Course Managers Update - Around the Greens in December 2023

To enjoy playing golf at Carnarvon you must:

1. Before leaving a bunker rake any holes and footprints that you see.

2.  As you are walking to your next shot or waiting to play your next shot on a tee, in the fairway or in the rough look around and fill in any divots that you see. If you make a divot playing your shot, make sure to fill it in.

 3. Remind the players in your group to do the above.

We are expecting a very hot dry summer but hopefully we will get some regular rainfall. November provided some nice growing weather with an average maximum of 27 degrees and 110mm of rainfall which kept fairways green and the dams topped up.

Our greens recovered well from the minor renovations early in the month and went on to perform marvellously again throughout November. Full, healthy coverage indicates that green speeds can be maintained but the health and wellbeing of the turf will take priority over speed as we go into what is predicted to be a horrendously hot summer. Dusting of greens is scheduled for mid-December and will take place as the weather allows.

As we move into the holiday season, I ask all members to make the care of our greens

a priority by repairing pitch marks.

The warm humid weather coupled with some extra nutrition provided in November had a good effect on our Tees which are showing plenty of growth. The very hot days are starting to have an effect and I’d like to remind members again that taking take care of your divots will help them to survive the extreme weather conditions.

The 3^rd tee turf has established very well and is “knitting in” nicely. The area is now open for play but we will be spreading the wear by having the tees forward more often than we have previously to help the area to maintain its coverage.

Warm weather and regular rainfall are the key ingredients for Kikuyu growth, hence the condition of our fairways through November has been fantastic. We are seeing quite a bit of Kikuyu recovery in the Ground Pearl affected areas on the 5^th and 6^th which is promising. Organic fertilizer has been applied to thinner areas, with a full application scheduled for December.

The 8^th fairway has suffered some flooding caused by a blocked storm water pipe and we are in the process of having the pipe cleared.

Thatch is beginning to build up in some areas as we were unable to apply a scheduled growth regulator application. This will be monitored and necessary action will be taken to remedy this situation.

The bunkers struggled with the wet weather and drain clearing and sand rejuvenation work has begun with the pits cleared and new sand added to the 10^th bunkers. The 16^th bunker has performed very well since remediation work back in September.

Shay Tasker
Course Manager