Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and all the best for 2014 from the Green staff

 The tee paths at 7, 8 and the burn crossing on hole 12 have had the repair work completed on the Balcomie course

 Drainage lines on holes 6 & 18 on the Balcomie course have been heavily top-dressed again to achieve a firm and smooth surface

The new 18th tee path has roughly been shaped out ready for the turf sides to create the desirable shape. Other jobs have been raking bunkers daily, divoting tees & fairways and carrying out any cutting required

Aeration work on the Balcomie course

Today we started our aeration plans for the greens, tees & walkways on the Balcomie course in the way of slit tining and verti-draining. After the greens were slit tined they were cut and rolled to help smooth the surface

Path ends at tees 7 & 8 are being improved by using rubber matting to help stop wear and tear especially from our machinery

With the mild weather we have had to cut/clean/blow and rake bunkers on the Craighead course

4th green side on the Balcomie course rebuilt

11th fairway bunker on the Balcomie course rebuilt

12th fairway bunker on the Balcomie course rebuilt



 Damage along the coastline on the Balcomie course from the high tides

 digging out all the drain outfalls which were covered up by sand and seaweed

fairway bunkers left on hole 11 of the Balcomie course are getting rebuilt, other tasks were to slit tine fairways and continue to work on tee 18 after the Craighead course was set up for play

 This week the Craighead course is on it's 2nd week of closure so our plans were top-dressing the tees, rubbing in and slit tining greens and fairways. With the hard frost today we took the chance to start our gorse maintenance program

 On the Balcomie course was daily course set up then work on the new extension to the 18th tee which is 36m2

 ready for turf

 Today our main job was to clean up all the debris that was washed up by the high tides along holes 2,3,4,5,14 & 15 on the Balcomie course last night luckily we only had slight damage to the coastline plus 3 pins snapped

The burn outfall had to be dugout after being covered by sand and seaweed

 This week we have been mini-coring/cleaning up/double verti-cutting/cutting and top-dressing the Craighead course greens

 14th green completed with very little disturbance to the playing surfaces

 Also we have slit tined all the Craighead course fairways again, other tasks has been cleaning up drainage works, re planting trees that were moved for the drainage works. On the Balcomie course tasks have been to carry out course set up ie roll greens or dewy brush, rake bunkers daily and divot tees

Both David's and I took part in Movember to help raise money and thankfully it was not too windy to blow any off

Balcomie course- closed today due to a hard frost so jobs were to drain down the irrigation systems for the winter and divot fairways
Craighead course - open on winter greens, jobs were to top- up drainage lines with sand before machine goes off site tomorrow, drain down toilet block and reshaping the rear of the 17th bunker with the spoil going to the 18th tee extension on the Balcomie course