April Greenkeeping update

Courses are starting to get great definition going into the season 

Greens on the Craighead course being lightly verti-cut then cleaned/blown then cut in preparation for the Battle Trophy, the light verti-cutting should help remove thatch and smooth off the surfaces 

Bunkers faces being cleaned up and edges cut etc 

All our mowers being check for cut quality and heights of cuts, greens height of cuts over both courses have been dropped from 5.5mm to 5mm, then when we get more heat and growth we will continue to drop the heights to 4mm for the Summer months   

6th hole on the Craighead course, this green had additional aeration work late October to help with reducing the thatch levels and to also see how the green reacted to this type of work at that time of year 

Our newly rebuilt tees have been getting topped and we will aim to get these tees back in play soon once we drop the height of cut and top-dress the surfaces 

We are now upping our cutting of the greens over both courses to every second day with us starting to get uneven growth, greens will be turf ironed on the days we don't cut 

Bunkers over both courses have been edged and weeded and our newly built bunkers are all now in play 

Tees & walkways over both courses have had an application of slow release fertiliser to aid in winter recovery and help thicken up the surfaces 

Road repairs and patching has been completed at the 1st tee area at the Craighead course and on the Coastguard road, then the edges have been seeded and soil added 

We are continuing with our Corn bunting project this year again on the Driving range. this consists of cutting and collecting the crop from last year, power rotovating the area then raking 

Then we apply our seed, then rake in and roll to firm the surfaces up. the seed mixture (RSPB enhanced Bunting & Bee mix) is Spring oats, Spring Barely, Spring Triticale, Linseed, Phacelia, Borage & clovers 

Path edges have all been edged and cleaned up for going into the season 

Both our irrigation systems have been primed up for the season & sprinklers checked for working correctly and their arcs etc 

We are continuing to backfill the rear area at the 3rd tee on the Balcomie course, we are planning on building this area up and let it settle then extend the teeing ground next winter which will help with more teeing ground to allow us to spread the wear 

We have installed more electric sockets in the shed which will allow us to charge more machinery as we look to change from fuel to electric machinery going forward 

The performance hub on the driving range build is going very well with the roof & back walls completed 

Brick work has started at the bottom side of the building and floor laid 

Ball collection ditch has been built also 

Drainage work is going well

 

March Greenkeeping update

With the weather turning much drier, we have started to sand inject greens over both courses before the season starts to help dilute our thatch levels, we injected 1.5tons into each green 

Sand injecting green 17 on the Balcomie course 

once the greens were left to dry, we switched the surfaces then a very light verti-cut, cut then watered in sand on the surface

very little disturbance to the surfaces after the greens were slowly rolled before play, this operation will help firm our surfaces up 

We continue to install mini gabion baskets along our 15th tee path to give us slightly more protection from the high tides and this will act as a barrier when using the path 

We have now primed up the irrigation systems over both courses, this will help with watering our new turf areas with the weather being so dry the last couple of weeks 

Our greens, surrounds, tees & fairways on the Balcomie course have been sprayed with a low rate of liquid fertiliser & iron to help the plant go into the season and add colour 

We are working on painting all our tee bins and Railway sleeper works round our tees etc going into the season to protect the wood and freshen up these areas 

We have taken delivery of our new machinery for this season, this is a great investment from the club to support the Greens team to carry out the required work 

Our last bunker rebuild this winter which was the greenside bunker left on hole 7 of the Craighead course, going forward we will be screening sand and topping up sand levels in our bunkers and all newly rebuilt bunkers should be in play by mid -April weather pending and how well the turf knits in

Work is going well with repairing the tee path and track along hole 18 of the Balcomie course, this was the route that was used to bring in all the rock armour and baskets for the erosion repairs at rear of 15th tee & 17th green areas 

The compound that was used for the erosion repair works which is left of hole 10 of the Craighead course is now being worked on with adding soil and seeding out with fescue grass mix and added Coastal wildflower mix also to help add colour once established 

Last week seen our volunteers help the Green staff divot our Balcomie course fairways ready for the season, this is a great way to meet our members and green staff to see all the work that's been going on over both your golf courses this winter 

Work is progressing well on our new Performance hub on the driving range 

with the foundation feet set with rebar and concrete they have now erected all the main steelworks 

Great to see the building taking shape and all re-routing of the mains water and irrigation pipes has been completed and tested 

 

February courses update

Greens on the Balcomie course being sprayed with a liquid winter hardener to help the plant, the last 6 weeks has been a real struggle with the very wet weather, we have now had over 201mm of rainfall for the first 7 weeks of this year, which in turn has resulted in course closures on certain days, but glad to report we are back fully open  

We have placed over 40tons of rock along our coastline at hole 14 of the Balcomie course to help against coastal erosion, this rock was excavated out from where we are building our new driving range performance hub, great to be able to use this rock   

14th coastline

With the hard rock engineering works completed at the rear of 15th tees & 17th green on the Balcomie course and with the contractors off site, its time to repair the track that was used to drive in the 2000tons of rock and baskets etc

The track and tee path has been resurfaced, edges re-turfed and all raked out etc, this work will be ongoing and we are hoping to complete this work for going into the new season 

Path works and turfing completed round the 18th tee area

Path at rear of the 18th tee coming from 17th green works completed

2 weeks ago David Snodgrass (Head Golf Professional) and myself (Bob Meikle - Golf Course Manager) held a presentations day at the club to our members talking about what is happening in our departments and what's been happing on the courses with the erosion works and our rebuilding of bunkers & tees program, it's great to communicate all this information and get feedback, so please look out for the next presentation as well worth popping along 

We have rebuilt the large greenside bunker in front of green 9 of the Balcomie course 

shaping and base layers going in 

new face built and surrounds starting to be re-turfed after re-shaping was completed 

The bunker will get sand added before being opened for play when the season starts, this will also allow all the new turf to be established and knit in

We have been adding more small gabion baskets along our 15th tee path on the Balcomie course, this is to help add a little more coastal protection and act as a little barrier for buggies etc 

The Railway sleeper work and tee bin at hole 18 of the Balcomie course has all been repainted 

We have rebuilt the 13th greenside bunker on the Balcomie course 

Jake & Owen putting the final turfs on the face before shaping and turfing round 

ongoing sprinkler replacement on green & surround at hole 12 of the Craighead course 

rebuilding of the 1st greenside bunker right of the green on the Balcomie course 

All the newly built bunkers will be out of play until they knit in and have sand added 

Work is progressing well on our new performance hub project at the driving range, the pad foundations being built ready to be concreted, this is despite the very wet weather 

All the steel rebar being built up for the foundations etc, there is a lot of extra work going into the foundations as we are such a windy site 

The re-routing of the irrigation and mains water pipes progressing well with the pipework being fusion welded