We had more overnight rain that closed the course first thing this morning, however we managed to open at 10 am after pushing water of the greens. This year we have had to remove water from the greens more than we have ever done previously, this is obviously due to the severe weather experienced this year. The water table is still very high and it takes little rain to shut the course. We have done a lot of work over the years to the greens to help them drain more freely during and following rain. Below is a hole cutter sample from the 9th green showing the greens profile down to a depth of 250mm.

Firstly it shows what we are up against with the drainage characteristics of the green, the top 120-150mm is fairly sandy rootzone material that has been added over the years, this is fairly well drained material, the lower 100mm is native soil which is more compact, heavier and slow to drain. This year the amount of rainfall has caused the inefficiently draining native soil to 'back up' water to the surface causing playability issues. The only way we are going to improve the rate of water dispersal on the surface of the green is to install drains which will pull water away from the saturated rootzone. Rooting is very good, the majority of roots are within the top 150mm, due to the availability of space, nutrients and moisture, however it is clear that some roots extend into the native soil, visible in an old tine hole to the right of the picture. Deep tining helps us to penetrate through to the native soil, to prevent root sheer at the point of material change. To the left of the picture, beneath the sward, it is obvious where the sand has been added over the past 3 years, this gets more diluted further down the soil profile. Thatch isn't a real issue anymore as the aeration work has helped to breakdown any 'old'thatch and the regular sand dressings through the season has ensured that any added organic matter is constantly diluted.
The greens were cut again yesterday whilst they were dry enough for the triple, they are filling in well and hopefully will improve further over the next week or so.

As the course is very wet we have started some jobs which will make little mess with machinery, the long rough on the course is being cut back for the winter, it has been very thick this year due to the amount of moisture and growth. In the thickest areas we have had to collect the grass following cutting.

We have also started to strim around the trees on the course to tidy them up, we will also do some of the more inaccessible banks that are long during the summer.