We have now reduced our cutting over both courses going into the winter months 

We are rolling greens more rather than cutting as the growth has slowed down and we still want to produce good putting surfaces going into the winter months 

Last week seen the start of our mid week winter course closures to allow the courses to get a rest,starting with the Craighead course to reduce play and divots, rest bottle neck walkways etc and allow the staff to start winter work in a safe working environment, the tees were solid tined to a depth of 150mm relieve compaction and aid in drainage 

The fairways were slit tined in 2 directions to a depth of 100mm for the same reason as the tees to relieve compaction 

Fantastic turn out from the members to help divot and seed the fairways after a busy season 

BT have been onsite replacing and upgrading all the cabling across the course etc in this area and we have been helping to re-instate areas after work was completed 

13th greenside bunker rebuilt 

1st greenside bunker rebuilt 

These rebuilt bunkers will be out of play till the start of next season to allow the turf to establish 

Irrigation cabling replacement work was completed round our 13th green, the old cable was brittle and not sending a signal to the sprinkler heads round the green 

17th (RHS) greenside bunker has been rebuilt 

We have replaced a worn old sprinkler head at green 17 to allow us to have improved water coverage on the green plus a tail nozzle to water the newly built bunker area next to the green 
 

Balcomie greens slowly recovering from their annual aeration work 

once the work was completed we applied a liquid fertiliser and seaweed to aid recovery on the greens 

nearly 3 weeks later and they are back to normal going into the winter period 

With the colder weather coming in we are now starting to reduce our cutting program on all areas and instead we have been brushing fairways to keep them neat and tidy plus help disperse worm casts 

We are looking at replacing our fairway yardage posts to discs on the Balcomie course as these look much neater and tidier, just like on the Craighead course 

Aeration work on the Craighead tees is still ongoing when weather and staffing permits, the coring and scarifying is to help rip out thatch, allow more air into the profile and improve surface drainage 

We have carried out light scarifying to the Craighead greens to continue to help reduce our thatch levels to help produce firmer playing surfaces 

minimal disturbance to the surfaces 

greens were then verti-cut and cut to clean the surfaces up before back in play 

it worked out about half a load of material taken out of each green which is great as once the work was completed there was no disturbance to the surfaces for play 

 Then the greens were sprayed with seaweed and a liquid fert to aid recovery from the scarifying 

cutting and rolling greens in front of play 

We have applied another 0.5tons of top-dressing sand to the Craighead greens to help dilute thatch and to improve the surfaces 

Giving the Craighead greens their Autumn/winter feed to help strengthen the sward up going into the colder months 

This week saw us start our aeration work to the Balcomie course greens, which consisted of double scarifying at 6mm depth, cleaning up, verti-cutting, cleaning up, double spiking/seeding, applying 2 tons of top-dressing sand to each green then brushed in 

Scarifying helps rip out thatch from the profile 

the scarifying blades have tungsten tipped blades 

the amount of thatched ripped out of each green, this will help firm the surfaces up and reduce our thatch levels 

all go scarifying and verti-cutting 

Then we spiked and seeded the surfaces 2 ways to improve the grass sward 

loads of holes for to make a seedbed 

then 2 tons of sand was applied to each green to cover the seed, fill the holes and scarifying lines plus this will help to dilute the thatch levels

gently brushed in to the profile  

the surfaces were slowly rolled to help smooth and work the sand in 

then a good water in, next week the plan is to apply more sand to help the recovery of the surfaces going into the winter months 

already the gorse that was cut back at hole 16 on the Balcomie course has started to regenerate 
 

All go on the courses

Some great weather to be out cutting to prepare the courses for play 

cutting greens & changing holes in front of play, this mower is on demo as we are testing it out as it's a new model from our existing mowers, this mower has more technology, more efficiency so is better for the environment 

Out spraying tees with a liquid fert & wetting agent to help with the drought stress this Summer 

Working away at cutting and collecting certain deep rough areas to help thin them out and make them more playable going forward 

cutting and spraying tees 

We held a members tour/talk down at the sheds explaining behind the scenes and how this department operates and what work is involved running our courses 

The Craighead greens were top-dressed again with 9 tons of sand to help dilute the thatch to promote firmer/smoother surfaces 

The top-dressing sand is left to dry as long as we can before play

Then slowly rubbed in then watered 

Greens 4 & 7 on the Balcomie course were spiked, over seeded, heavy top-dressed then watered in to help improve the surfaces 

With the damper mornings at this time of year we have been having to brush fairway to help disperse grass clippings when cutting and help remove the dew before cutting

We have taken soil samples from both sets of greens to get them tested to see where we are with nutrient and thatch levels etc which allows us to plan our aeration and fertiliser programs going forward 

Certain weaker greens received a granular fertiliser to perk them up 

At this time of year we get a fair amount of damage and mess from Seagulls on the course with feathers and droppings 

We have cut back the gorse in front of green 16 on the Balcomie course to improve the line of site to the pin 

The damaged area of the wall at green 13 of the Craighead course has been rebuilt