Yesterday we had another 35mm of rain, fortunately in the afternoon it stopped, the wind got up and the sun came out. In the morning given the bad conditions we caught up on a few inside jobs, all the machines were serviced, blades sharpened and the shed tidied up. We fitted our two small trailers with new metal bottoms, replacing the old wood that had gone rotten.

We also had the ball collector into the shed to replace some of the broken discs

In the afternoon we went out onto the course to push the water off the greens and to aid water on the fairways into some of the drains. With the conditions good we did everything possible to help the course open for today.

Amazingly the course was dry enough to be opened this morning and with the forecast good for the day the remainder of the standing water went fairly quickly. Today we caught up a little with cutting of greens, fairways, tees, semi, surrounds and intermediate rough. We also moved the putting green holes and installed some open drains at points where the water is slow to drain away around greens and tees.

Work on the soakaway on the 12th hole

For a number of years we have been having problems with excessive water running into a septic tank overflow soak away which is located to the left of the 12th hole. The ground around the soak away is often saturated making cutting and maintenance of the area difficult. To resolve the issue we have contractors working on the 12th to investigate the pipework leading into and around the current manhole and establish which pipes contain clean water and which may contain effluent from the nearby tank. Investigative trenches were dug to find the pipework and drain dye used to establish where they run to and from.

Two pipes were found, the contractors are installing an extra manhole so the second pipe containing the apparent clean water can be separated from the effluent pipe, once the manhole is installed the water can be tested and inspected when necessary. The soakaway can then be monitored to see weather it has resolved the excess water problem.

pond work days 4 and 5

On Thursday we continued with the pond excavation with the weather not looking great for Friday our aim was to get most of the soil out and lead to the storage area. We worked the excavator towards the edge of the pond to get it out once most of the soil was removed. We constantly had a water pump working to keep the water level down to help remove the soil below water level.

Once the excavator was out of the pond the remainder of the soil inside the pond was removed and the bank shaped.

Today a lot of rain fell making the area we were working in very wet. We only had to finish the pond area by removing some of the reeds from around the edge of the pond and finishing shaping the bank side. All soil that was dropped during transport was cleared, the area was marked as GUR and the dam holding water back in the 1st ditch was removed to allow water to refill the pond. Next week the pond bank will be turfed to prevent erosion from more rainfall and any turf damaged repaired.

14th pond work continued

After a heavy shower last night, it made things a little sticky first thing this morning for leading soil away from the pond. Some of the wetter soil had to be taken just a short distance away due to the conditions and the fact it was too sloppy to remain in the trailers for the journey. Once we had cleared the wet soil we continued leading it to the end of the range where it can be used at a later date. We are making good progress with the pond excavation and hope to get the majority of the work done before the end of the week.

14th pond continued

We only had this morning to continue with the 14th pond due to the seniors open. With the water level dropped Alistair started digging out the soil below the water level. He piled it onto the area we cleared yesterday to drain off for tomorrow.

Also this morning we double cut greens, rolled greens, cut surrounds, cut semi, cut 19-27 fairways, 19-27 tees, and this afternoon worked on the 26th bunker.

14th pond alterations

Today we began altering the 14th pond, a couple of months ago we took out some of the pipework leading in to the pond as it was blocked by willow roots, at that time we didn't have time to remove the soil around the pipework. We began by marking out the new shape of the pond, striping off the turf and removing the topsoil which will be used later to put back on the banking. We then started pumping out the 14th pond to make it easier to dig out the soil below the water level. The subsoil was then removed and put in the 26th bunker which is being filled in. We are continuing with this project on Wednesday as there is a seniors open day at the club tomorrow. The majority of the structural work should be completed this week and the finishing will be done in the next couple of weeks.

Also today we groomed and cut greens, cut fairways, tees, semi and moved holes.

The weather has certainly improved this week, we have had started to see a marked improvement with the firmness of the turf across the course. With the warm spell the greens have started to dry out considerably to what they were like a couple of weeks ago. Around the edges of bunkers where sand splash is slightly more we have had to hand water adding to the overnight irrigation application.

 Rob at the 15th

Before more rain arrives we have dug out a drain in front of the 18th tee where prolonged standing water was an issue. Myself, Alistair and Scott found an outlet for the new drain, an existing drain running nearby. Removed the turf and dug out a trench to the required depth.

We then installed the drainage pipe, back filled with stone, a blinding layer of pea gravel and capped of with root zone.

 We then re turfed and soil and seeded the surrounding area so it would fully recover given the right weather conditions.

With a week of perfect weather we have once again been catching up on some of the smaller jobs, Will and Scott edged the practice bunkers and tidied our storage area at the 3rd. Al and Rich top dressed out all of the old drains we installed on the course a couple of years ago. Adam and Rob soil and seeded some more of the water damaged areas and top dressed the 23rd drain again.

We continued cutting across the course as the rate of growth is still very high. The definition on the fairways is superb given the weather.

Scott applied some fertiliser to the tees mid week to help them recover from wear and to ensure they remain healthy. All the re levelled tees will be hollow cored in the next month or so.

23rd bunker now in play

The long running project on the 23rd is one step closer to completion now the new bunker is in play. We edged it and prepared it for play today.

The sand has settled well, however it will remain soft for a while and balls may plug more easily than some of the other bunkers. The drain that was installed into the bunker still remains GUR until it has been top dressed and seeded again.

Today we finished edging the remaining bunkers on the course, finished cutting tees and fairways which were left from yesterday after we had a heavy thunderstorm in the afternoon. We double groomed the greens and cut this morning, this is to remove some of the lateral growth that builds up from the bent grasses in the greens. Grass growth on the course remains vigorous so continual cutting is a priority to keep the appearance of the course at an acceptable level

At the end of another busy week we have been catching up on a few more of the smaller jobs across the course. Over the last 2 days Will has been strimming all the bits around the course that are inaccessible to ride on mowers and areas that are cut at slightly longer heights.

He also edged up all of the brick and stonework around greens and tees. Rich and Scott trimmed around all of the sprinkler heads. Other regular cutting included tees, double cut of fairways, range, surrounds, greens, semi and tee sides.

Scott moving markers at the 1st tee

Edging bunkers

With the weather being good for the last couple of weeks we have finally been able to catch up on a few things that we have had to put on hold whilst we concentrated on cutting and water removal in the past few weeks. Yesterday and today we have made good progress into edging the bunkers across the course. Firstly the bunker is shimmed around the edge to remove any rhizomes that may be spreading through the sand, then the edge of the bunker is strimmed to remove the long grass.

We then tidy up the debris, check sand levels and rake the bunker ready for play.