After the aeration work last week to the Balcomie course greens we have applied a liquid fertiliser and iron to aid recovery and then we will be trying to turf iron the surfaces in the afternoons when its dry to smooth them off

 Friday into Saturday seen us receive over 40mm of rain which did help wash the top-dressing and seed into to the profile but did cause a lot of flooding,water damage in bunkers and tee paths over both courses

 We have deep hollow-cored our 1st tee on the Balcomie course to relieve compaction and reduce thatch levels and next week we will brush in the crushed glass and sand into the holes and surface to help reduce wormcasts on the surface

 We have been carrying out slit tining aeration work on the Craighead course fairways to a depth of 125mm to relieve compaction and help these surface areas drain better going into the winter months

 We have started to dig the trench along the top of the driving range to install the new electric cable and ducting to supply the new irrigation pump-house which will be getting installed mid November

 Our first winter project started this week, which is to re-level the 9th & 18th medal tees on the Craighead course

 Our new shed extension is nearly completed, just a few odd jobs and electrics etc to be installed, the new dyke has been build round the boundary to finish off the area, once this is all completed we will start to raise the banking rear of the 13th green on the Craighead course to help hide the ends of the existing and new sheds from the course and plant them up with gorse & broom, this will also allow us to recycle and use the spoil in our dump area for this project

 That's our shed on top of the driving range completely demolished ready for the irrigation Company to come in and start building the base for the new irrigation tank and pump-house, this area will also be used for storing their equipment and materials during the time they are on site 

 Starting to get the bases ready for the new tank & pump-house

We are nearing completion of rebuilding the dyke between holes 15 & 16 on the Craighead course

Aeration week on the Greens

 This week is the planned week to carry out essential aeration work to the Balcomie course greens

 It consisted of deep solid tining to a depth of 200mm with a 16mm tine to relieve all the Summer compaction, allow air and water movement going into the winter months 

 Then the greens were turf ironed 2 ways to smooth off the surface before mini-coring to take out thatch and produce a hole for the seed

 All greens were then verti-cut & cut to clean the surfaces up

 The amount of material taken out from each green from the verti-cutting & cutting

 Then the greens were seeded, then we slowly drag matted the seed into the holes

 then 2.5 tons of top-dressing sand per green to help fill the holes in plus cover the seed

 Then the greens were all brushed to work the sand into the holes & surface, we will apply more top-dressing sand in a couple of weeks time once this sand is fully worked into the surfaces

 The Craighead course greens have been sprayed twice this week, once with a fungicide as seeing slight signs of disease then a couple of days later with a liquid winter hardener

 We have our dyke builder in rebuilding the dyke round our yard to our new shed extension

 The shed demolition on the driving range has went really well with it being completed this afternoon ready for the irrigation company to come on site next week to start building the new tank and pump-house etc 

 Still having great weather for golf apart from some windy days

 It's that time of year we are seeing a lot of worm casts on all playing surfaces, so we are using the out front brush on our mowers to help disperse the casts in front of cutting the surfaces

 We are now starting to reduce cutting with the growth slowing down

 We are still digging out the old greens sprinklers from the Balcomie course in preparation of the new irrigation system install which includes new water tank and pump-house, which is starting from the 28th Oct but the company will be in the week before for setting up, so exciting times ahead

 Daily we are blowing and clearing up leaves at holes 3, 10 & 11 on the Craighead course, this usually continues to the middle/late November till the trees have lost all their leaves for the winter

 We have started to clear out the dyke between holes 15 up to the 16th green on the Craighead course ready for it to be rebuilt, which will help add more feature to this area

 Our new shed extension is coming on really well, with the entrance area concreted into our wash pad and the wash pad extended by 2 meters to help gain extra space, we have also dug out the old boundary dyke so this can be rebuilt to finish off this area. We are expecting the new shed to be completed by the end of October which will include all the electrics, lights, security & fire alarms to be installed. with this in mind I will be looking at holding another Greenkeeping department tour/talk mid/late November for any members to see all the developments that's been taking place

 Drains added in front of the new build

 We will be raising the banking rear of the 13th green on the Craighead course to help hide the sheds more then add planting to make this whole area more natural and in keeping with the landscape

 Phase 2 of the shed project is to demolish the shed and tanks that is positioned at the top of the driving range, the main reason for this is to allow us to move the new tank and pump-house which is part of the new irrigation project much closer to the banking which will help hide these and which in turns opens up the driving range for future development which may include a covered driving range bays, more outside bays and a larger putting green

 the demolishing will hopefully be completed by Friday the 18th October ready for the irrigation company to arrive on site the following week

So far these major projects are on time and going really well, it's great to see the Club investing into the future of Crail Golfing Society