Great news both courses are back open to limited play now
This week was to get all the main playing areas cut for the opening on Friday, we are still on reduced staffing for the courses, please bare with us through these times
Growth has slowed down due to the drought we are in, we have only had 12mm of rain since the end of March when lock down started
We have been out hand watering high spots on our greens mostly on the Craighead course this week and next week we will start on the Balcomie course
We have applied a wetting agent, low rate of liquid fertiliser & seaweed to our greens & PG's over both the courses to help them in these very dry conditions
After the applications were applied they were watered in to make them more available to the plant and less chance of scotching in these very dry & warm conditions
Getting the greens ready for the opening, you can see the high spots starting to dry out
2 weeks ago we sprayed a low rate of a selective herbicide to kill off a weed called Pearwort which is working well on the Balcomie course greens
More spraying of wetting agent, this product helps water penetrate into the soil profile much quicker, which in turns helps reduce water run off and much better use of our water
Sticking to the Government rules all tee furniture, ball washers, benches etc have been removed and we have roped off the entrances to the storm huts
We have temporarily leveled off the 7th tee path on the Balcomie course to make safe for golfers to use, this project will now be completed in the Autumn when we get more staff back, but the newly turfed tees are in play
We have placed our newly built recycling bin in pride of place on the 7th tee path where the bench will get placed once lock down is over
When we get a chance we have been painting the Balcomie tee markers ready to go back out
Bob, played both courses over the weekend. Considering the reduction in staff available I think they were in great nick. Greens on balcomie slightly bumpier and slower than normal but still very good. Can consideration be given to allowing some more of the Balcomie rough to grow slightly longer eg between 11th/12th and 15th/17th to give fairways bit more definition. Rough at left hand side of 8th looks good slightly longer. Craighead was in fantastic condition. Tees and fairways looked very good (and very brown) and some high spots on greens obviously in need of hand watering - particularly 4th and 10th.Everything considered the courses were very good and thanks again for all the hours of hard work you and the staff have put in. By the way the new tee at 7th on Balcomie is tremendous. Cheers Stewart K
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