Catching up on cutting when conditions allow 

5 of us have been getting refresher 3 day training on safe use of pesticides and boom spraying 

14th tee path on the Craighead course has been extended closer to the yellow/white tee as this area is a bottle neck and suffers with wear and tear 

18th bunker on the Balcomie course being rebuilt 

Newly built bunkers on the Balcomie course being topped up with fresh sand, this allows the fresh sand to settle before going into play at the start of the new season 

Craighead course greens being solid tined down to a depth of 175mm to help with drainage and air movement through the profile 

First week in January saw very hard frost then rain on top, with the ground being solid the rain had nowhere to go, very unusual for us to have frost nearly 150mm in the ground 

Adverse weather jobs were rubbing down and painting tee markers and benches etc 

Work has progressed well on our erosion project at rear of 15th tees & 17th green on the Balcomie course, the green staff have been adding soil and turfing above the new gabion baskets that were installed, this will give a much nature finish once grown in 

turf going down

Contractors have done a great job carrying out this repair work

The contractors have now completed the erosion repair works and now the green staff will come in behind them to clean up the track that was used to bring in the 2000tons of rock, this work should be completed for the new season (weather pending) 

We have been back filling the new chestnut paling fencing to help secure it into the dune system along hole 2 of the Balcomie course 

We have now started our next project of getting the area on the driving range ready for Contractors to come onsite to start the new Performance hub, we have dug away the old putting green and lifted the turf which was reused on the erosion project and turfing the 18th carry at the gorse on the Balcomie course 

Contractors came onsite 5th January and work is going very well despite the weather  

foundations being dug out for the new building 

 

Winter work update

We have completed work to the bottom tee on hole 6 of the Balcomie course, this tee was re-levelled and re-turfed 

We have been demoing fairway brushes to see if they will help with dispersing wormcasts as this is becoming a big problem with all chemical controls off the market in the last few years, not only is it a problem for golfers balls/trollies and foot wear, it causes major problems to our cutting machinery with clogging up the reels, blunting blades and making a mess etc

The greenside bunker left on hole 1 of the Balcomie course has been rebuilt 

All greens & PG's over both courses have been sprayed with a liquid winter pack and fungicide to help protect the plant 

We continue to replace any problematic sprinklers on the Craighead course to allow us to have better water coverage going into next season 

We have rebuilt the 15th greenside bunker on the Balcomie course 

We have rebuilt the 12th greenside bunker on the Craighead course 

We have slabbed the area round the 13th tee bench on the Balcomie course as this area was getting worn out, this will keep this areas much tidier and no worn areas 

work is well under way of raking into our cut deep rough areas over both our courses to help rip into the crown of the grass to help thin these areas out going into next season 

The area at the 18th carry on the Balcomie course has had the gorse cut back, then the roots dug out, soil added then the area re-turfed, this is to help reduce the length of the carry off the tee, the area left of the path will be cut back also in the coming months 

Mother nature is sure catching up with rainfall in the last few weeks from such a dry Summer, we have already had 88mm of rain in December 

We have completed work to our dune system that runs along hole 2 of the Balcomie course, which consisted of soft engineering works of digging a trench to house a chestnut paling fence to help trap sand the stabilise our dunes along this area and in turn will help the Marram and Sea Lyme grasses grow down this section 

fencing being installed 

fencing being backfilled 

Erosion works at rear of the 15th tee and 17th green on the Balcomie course is going well and on time so far, the company has to work with the tides 

Gabion baskets have been installed and additional rock armour placed at the toe of the new baskets 

This work is going really well to help protect our course going forward at these problem areas 

Congratulations to Scottie one of our senior greenkeepers on completing his SVQ level 7 into management, this course was delivered by Rick at St Andrews Management Centre, the Club have built up a long and standing relationship with this company with other staff members from all departments gaining more qualifications over the years to help and support us carrying out our duties 

The Balcomie course greens and some walkways etc have been deep solid tined to help drainage and better water and air movement through the profile and relieve compaction 

a 19mm solid tine going down to a depth of 175mm 

                                          Then the greens were very slowly rolled to help smooth the surfaces off 

 

Autumn update

The darker mornings are coming in quick now, so the staff are starting work when it starts to get light to help keep in front of play each morning 

Greens and PG's on the Balcomie course being sprayed with liquid iron to help harden the plant going into the colder months 

Our mid-week winter course closures have started with the Craighead course being closed first, this allows the courses to get a rest from all the play and helps recovery/rest of the walkways etc plus allows the staff the get on with the planned winter and aeration plans more efficiently and safer with no play

We have carried out extra aeration work to green 6 of the Craighead course as a trial to see what the recovery rate will be at this time of year as it's out of the main playing season, we hollow cored the green down to 75mm with a 10mm hollow tine as this helps take out thatch and allows the green better air & water movement 

All the Craighead course greens and Clubhouse PG have been sand injected to help dilute thatch and we injected 1.5tons of sand into each green 

The surface has minimal disturbance carrying out this operation once the surface has been switched and rolled 

sand injection down to 150mm 

The greens were also micro-cored to take out thatch to 20mm then cleaned up and verti-cut before we carried out the sand injecting 

debris out of 1 green 

minimal disturbance from the micro-coring

The Craighead fairways have been slit tined to a depth of just over 100mm in 2 directions to break up compaction and allow better water and air movement

With the courses getting wetting we are seeing a lot more casting worms at this time of year which is very difficult to keep on top of as we have no chemical control but we are trying to brush fairways etc to help disperse the casts when possible

Winter work has started with both greenside bunkers on hole 12 of the Balcomie course being rebuilt 

bunker ready to be turfed round

The bottom back tee on hole 4 of the Balcomie course has been extended to give us double the teeing ground to help with wear and tear as we took away the top tee last winter for H&S reasons

The 7th back tee on the Craighead course has been re-levelled to improve the teeing surface. the old turf that has been striped from these tees has been re-used for building bunker faces at holes 6 & 9 

The Balcomie course greens have had an application of granular fertiliser to help aid recovery from the aeration work that was carried out late September 

The 6th greenside bunker on the Craighead course has been rebuilt 

The 9th greenside bunker on the Craighead course has been rebuilt 

The Craighead course tees have been solid tined to a depth of 150mm to aid in better air and water movement and relieve compaction from a busy season 

The Contractors have started on site to carry out essential erosion protection work at rear of tees 15 & green 17 of the Balcomie course, there main working compound is at the left of hole 10 of the Craighead course, this work will be ongoing through the winter months