Grounds Report – September

Course Update

The recent weather definitely has a feel that spring has sprung a little earlier then previous years. We are starting to see some movement in growth out on the course and hopefully this run of nice weather can continue although a little bit of rain may hang around a little longer as we are currently facing some electrical issues on the control side of our pumps (separate as to what was replaced in 2021) This will be rectified shortly and then we can fully embrace the return of the warm and dry weather.

Our tee tops and surrounds have had their final application of herbicides as part of our Kikuyu program. The results look good however the tee’s are looking a little worse for wear as result of the kikuyu dying off but once the warmer weather returns we will start to see the couch cover back over and the scarring to disappear. The fairways are still looking relatively clean although we are starting to see some areas particularly around sprinklers starting to appear, these areas will be spot sprayed over the coming weeks.

Work continues down the maintenance facility with the final piece of the puzzle coming together – the chemical storage shed, previously the 3x3m garden shed didn’t stand up to industry standards and regulations.  Over the coming weeks construction will take place with the pad and washdown bay extension followed by the construction of the 5x3m fully self bunded shed.

Back to back irrigation was recently added to greens 9 & 10. These heads are set to 180 degrees and water the surrounds only. Over the course of the summer the greens on average receive anywhere from 5-8mins of irrigation per night along with getting all the love of wetting agents, coring etc and the surrounds are left to fend for themselves and as result require a little more water than the greens. These heads are valve in head meaning we can control each sprinkler individually and gives us the flexibility to dictate how much water we are putting on these areas. This is opposed to our fairways (block style) where all 4 sprinklers come on at once for that set runtime.

As always, its always a busy time of year down the shed with plenty going on all the time, here is another snapshot of the tasks over the past month:

Greens 150.75 (28.7%), Fairways 22.00 (4.2%), Driveway 0.75 (0.1%), Course Spraying 27.83 (5.3%), Course Signage 0.50 (0.1%), Course Set Up 11.25 (2.1%), Course Blowing / Sweeping 16.50 (3.1%), Collars 8.5 (1.6%), Clubhouse Area 2.25 (0.4%), Bunkers 37.42 (7.1%), Bent Nursery 1.33 (0.3%), Administration 55.58 (10.6%), Tree Work / Bushland Management 13.00 (2.5%), Tee’s 6.50 (1.2%), Special Projects 39.67 (7.5%), Rough 10.17 (1.9%), Renovations 29.75 (5.7%), Paths 9.50 (1.8%), Maintenance Facility 28.92 (5.5%), Machinery Maintenance 6.00 (1.1%), Machinery 10.75 (2.0%), Irrigation 32.08 (6.1%).

Dave Brennan

Golf Course Superintendent