Autumn update

The darker mornings are coming in quick now, so the staff are starting work when it starts to get light to help keep in front of play each morning 

Greens and PG's on the Balcomie course being sprayed with liquid iron to help harden the plant going into the colder months 

Our mid-week winter course closures have started with the Craighead course being closed first, this allows the courses to get a rest from all the play and helps recovery/rest of the walkways etc plus allows the staff the get on with the planned winter and aeration plans more efficiently and safer with no play

We have carried out extra aeration work to green 6 of the Craighead course as a trial to see what the recovery rate will be at this time of year as it's out of the main playing season, we hollow cored the green down to 75mm with a 10mm hollow tine as this helps take out thatch and allows the green better air & water movement 

All the Craighead course greens and Clubhouse PG have been sand injected to help dilute thatch and we injected 1.5tons of sand into each green 

The surface has minimal disturbance carrying out this operation once the surface has been switched and rolled 

sand injection down to 150mm 

The greens were also micro-cored to take out thatch to 20mm then cleaned up and verti-cut before we carried out the sand injecting 

debris out of 1 green 

minimal disturbance from the micro-coring

The Craighead fairways have been slit tined to a depth of just over 100mm in 2 directions to break up compaction and allow better water and air movement

With the courses getting wetting we are seeing a lot more casting worms at this time of year which is very difficult to keep on top of as we have no chemical control but we are trying to brush fairways etc to help disperse the casts when possible

Winter work has started with both greenside bunkers on hole 12 of the Balcomie course being rebuilt 

bunker ready to be turfed round

The bottom back tee on hole 4 of the Balcomie course has been extended to give us double the teeing ground to help with wear and tear as we took away the top tee last winter for H&S reasons

The 7th back tee on the Craighead course has been re-levelled to improve the teeing surface. the old turf that has been striped from these tees has been re-used for building bunker faces at holes 6 & 9 

The Balcomie course greens have had an application of granular fertiliser to help aid recovery from the aeration work that was carried out late September 

The 6th greenside bunker on the Craighead course has been rebuilt 

The 9th greenside bunker on the Craighead course has been rebuilt 

The Craighead course tees have been solid tined to a depth of 150mm to aid in better air and water movement and relieve compaction from a busy season 

The Contractors have started on site to carry out essential erosion protection work at rear of tees 15 & green 17 of the Balcomie course, there main working compound is at the left of hole 10 of the Craighead course, this work will be ongoing through the winter months