My thanks to the staff for their efforts in the lead up to and during the AVGU National Championship week, their commitment and dedication which saw them here ready to work at 4am every morning and then again after play till well into the night was made even more impressive, considering as a young inexperienced staff, it was their first taste of what it takes to prepare a golf course for a National Event. 

To our many volunteers and the tremendous assistance given we could not have accomplished what we achieved without your help thank you.

 Some Course Maintenance Facts Specific for the Event

·        Working bees attracted up to 18 volunteers on both major work days

·        Course staff of 4 were assisted with a few hours spent by regular volunteers.

·        Greens H.O.C  2.3mm double cut morning and single cut afternoon

·        Tees / Aprons cut 9mm double cut in lead up x 3 per week, daily during event.

·        Fairways 14mm Double cut in lead up x 3 per week cut daily during event.

·        Bunkers raked, faces smoothed and debris removed daily

 The above is a small snippet into the level of conditioning that is involved in maintaining the course to a major event standard, the commitment of available labour time for presentation along with that of budget constraints and consideration of turf health means this level of conditioning cannot be sustained for your normal weekly competitions and why there is a difference between standard events and major event conditions. Members will still enjoy the high weekly standard they have come accustomed to.

Heading into summer, environmental stresses will dictate how we prepare the course; we need to focus on course maintenance issues other than presentation. With the National Vets over the course staff will turn our attention to irrigation repairs and sprinkler maintenance before the high use summer irrigation season arrives, herbicide applications to rough areas for control of crab grass and other nuisance weeds, preparing for the Greens second mini aeration and Back 9 Fairway renovations along with daily / weekly routine course maintenance will ensure we roll on and keep busy.
 
Finally, at least our roos are  friendlier.
 

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