Dear members
After what was one of our driest Septembers on record we were quickly reminded that we live in one of the wettest parts of the country with October bringing significant rainfall to the course. A total of 140mm fell for the month making it the wettest October since 2014 which in hindsight was greatly needed after such a warm and dry start to spring. The cooler conditions through October was mostly beneficial however it has slowed growth down (particularly the santa ana) and we now await some warmer weather to get these surfaces moving along a little quicker.
GREENS
Our greens have gotten a lot of attention in the past four weeks with a whole host of cultural practices taking place including air injection, verti cutting, dusting and verti draining. With a big emphasis being put on getting our soil to drain more freely this has seen our greens hold up extremely well during some of the large rainfall events that we’ve had. I’ve been particularly pleased with the surface firmness during such a wet period which has helped in not only providing healthy conditions for plants to grow but also creating a nice smooth ball roll to putt on. All in all I’m delighted with where we currently have the greens as we head into summer and provided we can get the occasional rain event over the next few months it promises to see our greens perform very well during the busier period over summer.
FAIRWAYS/TEES/SURROUNDS
All of our short grass areas received an insecticide application on the 9th of October which is typical practice during mid to late spring. This insecticide was mainly targeting the African black beetle with the purpose to kill off as many of these adult beetles before they mate and produce larvae. It is this larvae (grubs) that causes most of the destruction as they feed off the roots which can cause massive damage to turf if not treated. These grubs typically don’t start feeding until autumn so the intention by spraying in spring is to kill the adults before they mate to ensure little to no grubs infest in the soil over the summer period.
As mentioned above we now just need soil temperatures to rise to get the fairways growing a little more rapidly which will then see a better coverage to play from. Once this occurs another application of fertiliser will take place on these surfaces to help keep them vibrant and healthy over the summer period.
COURSE WORKS
By now those that have played recently would have seen the beginnings of the newly constructed dam on the 17th hole. Unfortunately when the works began it became evident early in the process that the course conditions were going to be slightly too soft for the trucks to be entering to remove the soil. With this the decision was made to postpone until soil conditions were firmer to ensure the course wasn’t damaged. We will endeavour to get this dam completed as soon as possible but when exactly that is will depend on the contractors availability and weather conditions aligning.
Moving into November its typically a great month of conditions for golf so I’m hopeful you are all out enjoying the course and the perfect weather that comes with it.
Ryan Hammond
DG&CC Course Superintendent.
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