Member update – 16/1/2011
The wet weather just isn’t letting up!!! In the New Year we have received over 110mm (4 inches) with two rain event completely washing out bunkers on a Sunday afternoon to greet ground staff each Monday morning. Please see the before and after photos of the 16th greenside bunkers below to see how the heavy rain can damage these parts of the golf course. As a result of the washouts the silt washed off the faces mixes with the bunker sand which over time can create a real hard pan base which is starting to develop in some of our bunkers that continually washout.
The wet weather just isn’t letting up!!! In the New Year we have received over 110mm (4 inches) with two rain event completely washing out bunkers on a Sunday afternoon to greet ground staff each Monday morning. Please see the before and after photos of the 16th greenside bunkers below to see how the heavy rain can damage these parts of the golf course. As a result of the washouts the silt washed off the faces mixes with the bunker sand which over time can create a real hard pan base which is starting to develop in some of our bunkers that continually washout.
19th green
The 19th green has been seeded and vegetatively propagated from cores however the storm last Sunday afternoon (7th January) which dumped 62mm of rain in around 1 hour washed a considerable area of the green away, we have since poisoned out the remaining areas of the green and will be regrading, levelling and seeding again later this week of next week depending on the weather for the rest of the week.
Ropes
With all the wet weather the course still gets soft and susceptible to damage from foot and vehicular damage. To try and combat this we installed some rope on the real wet areas and the areas that wear out considerably, even during summer. The ropes are there to help protect sensitive areas of the course.
4th and 14th Tee Resurfacing
This week we have started resurfacing both the 4th and 14th tees, both these tees are severely shaded and the turf suffers badly from this, if the weather is kind this week both tees will be completed by the end of the week. We will be using ‘Grand Prix’ couch grass which is the same turf we are using on the 5th ladies tee and the 8th championship tees which have seen to be performing well in our environment.
Collar Lowering
In the new year we will be started to lower some high collars that have gradually built up over time, we will be coring the first 2 foot of the collar with quite large cores as close and as deep as possible, removing the cores, watering and using a vibrating pedestrian roller to try and get the level down the green to minimise the step-up to the collar that is present in some of the greens. We will do this twice during the summer.
I hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year period
Regards
Ryan Fury
Grounds Manager
ryan.fury@kgc.com.au
