With summer now behind us we are looking forward to preparing for winter.

Our fairways have survived summer very well with the irrigators only needed for 3 weeks at the end of January. Many thanks to Tim McCarthy for the work he has put in to repair the irrigators and keep them in working order.  Temperatures during summer were below average but conditions were still dry.  Luckily we received rainfall when we needed it most.  The fairway mower has been kept very busy during these favourable growing conditions.  All fairways are in excellent condition heading into dormancy.

The 6^th and 8^th fairways have received extra foliar fertiliser to promote growth going into winter. The top of the 8^th has been reshaped to get more grass on the right and the tee end of the 6^th has not been cut since February to improve playing conditions.  All fairways and tees have now been sprayed with pre-emergent as part of our pre winter program.

The greens have responded well to our March coring and are currently coming down in height quickly. The cutting of greens is subject to the sand being dewy/wet and sticking to the mower tyres, rollers and being picked up in the catches. Dry afternoon cutting is preferred until the sand is gone to minimize this.

The excellent condition of the greens prior allowed us to use our large deep tines on our verti drain machine to a depth of 7 inches and a 100% pull out.

Sand was applied but conditions did not allow it to dry quickly enough during the day to finish rubbing in. Overcast and wet conditions made it very hard to rub in and fill the deep holes. Long afternoons followed, only able to rub the sand in late in the afternoon when dry. It was the following week that the weather was fine, the sand was dry and we got to fully rub the sand in. Poor weather has therefore set our recovery time back slightly.

Please note, the sand must be 100% dry to fall down the holes. If not it just smothers the top of the hole over and the holes are left empty with a poor result.

By coring twice a year we are continually improving the health of our greens every year. By going back to a once a year coring we are only maintaining what we have and even going backwards if conditions are poor and do not allow for an excellent one off result.

A big thank you must go to the volunteers that continue to help out when needed. Jobs such as spreading out cores, picking up limbs, re-turfing areas, whipper snipping, round up spraying and even mowing have been undertaken. Thank you.

As a courtesy to all other players when exiting a bunker please leave the bunker in the best possible condition for the next player. Rake the bottom of the bunker as flat as possible raking where you have hit from and walked. Please only smooth faces with back of rake to allow balls to roll to middle.

Dylan McMeekin
Superintendent

First run of the 7in verti drain machine on the third green.Showing a 7in core filled with sand.The guys filling the cores on 18Denis on the coring machine on 9The practice putter covered in sand before sweeping.Tom sweeping the sand starting to fill the cores.Tom sweeping in 18