Hopefully, everyone is enjoying being back playing golf.
We had a challenging time with preparations due to the weather and it has been a mixed bag. As a consequence, the growth of the greens has been slow due to frosts early morning. In addition, we were left with a little bit of disease and scarring left by the rain & snow.
As the temperatures rise in the coming weeks, this will begin to grow out and they will be back to their best as we will again scarify, aerate and top dress them.
We have been able so far to aerate all tees and fertilised them. We have also cut all fairways and rough, this will be a continuous programme to improve the course ongoing.
We managed to finish a number of the winter projects and I hope you like the new bunker on the first hole!
We also completed the new medal tee on the 4th hole and we are sure this will enhance the challenge when it comes into play. The current thinking that this will be on the first Major Competition on 24th April –‘ Dennis Banks Memorial’
Thanks go to Liam Ridgill who donated some of his Captains money to help build this. There is still a little left to do but this is mainly the growth of the wildflowers and grass seed we have scattered.
The preparation on the 2nd, 6th and 7th holes was a success and whilst this has created few comments, I think we all agree that the holes look better for the changes and will be a great improvement once they recover.
As part of all the work we have been doing on these holes, as you are all aware, it is for a bigger project installing new drainage. We are monitoring the situation and we are discussing with all stakeholders the best time to do the work.
This will be either the first week in May or the second week in June, the key factors around this are weather-driven.
Currently, the fairways are still a little soft as you go down 6 inches and we need to ensure they are a lot firmer so that there is minimal damage and a faster recovery once the machines have been on.
We are continually watching the weather forecast and we will update members as soon as we are able to confirm a start date.
As always a big thanks to our volunteers who without them we would not achieve as much as we do and I really appreciate all they do for the club and course. All of them do a fantastic job and you will have all noticed that the fences and the directional tee signs are all getting a lick of paint thanks to Alan Palmer and the rest of the volunteers.
Puddy, Alan Beaumont and Lee continue to cut and work on the fairways & greens. You may also have noticed that they have been doing a lot of work seeding the divots.
Peter Rowbotham is now back with us following shielding and is creating little fires in the tree areas clearing all the debris from winter.
Finally a big thanks to Liam Ridgill (again) and Phil Skillbeck along with John Allison who has given their time recently to clear behind the 6th Green.
We are looking to plant some colourful trees & shrubs in this area to give the course some colour across the seasons so watch this space.
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