Course managers blog for w/c 1/12/14
Summer has sadly been and gone however I hope you've all had an enjoyable season not only at cathkin braes but had been fortunate to play at various local clubs in our area and also courses further afield as well. Simarly my staff and I have also enjoyed one of our best seasons for sometime thanks to some great weather we've had throughout the summer months this year.
On behalf of the greenstaff,greens committee and myself we would like to thankyou all for your positive feedback and kind comments regarding the condition of the course this year. It has been extremely encouraging to hear members enjoying the course and their golf this season and I do hope this continues for many seasons to come.
Continuing with some more thank you's is to my temporary staff this year of Andrew Galbraith and Stuart Cameron for their hard work and effort they have put in this to ensure the course is kept tidy especially divoting of the fairways which I can a sure you is an extremely monotonous task but never the less essential of which I think we have all seen and still seeing the benefits of regular divoting of the tees and fairways. Andrew and Stuart have recently left us and I do hope they can return to cathkin braes in the spring next year.
Let me update you on what's been happening on the course so far
Myself and the committee have finalised and agreed our forthcoming winter programme and is as follows:-
1) The renovation and upgrading of pathways adjacent to tees at the 6th,8th and 9th continuing with the rubber matting specification as of previous paths installed. Paths at the 6th and 8th are now complete. I have delayed the 9th path so that I can concentrate on green side bunker renovation at the 6th,9th and 15th holes. This will allow me to transport large quantities of material to these bunker while the ground is still relatively firm therefore minimising compaction and turf damage to access routes and landing areas.
2) Greeenside bunker renovation at 6th, 9th, 15th, 17th and 5th holes still continuing with the revetting style construction. During construction temporary greens will be in play Mon - Fri unless notified otherwise. The 5th hole may be closed during construction to allow greenstaff to work safely and efficiently again Mon - Fri unless otherwise notified.
3) The construction of additional teeing area to the 5th hole located to the r/h/s of the 4th green. Work has begun and will continue throughout the winter period. Hopefully the spring of 2015 will be kind to us as I intend to have you playing from the new tee at some time in May!! weather and temperature will determine opening the new tee.
End of winter programme.
Course maintenance to date :-
TEES- All main teeing ares have now been hollowcored and left open (not sand top dressed ) by doing so this will allow air and surface moisture to pass through the root zone quicker therefore keeping the turf drier and healthier throughout the winter months. Sand topdressings will be applied in March prior to the competition season starting.
GREENS- All main greens have now been closely hollowcored with the exception of the 18th. Weather deteriorated around the time of proposed greens renovation therefore garden sand injection was not an option at that particular time, however both operations do similar work and benefits for the turf - remove thatch and incorporate sand into holes and grooves providing firmer free draining turf. As weather improved later that week I decided to garden sand inject the last green that had to be done-18th , this way I can monitor what operation is more effective.
6TH MEDAL TEE
You may of noticed this season the quality of turf on this tee has been sub standard due to few factors such as shade and a possible root zone issue. Recently we have hollowcored and applied a sand top dressing incorporating grass seed and soil conditioners to aid recovery. To assist in the recovery it is proposed that we crown lift branches on all trees on the l/h/s of the tee to allow additional light and air around the teeing area. I hope to see an improvement in turf quality next season, if not tree removal and tee construction may be required.
PITCHMARKS
It is with great delight I report that there has been an improvement in the repair of pitchmarks on our greens recently considering the difficulty in identifying them due to the topdressing sand on the greens at present. Regular applications of sand top dressings will effectively make the putting surfaces firmer which of course is our main objective, however the colour of sand makes it difficult to identify ballmarks, therefore could take an extra few minutes to seek out ballmarks especially
throughout the winter as this has an effect on how our greens perform come the start of the 2015 season. Thankyou and keep up the good repair work.
MEMBERS TOILET
We have a new security code for the members toilet at the greenkeeping building - C1234
This is a less complicated code and hopefully easily remembered.
Hopefully I will have another blog for you before we break for Christmas, however if not can I take this opportunity on behalf of the greenstaff,greens committee and myself to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year also good luck for the 2015 season
Regards
Douglas
