Hello
I appreciate the need to open the course very soon. So we will plan to open this weekend.
My plan will be to have a dugnad to help with putting out all course equipment, raking bunkers and a general tidy up. And then we can have a dugnad tournament. More information will come about this tomorrow on the website or facebook page.
Course condition – new grass is establishing on the greens but it is very patchy, therefore we have seeded one more time last week and topdressed again on monday. The greens need constant water if the seed is to germinate and ensure survival of the new seedlings. Unfortunately this means the watering system is going full time, this has added to an already big problem from last year with extremely wet surrounds and foregreens.
The putting green has not responded to any work we have done to it and will remain closed until further notice!
I have focused all energy into the greens for now and plan to renovate and seed other areas on the course as soon as possible.
Green surrounds/foregreens – There is an excessive build up of thatch/filt layer on all the green surrounds and foregreens causing waterlogging , drainage issues and poor grass growth. The Thatch/ Filt is holding into the water, rotting the grass and stopping root development and drainage. As soon as possible we will aggressively aerate and renovate these areas.
Fairways – have suffered massive amounts of winter kill and desperately need water. I have not been able to renovate and seed fairways yet until we know we will get some rain otherwise the seed will just die.
Tees – Its the same as fairways unfortunately, as soon as weather allows we will overseed and renovate as much as we can. Also some tees need a complete reconstruction (9th)
We continue to have wet spots and drainage issues on different parts of the course.(particularly 9th hole) we started some drainage projects last year on hole 8 and will continue with them as soon as i can make time to finish them. Most of the water issues in front of the greens are a Thatch/filt problem and will be rectified as explained above .
I will present and prepare the course as best i can for the moment, i dont like opening a course with all these jobs and projects to finish, but unfortunately this is how it is. I appreciate your understanding and patience at this time and You can be sure that i will deal with all these issues as soon as possible!