We have have been out with the drone taking some pictures on a frosty day 

We have been cutting down certain areas of deep roughs on the Craighead course 

The grass is collected to try and help thin these areas out 

Front greenside bunker at hole 11 on the Craighead course has been rebuilt 

The rear greenside bunker at hole 11 of the Craighead course has been rebuilt 

Fairways over both courses have been slit tined in 2 directions to a depth of 175mm to relieve compaction and open up the profile to allow better water and air movement 

The Balcomie course greens & putting greens have been solid tined to a depth of 150mm to relieve compaction 

We have been demoing a machine that can cut steeper banks than our existing rough mower 

Our Dyke builder has been back in to continue to rebuild the dyke right of hole 8 of the Craighead course 

The bunker front of green 1 of the Balcomie course has been rebuilt 

Jake checking the angle of the new bunker face being built 

11th greenside bunker (LHS) on the Balcomie course rebuilt 

Both irrigation systems have been drained down for the winter period 

The adverse weather continues with us having more than 252mm (10") of rain since October, which has delayed us on some winter projects and resulting in closing the courses on certain days to stop damage. 12th greenside bunker on the Balcomie course getting the water pumped out to allow the staff to continue to rebuild the bunker 

17th greenside bunker on the Craighead course full of water 
 

Storm damage

Sunday the 29th October saw very high tides and  driving winds off the Sea, which has caused coastal damage/mess on holes 2,4,5,14 & 15 of the Balcomie course 

Seaweed washed up along hole 4 

The big clean up begins, hole 5 was the worst affected with actual salt water and sand etc washed over the fairway 

In the last 4 weeks we have had over 150mm of rain, which is making it hard to carry out planned work, but hoping this will help dilute any salt from our grass areas from the storm 

With the amount of rain, we have been out fixing tee paths and bunkers that have been getting washed out 

Seems funny that we are watering our 5th fairway with all the rain we have been having, but we are trying to dilute the salt content from the storm damage and hopefully this keeps the grass alive 

On days that were ok, we got back to our planned work of solid tining the Craighead course greens to 150mm with a 12mm tine to help drainage and air movement 

bunker work has started on the 1st bunker at green 11 on the Craighead course 

the 9th fairway bunker on the Balcomie course has been rebuilt 

Our driving range project has started, the plan is to move the existing outside mat areas and add a level area in front to play off turf for any tournaments we hold going forward 

 

We have been raking and cutting then collecting the grass from our 3.5" roughs to help thin these areas out on the Craighead course 

In the last 3 weeks we have been hit twice with adverse weather and storm Babet 

We have made a start to cutting and collecting deep rough areas on the Craighead course 

The Craighead tees and walkways have been deep solid tined to 175mm to relieve compaction and help air & water movement through the profile 

We have carried out extra aeration work to the Craighead greens this Autumn to help reduce thatch levels, this consisted of mini-coring, verti-cutting, sand injection and heavy top-dressing 

Mini-coring on green 11 and deep solid tining on tees 12 of the Craighead course 

Greens being verti-cut then cut before sand injecting 

Greens being blown and cleaned up 

Sand injection machine, this machine injects over 0.5 tons into the profile per green 

Then the greens were brushed in to help fill in the core holes 

Then another 1 tons of top-dressing sand applied to each green and brush in 

We have now completed deep scarifying all the tees on the Craighead course 
 

Checking moisture levels before deciding how much irrigation to apply, this helps us reduce the amount we use and concentrate on the drier and high spots 

We have purchased a new rake for raking our 3.5" roughs & deep rough areas to help thin these areas out by ripping into the base of the plant 

We have applied a low rate of slow release fertiliser to the Craighead fairways to aid recovery from the Summer, this fertiliser will work away through the Autumn/winter months depending on temperatures

Fairways greening up with the application of fertiliser 

With it being so dry, we took the chance to re-cement damaged areas on our burn floor on the Balcomie course 

Staff setting up for the SGU event last week 

This week seen us start our aeration work to the Balcomie course greens & PG's, firstly we mini-hollow cored to take out thatch and allow the greens to breathe 

Then the greens were cleared of the cores, double verti-cut to clean the surfaces up and take out more thatch 

then double cut 

Then spiked and seeded 

The spiker creates lots of holes for the seed to go in, plus the coring holes is ideal for the seed, then at the rear of the seeder is a brush that helps brush the seed into the holes too

Then we applied 2 tons of top-dressing sand to each green to fill all the holes/cover the seed, smooth off the surfaces and help dilute the thatch levels  

The sand was slowly drag matted into the surface in different directions 

Then the staff very slowly rolled the surface to smooth them off 

Very little disturbance to the ball roll considering the work carried out, hopefully the greens will be back to normal playing conditions in 2/3 weeks time 

Then we watered in the sand & seed, we need to keep the seed damp for it to germinate, in the next few days we will apply a low rate granular fertiliser to aid recovery and help with the seed germination