Spring is round the corner

We have applied our spring granular fertiliser earlier this year due to how bad our winter has been due to the very high rainfall we have had 

We have now completed work to the tees that we have re-leveled and extended etc over both courses 

In the middle of February we were hit with another storm which has caused coastal damage and brought a lot of debris up on the course at holes 2, 4,5,14 & 15 of the Balcomie course 

4th hole 

15th hole

We have been carrying on cutting and collecting deep rough areas on the Craighead course when weather has allowed to help us thin these areas out and hopefully make them more playable 

The rainfall we have had from November to Middle of February 

We will carry on painting and tidying up our tee bins and Railway sleeper areas once the weather improves over both courses going into the new season 

We have carried out minor aeration work to the Balcomie greens and putting greens to help reduce our thatch levels and this will also let them dry out better after the winter 

Mini-cores being cleared and lifted 

The amount of debris out of each green 

Then the greens were lightly verti-cut, cut and cleaned up before spiking/overseeding the greens to help improve our grass sward 

Then an application of 1.5 tons of sand to each green to help fill the holes and cover the seed 

Then all the greens were slowly brushed to work the sand into the surface and profile

The hand railing on hole 13 of the Balcomie course has had repairs done and new matting and turf laid 

At last we have managed to start work on our new driving range tee 

We have installed new irrigation pipework and sprinklers to help water the turf area, which will aid in recovery from play on the new driving range tee

We are now applying 75mm of rootzone to the playing surfaces of the driving range tee to have a good growing medium for the grass areas 

We have now taken delivery of our own sand injection machine which going forward should help us improve our firmness on our Craighead course greens with reducing big hollow coring which takes a few weeks to recover, with the sand machine the surfaces are very playable within a couple of days, this week we have completed greens 1,8,9,11,14 & 16 and have managed to inject in between 1.5 to 2 tons of sand to each green depending on its size 

very little disturbance to the surfaces once they have been cleaned up, brushed and a slow roll, going forward this should help reduce healing time after aeration works