July was very mild and without any significant frost or
wild weather except for one day on which the course received 75mm of the 103mm
of rainfall for the month. Our annual rainfall now stands at 804mm which is
much closer to average than in previous years.
The Greens
are in fantastic condition and are enjoying the milder weather we have
experienced throughout July. The lack of frost or even a run of cold days has
allowed the greens to maintain their colour and vigour right through winter. Renovations
will take place on the 19th of August, weather permitting. We will
be using 12mm hollow tines to a depth of 100mm, followed by top dressing with
USGA spec sand and soil amendments. Preventative applications for Argentine
Stem Weevil and Pythium will be applied in August.
Due to the
high golf numbers we have seen over the last few months the tees are showing a lot of damage. The markers are being
moved forward and narrowed up as often as possible to share the wear around
while also trying to give competition players as long a course as possible. The
couch on some heavily worn tees such as the par 3’s are suffering slightly
where the autumn Poa annua preventative herbicide was overlapped. This is
particularly noticeable on the 12th, 18th and a small
section on the 5th. Regardless of this the tees are clean of any Poa
and kikuyu grass. I believe that once the weather warms up and we renovate, the
tees will bounce back to full health.
The fairways are
an absolute pleasure to look at at the moment. Mild weather and rainfall
coupled with monthly fertilizer applications have allowed fairways to remain in
great shape throughout the winter. A fungicide application was applied in July
to control Winter Fusarium brought on by the wet weather. Fusarium is something
we have seen in our winter fairways for years and we will be implementing a different
plan to avoid this in the future. Five tonnes of Gypsum was applied to fairways
to improve soil structure and while we don’t see an immediate response, this
will benefit turf health in the months to come. A second application will be
carried out later in the year.
Bunkers have performed quite well during July. The 75mm
dump of rain did put some pressure on several of them but once they were pumped
out, they dried up quickly. Our resident fox has had a bit of a party in the 12th
bunkers this time, digging up some drainage gravel.
The pathways have all been topped up and smoothed with
gravel, followed by 75mm of rain to wash them back out again!
In early August arborists will remove some dangerous dead
trees as well as tidy up the cypress behind the 13th tee. Also,
during August, some corridors will be trimmed and some shade issues around the
course will be addressed.
Shay Tasker
Course Manager