange after such a long hot summer.  Unfortunately a machinery malfunction caused some tearing on 2 and 11 but the benefits to the greens far outweigh this negative.

The 2016 Masters has been and gone and despite all the commentary about Jordan Spieth's woes I couldn't help but admire his conduct in the face of such an adverse situation.  Truly remarkable for a 22 year old to have such a demeanor  A couple of things that I did notice was the amount of sponsorship on the players clothing. Perhaps it was against the backdrop of the one dimensional green colour of the course which is something that Russ Davis commented on upon returning that the whole course was the same colour green, apart from the parched greens that is.  It would be interesting to see the players devoid of the logos like the old days.

The olde no logo cardigan look!!

And below is a photo of the fairway mowers doing their thing.  The fairways are all mown in the one direction from the green back to the tee and I can count 13 in the photo which was the number of staff I had in today to maintain the full 36 holes @ Cool Tweed!!!
 

 

And this is some of the volunteers at work!!

24 degrees and 84% humidity in the shed compound this morning made for a very uncomfortable start to the day and further proof that summer isn't done yet.  It is the second week of April right??  The fairways are still powering along and may need another application of growth regulator which has never happened after mid - March before!!

The West greens are showing the effects of an excellent result with the control of encroaching couchgrass.  The runners that the plant is now producing are evidence of a very good result although can affect the putting surface.  The greens are still struggling with the heat and humidity although the only reason I walk on 17W green is to see how well it is doing!!  

A very busy week with the tree removal at 3 West green.  A huge improvement is expected in the putting green quality and also the green surround that got very slippery during winter last year to the point that the area was not walkable.  Some turf will be laid on Monday to finish the job off.

The River greens received a much needed sanding today although the light drizzle wasn't very helpful in drying the sand to allow it to be rubbed in.  As soon as the weather cools the West greens will also get a sanding to help re-level the surface.  If sand was put on the greens in the heat we are experiencing it would "cook" the greens.

Sand going on 18R

I trust Russ and Gary enjoy their time at The Masters this week and don't come back with a dose of "Augusta Syndrome"!!  This is what Superintendents call players lofty expectations of their own course after seeing Augusta either on TV or live on course.  The Masters really is a show on its own and Augusta make a lot of their own rules which is fine but they also have a near perfect course made possible by a big budget and a huge staff come tournament week.  And the extra staff aren't just some "dads army", they are some of the most senior staff from some of the worlds best courses that volunteer for the week.  It is probably the most high pressure Supers job in the world and the current Super has been there 19 years which is an enormous achievement but as the club forbids its employees to speak publicly unfortunately you don't get to hear from him.  But let's sit back and watch how the week end unfolds and hopefully one of the Australians can do us proud although they are going to need to shoot low after poor first rounds.

I think I went a bit early last week with the "summers over" call.  A beautiful week of weather but some last minute summer disease problems on the West greens was just not what was wanted.

Once again short staff numbers with sick wives and children requiring care and one of the casuals successful in getting full time employment really had us under the pump in a short week with strong growth.  The fairways are still powering along and this is very unusual to have this much growth so late in the season.  242mm of rain in March that fell on 20 days and constant 30 plus degree temperatures is obviously partly responsible for the growth.  We are still to drop below 20 degrees overnight and the coming week promises more of the same.

For today's corporate day we installed a "big hole golf" hole in the practice green.  I'll leave it there over the week end for players to try. Big hole golf hasn't taken off to the extent that "footgolf" has in Australia with quite a few clubs running days that are gaining popularity. 

As mentioned last week a number of dead and potentially dangerous trees were removed today and next week we will be removing some trees adjacent to 3 West green.  The photo below is of a Eucalypt on RHS 7W that wasn't hanging on by very much!

Rotten!

 

 

 

And another week goes by with poor etiquette on the courses.  The top one is two totally untouched divots but then again if you can only hit it 10 feet you're in for a long day.  The second is of a divot taken out of 3W green which is one of at least 12 divots out of greens since Christmas.  A couple of juicy unrepaired ball marks too and the old chestnut of a totally unraked bunker after a shot on the right hand side.  At least the others made an attempt..

 

Get some lessons - in etiquette as well!

Not much respect for those following?

Still no respect for those following?

Well I think I can safely say we are now past summer.  The days are a lot shorter now and the dews are heavy and staying around longer despite the beautiful sunny days and pleasant temperatures.  It still hasn't dropped below 20 degrees overnight yet but it won't be long.  The courses have come through summer in great condition, in particular the West greens considering the age of most of them and grass type.  The staff have certainly stepped up to the plate with an average of just 11.3 staff on the golf courses each day since January 1.  How they have been able to keep up is a testament to their work ethic and they are all to be congratulated.

There will be some tree work being performed over the next two weeks with dead and dangerous trees being removed commencing next week.  The following week will see tree removal around 3W green to allow more light to reach the green and surrounds.  You only need to look at the improvement in turf quality around 4R tee, 5W green and 9W green following tree removal adjacent to these areas over the past few years.  All stumps will be ground and re-filled as part of the operation.

And speaking of trees the photo below shows a trench line that was cut as part of the sprinkler installation to the CIP areas on 2W.  It demonstrates just how much the tree roots pull out of the fairways with such a distinct line.

No tree roots on the left anymore!

A pretty tough week on the courses this week with another 80mm of rain falling.  The courses are still pretty wet from the rain earlier in the month so are taking a bit longer to dry out but the one thing in our favour is the strong growth meaning good turf recovery from the wear.  The West greens are still struggling with the continuing heat and their root structure and depth is very poor so the sooner these high temperatures move on the better.  It's extraordinary to think that on the other side of the country, Perth have had just 15mm of rain since November!!

The week was made even tougher with desperately short staff numbers.  Two full time employees are on annual leave and so a couple of casuals had their hours raised to cover but various ailments have meant that there has been a lot of time off.  508 hours were to be worked on the roster this week but with the time off this was slashed to 403 hours worked - a 20% reduction.  At this time of year and with the damage from the rain it means a lot of work didn't get done.

The weather bureau put out a "special climate update" this week covering the prolonged March heatwave that is affecting many parts of Australia.  There have been all sorts of day and night time temperature records broken including the "Australian area - averaged maximum temperature" that was a whopping 38.14° on March 2nd which beat the previous record from 1966.  No wonder the bent greens are still struggling!  Here is a link to the full update;

 

Special Climate Statement  

And if you think some of the bunkers at Cool Tweed are tough take a look at this beauty at Royal North Devon I found this week!!      

Just when I thought the West greens had gotten through summer relatively unscathed they stressed out this afternoon requiring quite extensive back up water to be applied to them.  It was most of the normal places but a few new areas as well.  

I purchased a "soil moisture sensor" late last year and this has been an invaluable tool in managing the greens through summer by taking the guess work out of when and how much irrigation is required.  It has been interesting talking to other superintendents around the country and the figures that they strive for.  Here on the Tweed the West greens get to wilting point at 24% of plant available water which is where areas on greens 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 12, 16, and 18 got to this afternoon.  The River greens on the other hand regularly sit in the mid twenties and as low as 12% without any sign of stress.  The Tifeagle on  17W and the practice green have been as low as 7% and still maintain a healthy sward.  Hopefully the weather cools soon and the West greens can take a sigh of relief (and me too).

The photo below shows the read out on the screen from 75mm long probes.  Its a bit blurry but the top line indicates "Standard Volumetric Water Content" (VMC) % = 9.0.  NO. 17 on the bottom line is the number of locations probed and A is for the average of those areas which is 8.7%.  The photo further down shows the Tifeagle in perfect health.  I would hate to think what a bentgrass green would look like at the same level!!

 

Read out on soil moisture sensor

 

Healthy Tifeagle

A major irrigation break earlier in the week resulted in a huge hole being hand dug in quite uncomfortable weather conditions.  It was on Tuesday when we were getting some showers coming through so fortunately didn't impact on the course too much.  The irrigation lines almost had to be drained completely and then took nearly four hours to refill back up to pressure again.

On the track between 13 and 14 West.

 

Well the forecast of rain was accurate and this time I missed on getting some fertiliser out!!  It was 100mm of the most welcome rain as the courses were really starting to dry out.  Although it was heavy at times I would estimate about 70% of it soaked in and has already had a dramatic effect on the grass growth.  The other bonus was that not too much work time was lost which can often be the case.  It did unfortunately wash the bank of the new practice green again and I am contemplating whether to turf this small area to rid us of this problem. 

The low wind speed of the last couple of days gave us the chance to blow all the debris out of the bunkers and give them a rake which after such a heavy rain was very much needed.  However it makes you wonder why we bother when this greets you within an hour of the bunker being raked.

Why do we bother....