April course report
It’s no secret that weather conditions in south east Australia have been extremely dry over the past six months and I’m struggling to recall the last time course conditions were this dry as we head into to the back half of Autumn. Fortunately the last week of April gave us an inch of rain which was much needed and with conditions now cooler we should see a return to some more normal playing conditions for this time of year over the next few weeks.
GREENS
The greens recovery from renovations on April 7th has been tremendous and this was largely aided by the unseasonably warm temperatures that we received through the recovery process.
Heading into May we yet again have the air2G2 machine booked in preparation for winter which will assist in air, water and root movement which will equate to healthier, firmer and smoother playing conditions to play from.
Our greens got through the dry and hot summer-autumn with very few concerns this year which was extremely pleasing and certainly validated to me that the changes in machinery and management of our greens over the past few years has made some real improvements. With their current health being excellent this puts them in a good position to tackle the colder months with fewer concerns than years gone by.
BUNKERS
Always a popular talking point at every golf club our bunkers have noticeably had issues with the underneath matting starting to appear regularly on the surface. Unfortunately there is little that can be done to stop this completely as the causes involve wind, rain, and golfers raking, walking, and hitting shots which all contributes to irritating/ripping the matting resulting in it appearing at the surface.
The matting is there to seperate the sand from the clay and without it we would find ourselves with bunkers contaminated with clay resulting in hard, compacted and poorly draining bunkers like we once had. For this reason it is not advisable to remove the matting. Further more, adding sand is not the solution here and staff over the last month have spent many hours in hammering/pegging this matting down below the surface in an attempt to nullify its impact . This exposed matting will continue to be an ongoing battle as different areas tear and become exposed over time however we will endeavour to keep on top this as best we can. For now there has been a significant improvement in this area compared to where we were 4-6 weeks ago and I expect there to be less issues regarding this moving forward.
TEES/SURROUNDS/FAIRWAYS
All main playing conditions are currently in good shape and the one benefit of such dry conditions is we are seeing all these surfaces performing really nicely.
One major task on our Santa Ana surfaces over the next few weeks will be to spray the kikuyu grass areas that like to invade the couch grass through the late Autumn months. The reason for this is that while the Santa Ana now begins to go into dormancy the kikuyu continues to grow. This not only makes it stand out more visually but is also its best opportunity to invade the other grass species around it which is what we are trying to negate. Although there are no chemicals that kill only kikuyu we will spray a product that helps eradicate its growth and therefor minimise its ability of spreading any further. You will begin to notice some discolouration in these areas which are unsightly but necessary to ensure the Santa Anna remains the dominant grass type.
Over the month of May you will also notice some verti drain holes in our tees and surrounds as we try to open up these surfaces to aid in water movement heading into winter. This is a big job and will likely be undertaken over several weeks with the key focus being on high traffic areas and spots that drain poorly.
Happy golfing
Ryan Hammond DG&CC Course Superintendent
Sent from my iPhone
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