The winter work program

The winter work program is going well. the 12th bunker just short of the green on the Craighead course being rebuilt 

Replacing the old worn out tee sprinkler at the 2nd green tee on the Craighead course, this tee should be re-turfed before Xmas, we have extended the playing area to help cope with play and re-levelled the surface  

Cutting the greens to tidy up the surfaces, the cutting heights for our greens are now at 5.5mm to help reduce stress on the plant going through the winter months  

The walkway onto our 14th tee on the Balcomie course has been re-turfed and matting laid to help wear and tear on this area 

We have extended the matted path going onto our 1st fairway on the Balcomie course to help wear and tear 

The fairway bunker on our 1st hole of the Balcomie course has been rebuilt 

The left hand side bunker at green 2 of the Balcomie course has been rebuilt 

When possible we have been out brushing fairways to help disperse the worm casts 

Adverse weather tasks have been to start to wash, rub down and repaint our tee benches over both courses 

Both our irrigation systems have been drained down for the winter to stop any pipe, joint or sprinkler damage from frosts 

The large greenside bunker on hole 17 of the Craighead course has now been fully rebuilt 

The 2nd fairway bunker on the Balcomie course has been rebuilt 

The surrounds of the bunker have been reshaped and turfed to fit in 

Tees over both courses have been solid tined to a depth of 125mm with a 19mm tine to relieve compaction and aid in drainage and air movement 

Fairways over both courses have been slit tined to relieve compaction to a depth of 125mm, we have been taking advantage of the good weather to catch up on this type of aeration work due to we struggled last winter with it being so wet to get machinery out on the courses 

 

Winter maintenance has started over both our courses

We are still cutting down our deep roughs over both courses, then we will cut these areas again and lift the grass to help starve these areas to help create slightly thinner roughs 
 

Spraying greens over both courses & PG's with liquid iron & Seaweed to help the plant 

Our 2nd green tee on the Craighead course has been extended, re-levelled and ready to be turfed 

The Craighead course greens have been sand injected again to help firm the surfaces up and help dilute thatch 

Cross profile of the hole taken from our putting green, you can see all the sand injected channels going down nearly 150mm, this will also help drainage and air movement 

Sand injected profile 

We have started work on the left hand side of the 12th fairway on the Craighead course, during the winter, we will dig out the old roots and stones and shape area to be cut at 3.5" which will help show off the dyke and make this area more playable 

Our first bunker rebuild was at hole 12 on the Craighead course 

The face has been built in the same manner as a revetted face but we have used recycled astro-turf , this will reduce the amount of time the bunker faces needs to be rebuilt 

We have also started to rebuild the large greenside bunker at hole 17 on the Craighead course 

This will take a few weeks due to the size/course closures and this face is being built with astro-turf for the same reason 

This bunker should be completed by the of start of December weather permitting 

We have had contractors onsite to regrade and tar the greenkeeping shed yard and access road to the shed 

Drains have been added along the building to stop flooding into the shed in heavy rain

All the surfaces had to be graded to shed the water and and firm the base ready for the tar to be laid 

The ramps across the road were also laid with tar 

Having the new road surface will help reduce damage to our machinery and staff cars, also reduce the time in fixing water damage on the ramps and road after any rain 

All the surrounding areas will be re-graded in-house then shaped to fit in with the course then re-turfed 

the area between the road and the dykes will be gravelled to aid in drainage and tidy these areas up 

Also round the ramps too will be gravelled, hopefully all this work will be completed in a couple of weeks 

 

Greens maintenance

 

We have been out using our sand injection machine to inject 2 tons of sand into each green, we do this to help dilute thatch and improve air & water movement without too much surface disturbance, this is a very slow process so at present we are choosing certain greens so not to interfere with play, but will be looking at trying to complete all the Craighead course greens going into the winter period 

sand injected down to 125mm into the profile 

We are now starting to cut down our deep  rough areas on the Craighead course then leaving for a few days then cutting and collecting the clippings to help thin these areas out, which should help playability next season and a better environment for nesting birds 

When possible we have been brushing fairways to help disperse the dew and get a better quality cut on our fairways 

We have now completed deep scarifying our Craighead course tees to rip out thatch 

With the dry spell we are having we have needed to apply a little water at nights to help keep the moisture levels where we want them 

This week was our Balcomie course greens aeration planned works to improve the greens and relieve compaction, reduce thatch levels and aid in drainage 

All greens were micro-cored, cleaned-up, verti-cut then cut 

The amount of debris taken out from each green 

Then the greens were spiked/seeded 

The spiker makes the hole/pot for the seed to go into and the 2 brushes on the machine helps to brush more seed into the holes, with micro-coring this leaves a hole for the seed to go into also 

seed was brushed again

surface after being top-dressed and brushed 

2 tons of sand was applied to each green to fill the holes and cover the seed 

then a final drag mat to mat everything into the surface, greens will be rolled when possible going forward and hopefully in 2/3 weeks the greens will be fully recovered going into the winter