Course Managers Report - Around the Greens in January 2023

The average max temperature was 25 degrees and the course received 32mm of rain and some very windy days. The weather conditions combined to dry the course out quite considerably and a string of 5 days over 30 degrees during the Christmas/New Year period compounded the situation.

Even with the dry weather the greens have behaved very well. A few little trouble areas drying out but in all they are in very good health. With the disruption to our renovations earlier in the year, we are seeing a slight build-up of thatch. This is causing the greens surfaces to seem a little softer than normal. Thatch reduction and minor renovations will be carried out to surfaces as the golf program and weather allows. The warm weather has brought about an increase in pest and disease activity, fortunately we have been able to keep any infestations to a minimum, with little to no sign of damage on any greens. Unfortunately, the Corellas are back again and beginning to rip up the 19^th green but with that green being in play, damage has been kept to a minimum.

The Tees have thoroughly enjoyed the warmer weather, showing a great deal of improvement over the last few weeks. The 3^rd tee was turfed with Santa Ana couch and is ready to have the height cut down ready for play. Tees will be verti-drained with solid tines during January.

We have had a fantastic result from seeding and renovating the bare areas on fairways. We were fortunate enough to have full dams, enabling us to irrigate every night for 3 weeks to germinate seed. Even areas that were not seeded have responded well to the renovation. The 11^th fairway is due to re-open on the 7^th of January after a nice break. Patches on the 11^th  have recovered very well, with only a small section having trouble due to an irrigation fault. Changing temperatures and ground movement are causing several faults in the irrigation system. December saw 5 leaks from failed pipe fittings, and a further 4 failed sprinkler valves.

The scheduled tree work was carried out on Thursday the 12^th of January with the removal of the dead tree on 11 and the thinning out of some other trees on the same line to allow for more sunlight to enhance fairway growth.

Shay Tasker,
Course Manager