Wednesday 30 September 2020

Still some cracking days going into October
We are starting to reduce cutting and turf ironing instead to help reduce stress the the greens and will be looking at putting our cutting heights up slightly going into October 
This week we have applied 0.5 tons of top-dressing sand to the Balcomie course greens to help smooth the surfaces off and reduce thatch levels, this process will be repeated in a couple of weeks time again 
Rubbing in of the top-dressing and changing the holes before play 
We have carried out more essential work to green 3 on the Balcomie course by mini-coring, clearing up, cutting then over seeding, brushing/switching in seed then 2 tons of top-dressing sand to help improve the surface
The holes are ideal for the new seed and sand 
All the seed was brushed/switched into the holes to try to get the best germination 

After the 2 tons of sand the green was brushed several ways to work the sand into the surface before irrigating to wash and fill all the holes above the seed 
The Balcomie course greens being sprayed with Seaweed 
The Craighead course greens have had their Autumn fertiliser applied to help strengthen them up going into the winter months 
In the Afternoons when it's dry we have made a start to cutting and collecting certain deep rough areas on the Craighead course to help thin the roughs out and make them more playable for the next season, this will be ongoing when weather and staffing permits 
Fairways 2 & 12 on the Balcomie course have had an application of liquid fertiliser to help them recover from the drought 
We are now re-instating our 1st winter tee on the Balcomie course where we had a temporary Portakabin for more office space 
Ready for final level checks before turfing 
Final rake then turfing started 

We have applied an Autumn feed to all our tees over both courses this week 
 

Friday 11 September 2020

We have sprayed the Craighead course greens & PG's with a liquid fertiliser, wetting agent, Seaweed & iron to help perk them up going into the Autumn 
The old Boathouse at green 1 of the Balcomie course 
We are still cutting most playing areas as much as we can with our reduced staffing levels
All the Balcomie course tees have been sprayed with a liquid fertiliser & wetting agent to help the new seed germinate that was seeded a couple of weeks ago 
We have applied a granular fertiliser on the Craighead course tees to help aid recovery from the drought plus help the new seed germinate 
Tees 13 being cut then fertilised 
We have started to replace our old bay dividers on the driving range with dividers made out of Railway sleepers, this carries on the theme of Railway sleepers being used over both courses 
These dividers should last much longer in our windy climate 
We have continued to spike, over seed and heavy top-dress certain greens on the Balcomie course to improve the surfaces, this will be ongoing for the next 2/3 weeks before temperatures start to drop