Renovations have been completed with a decent result considering the showery weather that affected coring early Monday morning. The light rain made it difficult to collect cores with some filling of the core holes whilst trying to harvest the cores off to the ends of the green. This limited the amount of sand that could be applied due to holes being closed over, but with the 10mm of rainfall that was received Monday night it was a blessing. This allowed the sand to settle into the core holes better than expected, so on Tuesday morning another sanding was applied to top up these holes with a great result having filled 90% of all core holes.
A granular gypsum was applied to add some much-needed calcium to the profile followed by all other amendments like, biologically activated carbon for soil development, premium plant beneficial microbes, full spectrum of trace elements and a balanced NPK fertiliser, specifically designed for renovation. We should achieve a quick recovery and look at mowing greens sometime next week.
The old 3rd bunker has been filled and completed. The general shape is there with some minor fine tuning over the coming days ready for turfing on Monday 4th November. The contouring of the mounding will protect the green from the run shot with strategically placed mounding to hold up or move the ball away from the green, there will be a mix of closely mown grass and a higher cut grass over the mounding. The new grass and associated works area will be GUR for a month whilst the turf establishes. You MUST take relief (with no penalty) to the nearest point, no closer to the hole.
With the course being closed for 2 days it’s been a great opportunity for the staff to also mow fairways and trim bunker edges, it’s been a big week from the team and their efforts are muchly appreciated by all. The guys started on Sunday afternoon and with a big 12-hour day on Monday that set up for an easier Tuesday allowing other tasks to be completed as well.
Next week we will concentrate on our tee renovations with coring, sanding, and fertilising hopefully completed by Tuesday weather permitting.