Thursday 28 April 2016

 Stage 2 of the aeration work to the Craighead greens. 2 tons of top-dressing per green
 Then brushed in to help fill most of the holes. we took the extra wheels off the 6x4 gator so it was less damaging to the surfaces plus for turning
 Then over seeded

 Another 1 ton per green to cover the seed and fill the holes then a drag mat as this is less disruptive to the seed
Finished, and once all this rain comes we will have them washed in and may need to apply more sand

Wednesday 27 April 2016

All go this week

 This week is our major aeration work to the Craighead course greens, so the course is closed from Wednesday till Friday to allow us to get as much work done without golfers and the staff will work late to utilise the closure
 Firstly we verti-drained down to a depth of 200mm with a 16mm solid tine
 Then we hollow cored to a depth of 100mm with a 16mm tine

 Then collected all the cores
 A single light scarify to a depth of 8mm
 then a verti-cut to a depth of 2mm and brush to clean the surfaces up before cutting
 Then a light water so not to stress the surfaces out after all the work, all the above work will help reduce thatch levels, improve drainage and produce firmer surfaces
 With the course being closed it was a great chance to complete our drainage work in front of tees 9 & 18 which was postponed because of adverse weather in December

Friday 22 April 2016

 The course playing tough for the Battle Trophy
 A golfer taking out his bad golf on the course, had to use the 6" winter hole changer to fix this divot on our 11th green

 Great feedback from the membership about having a lot more targets on the driving range
 The courses starting to take shape
 It's that time of year fixing and replacing sprinkler heads and bursts on our irrigation systems, fingers crossed not too many burst this year

This week we lightly verti-cut all greens over both courses to help cut out any long ends and smooth the surfaces off as we are starting to see the different grass species grow at different rates

Saturday 16 April 2016

 This week we were trying to tie up some jobs going into the season ie replacing the driving range banners and signs and finishing off cleaning/weeding tee paths and maintenance paths and cleaning/blowing car parks and entrances



 This weekend we are holding the Battle Trophy over the Craighead course





Wednesday 6 April 2016

 This week we are holding the British University Challenge over the Craighead course, which has prove difficult to prepare the course with over 35mm of rain in the last couple of days

 We have decided to plant more gorse between holes 9 & 18 on the Craighead course to add more definition to each hole
Our newly turfed 9th tee on the Balcomie course getting its first cut and being put back into play for the season

Friday 1 April 2016

 This week our main job was to get all the newly built bunkers back in play which meant screening new sand and topping the bunkers up, shaping and raking
 All these bunkers will be checked again if they require more sand in a couple of weeks time
 The Pro's teaching tee is completed now on the driving range
 the new 4th path on the Balcomie course is now in play and is growing in really well
the usual Friday tidy. With it being the 1st of April all tees are back to summer tees