All greens were dusted again on Monday morning and rubbed in straight away with a drag mat towed by a greensmower. The drag mat sweeps or pushes the sand into the canopy of the turf to produce the same finish as we would using the sprinklers to wash the sand into the canopy. This week we are trying to reduce moisture levels in the greens soil profiles by limiting as much irrigation as possible. The reason we are reducing the moisture is to remove the favourable conditions for disease development, while presenting a firmer putting surface at the same time.

Fairways have only been mown once this week to provide some relief on these surfaces that are starting to show some signs of stress after what has been a trying summer for them. While the high humidity is great for growth, it also increases the possibility of disease infection. We are seeing the effects of Helminthosporium disease or Helmo for short, in certain areas across fairways and roughs. High humidity, daily temperatures in the range of 3 to 30 degrees, extended leaf wetness from rainfall and overcast days, and stress from high traffic wear are all factors the contribute to the development of disease. By reducing the mowing back to only one cut this week, we will be reducing traffic across these areas, and the warmer temperatures later in the week will ensure the leaf dries out.

There are also other large patches starting to develop particularly in roughs under large trees, these areas are under attack from Ground Pearl. The turf is already drought stressed as the large trees are removing all available moisture from the soil, leaving nothing for the turf. The Ground Pearl feeding on the roots of the turf is a 2^nd wave of attack that the turf can’t handle and it dies. This pest hasn’t been a problem for turf over the past few years as the high rainfall events sends this pest deeper into the soil profile and away from the turfs roots. It is also a difficult pest to control chemically, as it coats itself in a waxy cover that repels chemicals in the soil profile.

New turf was laid on the 7^th tee and surrounds on Tuesday morning with the assistance of a few volunteers. The warm weather is ideal for a quick establishment to get this hole back into play as soon as possible, with the sprinklers popping up throughout the day when the temperatures are high to ensure this new turf has moisture available when it requires it. Bunkers on the 4^th and 5^th holes were trimmed up this week, with the very tough Zoysia runners down the faces also removed in the process.

The 11th ladies tee has been stripped back, extra growing medium has been added and the tee pad has been doubled in size to enable halving the width of the tee markers to spread wear patterns. The last task for our contractors is to place the large sandstone blocks that we’ve had stored in the car park for the last fortnight. These are being placed below the concrete path and inlet pipes to the 9^th pond. Once the contractors have removed their machinery, course will tackle the repair work of the tracks across the 1^st, 13^th, 14^th, 15^th, and 17^th fairways. This repair will consist of rotary hoeing the track areas, adding an 80/20 mixture soil to ensure the area is level with the existing surfaces, and then returfing with kikuyu. The team will also address the worn area on the right hand side of the 1^st near the 8^th tee as it enters the geohex path. Couch will be laid in this area and it will be covered with the green plastic mesh product to protect it against wear as this is a high traffic area. The track marks on the 8^th hole won’t have as extensive work performed to it, as we will hopefully be using this track again around August when construction work on the new 19^th hole begins, rebuilding the tee and green complexes, and an improved creek crossing to enhance this hole.

We had a very small group of volunteers on Monday morning that helped with the trimming and tidying up of bunkers on the 4^th and 5^th holes, weeding on the 17^th tee complex and clubhouse maintenance. We also had a group of volunteers assist with the turf laying on the 7^th tee on Tuesday morning which meant the 800m² (16 pallets) was laid in 2 hours! David Osbourne has also offered to spend a few hours each week adding sand to divots on fairways that have been missed or washed out in the rain. Thank you to all the volunteers that assisted this week, you are truly making a difference!

Have a great weekend and happy golfing!

The Course Team.