Course Managers Update - Around the Greens in January 2020
Published Wednesday, 15th January 2020
December was a month of
warm/high temperatures and very little rainfall. Just 3mm fell in December,
bringing our annual total to 603mm which is 747mm below the Sydney average
and 430mm below the long term average for Carnarvon. Obviously we are
suffering with the dry just like everyone else. I’m confident we can get the
greens through the remainder of summer with the water we have in storage. It
will require some extra hand watering to reduce sprinkler use. Water test
results returned with very high levels of sodium (5 times higher than the peak
last year).
I’m very happy with the way greens are performing so
far this summer. We have had some extraordinarily hot days already and
prolonged dry spells but the greens are handling them easily. As mentioned the
sodium levels in our water are very high, this is/will require frequent
applications of gypsum, Magnesium, Organic acid and liquid Calcium. We have
been applying these amendments since October in preparation for this weather,
but as water quality declines, so the need for extra amendments increases. On a
positive note, the dry weather and the health of the plant has meant we have
not been under any disease pressure. Having a healthy plant also assists with
its resistance to hot, dry conditions.
I’ve had to reduce irrigation frequency to tee
surfaces. Some tees are ok with less water while others are showing severe
signs of stress. There is life in them and they are being watered once a week
in general with the dryer ones getting extra just to keep the life in there.
Not a great deal I can say about fairways. There are
signs of life there and believe it or not we are still removing
grass when we do cut them (only every fortnight at this time). There is still a
good coverage apart from a few areas which are beginning to thin out now. It
won’t take much for them to bounce back to life once it does rain again.
We’ve had a couple minor issues with the pumps in the
18th shed and we are
working on one or two minor leaks and a few inoperable decoders on fairway
irrigation at the moment.
The soil for the 1st ladies tee will be put in place over the next few weeks.
Shay Tasker
Course Manager