Courses slightly greening up since the rain last week, cutting over both courses was reduced due to the drought conditions and we focused on hand watering and divoting fairways  

We had a swing joint crack under the 14th tee sprinkler on the Craighead course 

Swing joint replaced 

We have now replaced and added more coastal warning signs on the Balcomie course to make walkers more aware of the dangers with golf being played 

our weaker/drier fairways on the Balcomie course have been getting watered with our rain trains at night 

The Craighead course greens have had an application of a granular fertiliser 

We have installed 2 frames so you can have your bicycles secure while at the Club 

Greens being turf ironed then an application of liquid fertiliser to aid in plant health 

We continue to cut areas of deep roughs to help pace of play over both courses 

The Balcomie greens have been spiked to a depth of 25mm to aid better air and water movement in the top profile 

Once greens cut & rolled you can't tell this work has been completed, we try to carry this out monthly during the season 

We are constantly checking our moisture levels in our greens over both courses, which in turn helps us use water more efficiently 

fairways being divoted on the Balcomie course 

Our drier fairways over both courses have been sprayed with a liquid fertiliser and wetting agent to help aid recovery in these drought conditions 

 

Very dry weather the last few weeks, courses playing very Linksy 

Greens being rolled then sprayed with liquid fert/Seaweed 

The planned Craighead course aeration work to the Greens has went well

This consisted of micro-hollow coring, clearing up cores, verti-cutting  

Then the greens were sand injected down to 150mm 

1.5 tons of sand applied with the sand injector 

Then a light top-dressing adding another 0.5 tons of sand to cover the seed and fill in the core holes, so in total this year so far we have applied over 5tons onto each green 

Green 18 - we carried out more work as felt this was a softer green and our last profile report proved this, so the extra work consisted of a deep hollow coring to a depth of 100mm with a 13mm tine, then cleared up then 6.5 tons of sand applied 

All greens brushed in then watered to wash in the sand and seed 

We have been carrying out repair work to the Craighead course irrigation system 

with the very dry weather we have been out hand watering high spots on the greens and newly turfed areas, we have only had 23mm of rain since late February, a complete change from last year  

When possible we have had our rain train out watering our drier fairways on the Balcomie course 

The Balcomie greens have been spiked to allow better water and air movement, once the greens were cut & rolled you can hardly tell this spiking was done 

We have taken samples from our Craighead course greens to be sent away to get tested to see where we are with nutrients & organic matter levels 

The Craighead greens are recovering really well from the aeration work, this work is essential to keep good healthy greens 

 

The season is here

A great achievement for Tam, celebrating 25 years service with us in the Greenkeeping department, it's great the society recognising these milestones in the staff 

All go on the courses 

We are starting to up our cutting of all areas over both courses going into the new season 

Tees and walkways over both courses have had an application of slow release fertiliser to aid in recovery from the winter 

With the temperatures starting to rise we are out spraying our fairways etc over both courses with a selective herbicide to control daises on the playing surfaces 

All our Railway sleeper areas and tee bins have been painted for the new season on the Balcomie course 

The 10th fairway bunker on the Balcomie course being rebuilt 

The last of the bunkers on hole 3 of the Balcomie course being rebuilt 

With the dry spell we have been out watering all our new bunkers and turf areas and we are keeping an eye on moisture levels in the greens and watering when required 

Mowers being checked for cut quality and setting the cutting heights 

Our last bunker on our winter project was the 16th greenside on the Balcomie course 

We have extended the 11th back tee path on the Balcomie course up closer to our 10th green as this walkway was always difficult to keep good grass coverage on the surface 

This will be much better at coping with the wear and tear 

Fits nicely into the existing area at the 11th tee

On our driving range we have an area for corn bunting birds etc as a food source, so this area was cut and collected, then rotovated, raked, seeded, raked again then rolled, hopefully the forecasted rain comes to help this area germinate ready for later this year 

 

Not long until the season starts

Fairways & semi-roughs over both courses have had their first cut getting ready for the season a head 

Thank you to the volunteers that helped the Green staff fully divot the Craighead fairways, this helps having these filled with sand/soil & seed ready for the warmer weather to help recovery on our fairways after a busy winter period  

We have striped our 14th tee on the Balcomie course so it can be re-leved and new turf put down to help with wear and tear of this par 3 tee  

turf being laid 

Tee completed, hopefully this will be back in play by end of April once the turf has knitted in 

We have managed another sand injection to our Craighead course greens before the season starts to help dilute the thatch levels 

You can see the sand injection through the profile, this will also help with air and water movement 

That's both our irrigation systems pressurised up for the season, staff have been out checking on each sprinkler for running correctly  

Any new turf areas are being watered to help stop the turf from drying out, also the dyke has been rebuilt/repaired along the left of hole 12 of the Craighead course 

Once the Craighead greens were sand injected we have applied their Spring fertiliser to help with sand injection recovery and also any recovery from all the winter play 

We have been making our own tee signs again this winter to help with navigation round our courses 

The 3rd (LHS) bunker has been rebuilt on the Balcomie course, we are hoping to rebuild the other (LHS) bunker before the start of the season to complete the bunker work on this hole