Great definition on the courses 

Greens being cut/rolled and holes changed in front of play, we are now at 4mm cutting height for the Summer with the temperatures rising 

The Balcomie course greens being fertilised 

We are now at our full cutting program for the season 

We had our annual R&A agronomy courses walk to look at our surfaces and plan what work we will do going forward 

Checking the greens profile for rooting and thatch levels etc 

Our newly re-turfed tees from our winter work program are now back in play with some extra TLC work being carried out of seeding and sanding 

Any weaker tees have had extra work carried out also of spiking/seeding and sanding to improve/recover the surfaces 

The drier fairways on the Balcomie course have had an application of wetting agent and fertiliser to help the grass sward going into the Summer 

Straight after holding the Battle Trophy we started our planned major aeration works to the Craighead course greens 

This was to hollow core the greens to take out as much thatch and dead material as possible, this will allow the greens to breathe and drain much better and in turn the greens should be firmer 

Cores taken out of the surface 

Staff clearing and lifting the old cores, the old cores will be used for other jobs so they can be re-used 

Then the greens were lightly verti-cut and cut to rip out more thatch and clean the surfaces up 

Then over 100tons of sand was applied over all the greens to help back fill the core holes, this will really help with drainage in the winter months 

We also spiked and over seeded the greens twice at different depths depending on the seed 

Making as many holes as possible for the new seed 

Greens being slowly brushed in to work the sand down the core holes 

It was great that the staff worked late on the first 2 days of the aeration work to help complete the works on time, takeaway food from the Clubhouse really helped to keep the staff fed on those 2 long days 

Greens were then very slowly rolled and watered

Greens are recovering very well with the good weather, and you should see the long term benefits of carry this work out 

The new performance hub on the driving range is coming on great and looking the part

Bay dividers now in place 

All the steel work painted 

                                               The larch wood being installed 

            Brick work, and all the plumbing, electrical & joinery first fixings completed 

 

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