12/4/12 Week News

And on the 58th day it rained...well close enough, more like showers....after 57 days without precipitation we finally received some during the week, a total of 11mm fell, not allot but combined with the cooler weather we were able to switch off the irrigation pumps for a few days. 

Green Renovation Recovery
 
Just over 3 weeks after green renovations and we are now at our normal mowing heights, we have upped the mowing to have them in pretty good shape for this weekend's Easter Medley, they will not be at the same pace as previous events, another week would have been perfect but we knew we only had 3 weeks to get them back and it was always going to be tight. They are rolling reasonably well and there shouldn't be any complaints.
On the downside as expected the crab grass and couch has hung around and now visible this because we couldn't spray prior to renovations due to the national shortage of the chemical used, we received delivery yesterday and will be spraying next week to clear these weeds out. 

Hydraulic oil leak update
It looks like we have managed to dodge a bullet, the hydraulic leak damage has been limited to a few areas of discolouration and only spots of dead grass which are recovering very well. It appears having the leak so close to renovations was a blessing with the higher cut and strong growth rates reducing the severity and making recovery quicker. ..........Phew........

16th Tee
 During the week the staff leveled and turfed the side of the 16th tee to the new wall, it will give us an extra few feet of teeing space but more importantly stop carts from eroding the tee bank.
Graham, Syd and Peter plus a couple of other helpers paved the side walkway to improve the area in total. The paving will be extended when they get time to finish it and also the staff will raise the area where the wall starts at the back to improve the visual appeal.

Other works 
We made good use of the little rain we had applying wetting agent on the back 9 fairways, (front 9 already done) and fertilising the front 9 tee to green and surrounds with a granular fertiliser as a pre winter fert for all the warm season turf. This will allow them to store much needed carbohydrates through winter, keep a bit of colour and more importantly come out of winter in good shape.
The back 9 will be fertilised in a weeks time when we get the second delivery.

All other work concentrated on preparing the course for the Easter Medley and once again I am proud of the staffs efforts to achieve our goals in a very disruptive week, with showers, wind and only a 4 day week to get it all finished and ready for play.

Happy Easter to all and happy golfing.

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