Apologies for the severe lack of updates during the last 3 weeks, very little time has left me unable to keep up with all that is going on around the course. So here goes a full round up of all the happenings, firstly we have had our first taste of a real winter with around 50mm of snow falling on the course and around the region around a week ago. This was short lived but did close the course for a few days.
The snow fell on already saturated ground so when the thaw came there was a lot of water standing. We have managed to dry out now and all 27 holes are back open after a period when we were only 14-18 holes.
During the thaw period there were some cold nights, freezing the wet soft snow and saturated ground, perfect conditions to cause long term damage to the turf should the course have been near playable. In those circumstances we will have to apply restrictions to prevent damage.
As you can see frozen surface with a very soft top layer on the turf.
The thaw also brought the first flood event on holes 21-24, this section of land is only around 1m above the River Derwent's natural level. As soon as excess water and snow thaw enters the river the levels soon begin to rise. When this happens the 21st and 24th greens become unplayable and we have to use winter cups to keep play going.
Once dried out our focus has been on collecting the last of the leaves now all are off the trees. This is a time consuming task but worth it in the long run to ensure the turf is in the best condition possible come spring. The ditches have also been cleared of debris to ensure all drainage can work as efficiently as possible.
Around tees and greens get a thorough back pack blow to remove any leaves settled in the grass, below is the finished result, the 5th green /6th tee is notorious for leaf issues, but the team have spent a long time ensuring all are blown and collected.
The team have also been busy starting pruning trees around the course, working where we can due to the ground conditions
All the range divider wires have been replaced as they were rotting from being exposed to the elements for so long, we have also started to replace the bolts holding the mats down and turn them to ensure they do not wear from play.
Before the wintery weather arrived we managed to get some winter fertiliser on to the greens after they were cut. This should strengthen the plant going into winter and help resist any further disease attack. Most of the greens are holding up well, we had a bit of disease on a few of the wetter greens, such as the 5th, 10th, 12th and 19th, this has been treated however a few scars remain. We hope to do some aeration to the worst greens before Christmas, they will benefit from aeration as the soil is so saturated. This is as long as the weather conditions allow.
