Cutting of all the playing surfaces on the Balcomie course ready for the start of our competitions this weekend 

We are still cutting tees with grass boxes off so not to lift any slow release fertiliser which was applied 

We have sprayed our fairways on the Balcomie course with selective herbicide to reduce the daisies then we have left them for 10 days to allow the chemical to work and now cutting with grass boxes on to help take away the seed heads from the weeds and have a nicer/cleaner finish 

The Craighead course greens are recovering well, this is the 13th green after it's first cut and 14 days after the aeration work 

We then applied another 0.5tons of sand to help fill in any scarifying lines and further help reduce our organic matter levels 

We have put our new thin pins and hole cups out on the Balcomie course ready for the first competition this weekend. Once the Craighead greens have healed we will do the same in about 3 weeks as we are still planning to be top-dressing with sand to help aid recovery from the aeration work 

April has been a very dry & cold month with only 2.5mm of rain, so we have been using our new irrigation system most nights over both the courses & hand water high spots in the mornings on greens 

We use a moisture probe to help us gauge how much water to apply and where to apply it, which helps us reduce water usage overall and help us produce more consistent surfaces 

All our greens/PG's over both courses have had an application of liquid fertiliser & wetting agent 
 

Aeration week on the Craighead course

It's that time of year when we close the Craighead course for a week to carry out essential major aeration work to the greens, we carry this work out every second year due to the severity of the work 

We have deep scarified to a depth of 15mm to rip out organic matter (thatch) to help improve the surfaces, improve firmness, air & water movement 

The machine we used collected most of the material coming out 

Then we cleared the surfaces with shovels and blowers 

The next process was to lightly scarify in 2 directions to take out more material and help close the deeper scarifying lines 

The amount of material out of the surface from half a green 

The surfaces after all the scarifying, recovery will take about 6 to 8 weeks depending on the weather, this aeration work is essential in the long term health of our greens and having good surfaces all year round 

A slow turf iron to help start to smooth and firm the surfaces off before seeding and top-dressing 
 

starting to see slight growth on our main playing areas 

Spraying fairways with iron on the Balcomie course 

work is now completed at the surrounding areas of our new irrigation tank/pumphouse 

getting the Balcomie course bunkers cut and edged etc for going into the new season 

more top-dressing sand and brushing on our short game area green to aid recovery from the winter play 

the wet area at the front of our 18th green on the Balcomie course has been hollow cored, seeded and heavy top-dressed to help this area drain and improve the surface 

the Balcomie course tees and walkways have been fertilised to aid in recovery from winter play and traffic 

Our Corn bunting project area on the driving range has been reseeded for this year, first task is to cut and collect the area 

then slowly rotovate the top 75mm to make an ideal seed bed 

then over seed the area with the Corn bunting/bee mix, rake into the profile in a few directions then roll the area 
 

Rolling the playing surfaces before play 

We have pressurised both our irrigation systems ready for the season and to water in fertilisers 

We have completed our first cut of the year on all the playing surfaces 

on both our 1st greens we are trialing a new thin pin to see how they perform from a golfers and weather point

All greens/PG's over both courses have had a liquid fertiliser and iron application to help them come out the winter months 

The Craighead starters hut & course toilets have had their roofs cleaned going into the new season 

We have built another recycling bin out of Railway sleepers which has been put at tee 12 on the Balcomie course 

Working our way round edging/weeding bunkers on the Craighead course 

Tees on the Craighead course have been brush/cut then sprayed with iron 

The Craighead course greens have been solid tined to a depth of 150mm top help relieve compaction and aid in drainage 

Very little disturbance to the surfaces after a roll 

We have now started to re-turf the area at the new tank/pump-house area on the driving range 

The short game area green has been double cut and fertilised to aid recovery from all the play throughout the winter months 
 

Some lovely but cold mornings 

work is progressing well at the new tank/pump-house surrounding areas with the reduced staffing levels 

The soil area all leveled/raked ready to be turfed when the weather improves 

Final layers of grey whin dust on the path areas on top of the hardcore 

when weather permits we have been out rolling greens to keep a good surface 

adverse weather jobs have been cleaning and tidying up the sheds 

We have made a start to edging/weeding the Craighead course bunkers 

We have had over 160mm of rain so far this year which has tested our drains and burns 

Making sure our outfalls are cleared 

Our mini beast from the East hit last week 

We made sure we kept on top of clearing snow in our car parks and roads