Crails Greenkeepers blog

2012-02-01T09:58:00.000-08:00

Today we carried on solid tining greens but had to stop as we had a break down, hopefully new parts will be with us first thing tomorrow other jobs were to start verti-draining our tees and edging/weeding and topping up all the tee paths

The Balcomie course we cut greens, raked bunkers and moved tee markers then all staff helped on Craighead course with the above jobs

2012-01-31T08:25:00.000-08:00

Solid tining the Craighead greens with an 8mm tine to a depth of 2.5"
17th bunker face nearly finished
The surround sprinkler was needing adjusted as we have lowered the mounding at 17th fairway and we replaced the heavy soil around the head in case we need to fix etc in the future which makes easier digging
17th mound complete just needs rolled and top-dressed

2012-01-30T09:12:00.000-08:00

The Craighead course is closed this week for winter maintenance which is rebuilding the 17th bunker and reducing the height and softening of the mound on the 17th fairway

Jobs on the Balcomie course were raking bunkers, moving tee markers, cutting surrounds and vibrate roll greens

2012-01-25T10:53:00.000-08:00

Today was our winter medal on the Craighead course so greens were cut, holes changed, bunkers raked then all staff over on Balcomie working at the new 8th bunkers and finishing off the 15th tee path
Slit tine marks from November

2012-01-24T09:55:00.000-08:00

This week the Balcomie course is closed for rest and winter works to be done so work continues on hole 8 building new fairway bunkers and re-turfing 15th tee walkway and putting rubber matting down to help wear other jobs on the Craighead course were to rake bunkers, move tee markers and cut greens 7 & 14 to clean up rabbit droppings then all work on Balcomie, we have staff down at the BTME at Harrogate

2012-01-19T10:17:00.000-08:00

We have been at the 8th medal tee adding in a new irrigation sprinkler head and the rest of the staff were over on the Balcomie course turfing the 15th medal tee

2012-01-18T09:20:00.000-08:00

Course back on full greens after 3 days on winter greens, as we had frost we were out cutting gorse at the banking left of 14th ladies tee etc, updating risk assessments and machine maintenance. today we vibrate rolled greens, raked bunkers moved tee markers and topped up ball washers then all the staff was over on the Balcomie course putting in drain at 6th walkway and working at 15th tee

2012-01-12T08:18:00.000-08:00

Turf ironed all the drainage lines

Cutting and collecting deep rough at tee 5 & 8
Slit tining fairways, other jobs were cutting greens, divoting tees and a small re-turfing job on the 18th surround

2012-01-11T09:05:00.000-08:00

Today the course was open as the Balcomie course had the winter Medal on so this allows members out for a bounce game. As it was a heavy dew we dewy brushed the greens, checked tee markers, continued with hollow coring and then cut surrounds after it dried up to help clean them up after the hollow coring

2012-01-10T08:40:00.000-08:00

Course closed this week to carryout out winter programs which is hollow coring surrounds with a 5/8" tine and rebuilding the 15th greenside bunker

Hopefully if weather stays good we will slit tine fairways once we have completed the coring of the surrounds

2012-01-05T11:47:00.000-08:00

Today we were over on the Balcomie course stripping any left over turf off the 15th medal tee to use on the 6th banking which was built from the spoil from the drainage works

Welcome to a windy 2012

2012-01-04T12:47:00.000-08:00

The start of the clean up after the high winds
catching up with cutting the 3.5" roughs and trimming and cleaning sprinkler heads after we raked the bunkers, moved tee markers and cleaning up and checking for wind damage

2011-12-24T03:06:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we cut and vibrate rolled greens to tidy them up, changed holes and set tee markers and raked all bunkers, next week it's a skeleton staff out checking the courses daily
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from Crail golfing society

2011-12-22T08:07:00.000-08:00

Course back on full greens after 4 days of hard frost, today we were catching up with cutting surrounds, cutting tees, divoting tees and finishing off a turfing job on hole 4 other jobs this week have been painting and cutting gorse back as the ground has been frozen

2011-12-14T11:40:00.000-08:00

Progress has been slow with the 15th bunker with the frosts and play as its a blind shot to the green so we will wait till we close after Christmas as we have 2 courses from November till March we close the courses fortnightly to complete winter programs and rest them up but we have half the new face up and have re-routed the irrigation pipe work
This week is catching up with cutting fairways and semi-roughs plus with the other course closed we have staff over helping with winter programs so we are at skeleton staff

2011-12-06T09:09:00.000-08:00

With the frosty mornings we have been carrying out jobs away from playing surfaces which have been draining down the irrigation system and the toilet block on the course, painting tee pots then when the frost has lifted we have made a start to cutting and collecting the deep roughs, extending the 15th medal tee and working at the 15th bunker rebuild
Hopefully with taking away the clippings from the roughs will help to starve these areas to produce a slightly thinner rough and reduce the rougher grasses

First frost

2011-12-03T01:17:00.000-08:00

15th greenside bunker completed
Making a start to the other greenside bunker at 15th which we are extending the bunker left and back to double the size the reason for this is to help deter golfers playing from the 14th fairway to this green, once we have reshaped this area we will re-route the irrigation pipes round the rear of the bunker
Today was our first frost so greens were put on winter greens till 9am then filling in potholes in road other tasks after were to rake bunkers, move tee markers, spray greens with wetting agent and iron and work at the 15th bunker

2011-11-30T08:48:00.000-08:00

All aeration work completed on greens and tees so today we cut greens and surrounds, sprayed greens with a fungicide, top-dressed greens and surrounds with sand then dragged the sand in, we are still working at rebuilding the 15th greenside bunker

2011-11-28T09:13:00.000-08:00

Solid tining greens to a depth of 3"

Slit tining greens and tees and we have made a start to rebuilding the 15th greenside bunker

2011-11-25T14:27:00.000-08:00

A bit colder today more like November, we set up the course for our winter medal tomorrow which was cut and turf iron greens, change holes, wash and replace white inserts in cups, rake bunkers and move tee markers then after was collect balls and set up corer for solid tining greens next week. Yesterday was completing 16th bunker, verti-draining tees, cutting and divoting tees then starting the verti-draining on walkways which will continue next week

2011-11-23T13:36:00.000-08:00

Verti-draining with a 5/8" solid tine to a depth of 6" on the tees

The 2nd greenside bunker at the 16th getting rebuilt
We have completed our drainage at hole 7 yesterday, so we are now starting our aeration program which will continue into next week, with the mild weather still here we have cut greens Monday and today other jobs on the go are rebuilding the 16th bunker, top-dressing all the drainage lines and cutting surrounds and winter greens

2011-11-20T12:46:00.000-08:00

Greens were cut then sprayed with an insecticide plus half-rate of iron
With carrying out drainage for the last few weeks we really needed to catch up with cutting so we cut fairways, semi-roughs and cut bunker faces this week
Irrigation pipes that I caught with trencher at 9th
A little pebble

2011-11-16T08:40:00.000-08:00

Drainage started down at hole 7
Bunker at 16th green rebuilt and the face height has been raised to help reduce balls rolling in off the green

2011-11-14T08:27:00.000-08:00

More drainage this week at the 9th surround and hopefully then down to the 7th surround other jobs are rebuilding the first green side bunker at the 16th on the left side. All the new drainage got well tested on Friday night with 11mm of rain

2011-11-09T11:26:00.000-08:00

We manage to get back to the drainage project on hole 4 but only for a day as it became to wet and messy so we moved to another part of the course to drain the 16th surround, with carrying out drainage and bunker rebuilding in the last few weeks we have left cutting to a minimum so today we caught up with cutting of the tees, surrounds, winter greens, greens, strimming work and changing holes and also completed the rebuilding of the 7th greenside bunker

2011-11-03T08:32:00.000-07:00

Bunkers at the 3rd completed and top-dressed etc

2011-11-02T12:17:00.001-07:00

Skeleton staff today as they were away to the Scotsturf show, so I was over working on the Balcomie course first thing changing holes for the medal which gave our greens time to dry out before we carried out top-dressing and brushing in

2011-11-01T10:34:00.000-07:00

Rebuilding the 3rd green side bunkers on the right, the drainage project is at a stand still as the area is to wet to work at after the rain at the weekend

Greens were cut and sprayed with liquid iron and wetting agent

2011-10-27T07:55:00.000-07:00

Today we cut tees, divoted tees, cut greens and worked on the 4th fairway drainage
The drainage lines were all rolled, top-dressed then brushed in

2011-10-24T11:15:00.000-07:00

2nd green side bunker
3rd green side bunker

Today it was high winds but dry. We had to stop the drainage project today as we had a break down on one of the tractors so plan b was to start rebuilding bunkers on holes 2 & 3 instead so hopefully we are back to drainage tomorrow but forecast is looking very wet & windy which will test our drainage so far that we have completed fingers crossed lol, other jobs were to check course first thing, collect balls, mark out more lateral drainage lines and lower and re-turf a mains water valve cover at hole 11

2011-10-20T08:22:00.000-07:00

The drainage boys

First cut and roll on the greens since they were top-dressed
Bunker at 1st green finished and top-dressed

2011-10-18T10:19:00.000-07:00

This week sees the start of our drainage project on the 4th fairway and the re vetting of the 1st green side bunker. yesterday afternoon seen 19mm of rain fall not the best for trenching

top-dressed drainage lines
Last Friday I visited a local club to check out there fairway spiker as we are looking at replacing our existing spiker

2011-10-13T09:41:00.000-07:00

Tees cut and divoted, fairways cut, greens switched then we set up the trencher and started to trench the 3rd medal tee along the length of the left hand side to help drain water coming down from the bank on the left instead of it running onto tee fingers crossed!

2011-10-12T08:04:00.000-07:00

we cut out areas in the rough next to the par 3 tees for our winter tees

other jobs were to re-turf rabbit damage on tees plus we put down wire mesh over the new turf hopefully it will keep the rabbits from digging, raked all bunkers, switch greens only today as they were top-dressed and a 0.0.37 autumn fertiliser applied, started to dig out 4th fairway soak away for the new drains and divoted winter greens

2011-10-10T08:30:00.000-07:00

This morning we spiked our greens, cut greens, cut surrounds, raked bunkers and moved tee markers then when it dried up we top-dressed greens and surrounds with sand, rubbed in, vibrate rolled and cleaned and trimmed sprinkler heads.

2011-10-07T11:03:00.000-07:00

marking out the proposed drainage lines on the 4th fairway which we will be starting on the 17th of October
10th bunker rebuilt

heat wave away and back to normal weather, this week we have only cut greens Mon, Wed, Fri and tomorrow they will be rolled for the Sat medal also we applied a liquid iron to the greens. other jobs was to rebuild 10th bunker, cut all semi-roughs and fairways and gave the tees their first cut since the hollow coring, seeding and top-dressing.

2011-10-03T07:51:00.000-07:00

Demo over seed units that fit on greens mower that we tried out on green 2

Rubbing in of top-dressing after the seeding
Started to rebuild 10th bunker after we completed our tasks of cutting greens, moving & divoting tees, raking bunkers, over seeding etc on 2nd green, started to cut semi-rough and sprayed greens with a preventative fungicide, today we were back to full staff but only for a couple of days.

2011-09-29T10:35:00.000-07:00

Summers here at last and I have just been saying that we are starting to reduce our cutting program lol, at the start of the month we received very heavy rain which caused the 10th green side bunker face to collapse slightly down into the bunker so we have made a start to digging out and will rebuild next week, today we cut greens, cut surrounds, move tee markers and divot tees, machine maintenance, sprayed weed killer round driving range tees and car park then top-up the 4th green side bunkers with new sand

2011-09-28T09:48:00.000-07:00

Rab out testing the new Toro demo greens mower

2011-09-27T09:18:00.000-07:00

This week our plans were to cut fairways yesterday so we could then spray all the fairways with soluble iron other jobs today were move tee markers, re-turf rabbit scrapes on tees, trim and clean tee sprinklers after the top-dressing last week and divot winter greens, we never cut or rolled greens today as we are not taking many clippings off with the drop in temperatures

2011-09-21T08:15:00.000-07:00

verti-cutting, cutting, over seeding, top-dressing then rubbing in of tees was started today after we cut greens and raked all bunkers also we finished off strimming work, hopefully we will complete the work on tees tomorrow weather pending

2011-09-19T12:58:00.000-07:00

heavy dew this morning and the course was still soft from the rain yesterday. this morning we slit tined the greens, cut greens, raked bunkers, moved and divoted tees then collected balls off the driving range, started strimming work and started cutting semi-roughs

2011-09-18T03:40:00.000-07:00

This morning we set up the course for an open day and medal, with the greens being just fertilised on Thursday we cut yesterday and today with grass boxes off
I caught up with a job that was down to be done on Friday but the rain stopped us which was over seeding and top-dressing the turf nursery as we have some thin areas on the lower side
Newly planted Gorse which is coming on really well the only positive from this wet weather

2011-09-15T11:54:00.000-07:00

At last we got our fertiliser on the greens, the weaker tees and the turf nursery we used 4.0.8 + 4fe at half-rate then we watered in, other jobs were to cut fairways, mark out winter greens, clean and trim winter hole cups then top-dress and cut tees and greens in front of the fertilising
watering in of the fertiliser
2nd fairway

2011-09-13T09:58:00.000-07:00

High winds and heavy showers for the last 2 days so we never cut greens yesterday and have raised the cutting height as its the end of the season and the temperature is starting to drop, other jobs have been raking all bunkers, divoting tees, carry on with the coring and verti-cutting of the tees, cutting 3.5" roughs and cutting semi-roughs. I'm hoping the winds drop so we can apply our Autumn feed on the greens as they are looking very hungry and washed out with all this rain that we have received in the last month or so

2011-09-07T12:01:00.000-07:00

This week we have had torrential rain which has caused unusual flooding so we were out pumping water off the course and fixing all the water damage to the bunkers
Once the flooding was away we investigated why the drain at 13th hole was not working and fixed hopefully we will see when we get more rain
Today we cut greens, changed holes and moved tee markers, raked bunkers, finished off cutting semi rough, trim fairway discs then after break we made a start to cutting fairways. We completed our aeration program to the putting green before the temperature drops so we can get good recovery and germination by double scarifying at a depth of 10mm to help take out thatch then verti-cut, cut, overseed, top-dress and rub in then change the holes

2011-09-02T08:47:00.000-07:00

Today we cut greens with no perimeter cut, trimmed holes, raked bunkers, collected balls off range and topped up ball dispenser, emptied bins and topped up ball washers then we changed plans as we had a heavy dew and light showers which put pay to coring and verti-cutting tees so we sprayed weedkiller on tee paths and top-dressed drainage lines on 5th & 14th by hand then true-lute in then a medium dressing with top-dresser over the whole fairway and rub in plus we took heights of the 4th fairway to plan out runs for this winters drainage project which hopefully will be starting Monday the 17th of October fingers crossed.

2011-09-01T12:13:00.001-07:00

We verti-drained all the walkways to help relieve compaction, cut fairways, cut tees, divot tees, cut surrounds behind the fairway mowers to clean up any mess as it's been a damp cut today other jobs this week have been cutting all bunker faces, setting up course yesterday for the Campbell Trophy, cutting 3.5" roughs and carrying on with hollow coring tees when possible.

2011-08-29T11:56:00.000-07:00

That's me back from 2 weeks holiday, jobs in the last 2 weeks have been carrying out the weekly cutting program and extra jobs have been verti-cutting greens, spiking greens and spraying a preventative fungicide on the greens. Today we cut greens with no perimeter cut, cut tees and divot, rake bunkers, cut any semi-rough that needs done and start our aeration program on the tees which is hollow coring and verti-cutting the plan is to complete 9 sets of tees this week then the same next week this will allow us to still to carryout cutting programs etc

Still lush areas on green 7 from Seagulls droppings

2011-08-09T09:05:00.001-07:00

At last dry but we had to close the front 9 on Sunday and yesterday because of flooding so plans today were to verti-cut greens and cut greens we also verti-cut the 1st tee and putting green, cut semi-rough, cut a bout round the surrounds to clean up any mess from the verti-cutting, collect balls, cut driving range, set up junior course on driving range and cut areas at 1st tee and roundabout etc
1st tee after verti-cutting and cutting
7th green a week later from all the seagull droppings which has turned into small lush spots, all the heavy rain helped dilute the droppings so not much burning thank god

Another 25mm of rain and more to come

2011-08-06T10:12:00.000-07:00

out with the turf iron to help gain speed on the greens behind the cutter as all this rain has slowed down the surface speed
some fairways were cut again to clean up any clippings from the wet cut yesterday
water damage on most bunkers which had to be shaped back and raked

Rain,rain and more rain

2011-08-04T08:27:00.000-07:00

Torrential rain over 35mm of rain so far this week causing flooding on the course
Mess from Seagulls on green 7 before cleaning up and cutting
Seagulls droppings which may burn the grass and leave lush areas round each burn
This week jobs have been delayed or cancelled because of heavy rain so we have caught up with machine maintenance and divoting landing areas, today we cut greens, divoted tees, cut tees, cut fairways, cut surrounds behind fairway mower which helped clean up the mess left from the cutting units as it was wet, hopefully tomorrow will be dry lol to let us catch up for the weekend

2011-07-29T10:21:00.000-07:00

Today we were out cutting greens with groomers on, cutting hairy bunker faces and blowing sand off faces, raking bunkers and moving tee markers, emptying tee bins and after break all on strimming work and spraying strimmed areas with growth regulator then had meeting with greens convener

2011-07-27T13:20:00.000-07:00

This week we have been carrying out the usual cutting program with extra turf ironing on the greens to help speed up the playing surface extra jobs have been to investigate any irrigation problems and fix, spraying weedkiller on tee paths etc
The bunker rear of the 7th green has been targeted by rabbits lately so we are trying out a rag soaked with diesel to see if this stops them causing damage an old trick I was told about
Yesterday I attended a demo at St Andrews Links on building bunkers with recycled astro turf instead of turf

2011-07-22T09:32:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we cut greens, cut fairways, cut tees and divoted then after break we cut surrounds, finished fairways and top-dressed tees and drainage lines at 5th and 14th. Today we cut greens, raked bunkers, collected balls and topped up ball dispenser, emptied tee bins and moved tee markers, cleaned up broken tees, filled in pot holes in road to shed, divot landing areas and clean mess room and office
Top-dressing 1st tee

2011-07-19T08:54:00.000-07:00

Tony spiking greens in front of cutting and turf ironing
Nick spraying greens behind the boys with wetting agent and liquid iron
We have now re-turfed and levelled off the area at green 6 where we had our irrigation burst
After Tony finished spiking greens he went onto slit tining tees which should be completed tomorrow, this should help relieve any compaction on these areas
Other jobs were to spray bunker faces and strimming work with a growth regulator, cut driving range and set up junior course etc and machine maintenance

2011-07-15T08:48:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we cut our tees, divoted tees, cut greens, changed holes for ladies medal then cut fairways and surrounds
We have now fixed the burst at the 6th green it was a cracked saddle joint which comes off the main pipe to the sprinkler swing joint but I don't think we will need to use it with the weather forecast for this weekend, jobs today were to rake all bunkers, cut green, collect balls, move tee markers, empty tee bins and top-up ball washers, finish off fairways then it was all staff on strimming work after break and we managed to top-dress the drainage lines at hole 5 again

2011-07-12T12:27:00.000-07:00

Today we cut greens with groomers on to help tickle the grass up to give us a real clean cut then turf ironed behind, trim holes, spray tees with wetting agent and soluble iron, cut semi-roughs then collect balls, cut driving range and set up junior course

2011-07-10T12:30:00.000-07:00

Lush areas on certain greens from seagulls droppings
Monthly application of wetting agent to greens & surrounds
forking up and turf ironing of the damaged area on green 6 from the burst irrigation pipe to help smooth off area

2011-07-07T12:38:00.001-07:00

Cutting tees
divoting and putting tee markers back behind cutter, the reason we divot behind cutter so not to blunt the cutting units with the divot mix or lift seed
Today we had a Lombard corporate day which was a 2 tee start at the 1st and 10th so course set up was to rake bunkers, cut aprons, cut and iron greens, cut tees and divot tees, the holes were changed yesterday and luckily the weather was not to bad today breezy with a couple of shower in the afternoon a lot better than yesterday

2011-07-06T06:43:00.000-07:00

Burst irrigation pipe on surround of 6th green which has caused some damage to the green and surround surfaces, we have received over 28mm of rain in the last 24 hours which has caused the odd puddle on the course so golf buggies stopped for the day, jobs today were machine maintenance then rake bunkers and change holes glad we cut all the fairways yesterday
Deer running across 12th fairway

2011-07-01T07:59:00.000-07:00

Jobs first thing were to cut greens, change holes, move tee markers, rake bunkers, collect balls, empty tee bins and top-up ball washers then after break we cut surrounds, finished of cutting 3.5" roughs, fertilising the 2nd fairway and walkways with a slow release fertiliser (24.5.13) at half rate and knapsack spraying of weeds in the gorse areas between holes 1 & 18 and catch up on some machine maintenance

2011-06-28T08:52:00.000-07:00

After cutting greens we sprayed the greens with a preventative fungicide to help protect the greens from any attack so greens will only be ironed tomorrow so not to cut off any fungicide, other jobs were to finish cutting semi-roughs, start cutting 3.5" roughs, collect balls, cut driving range and set up junior course for tonight on the driving range

2011-06-27T07:52:00.000-07:00

It was a damp start today, we have a memeber of staff on holiday this week and one off ill today so jobs had to be rearranged so we cut greens with no peremetre cut, raked greenside bunkers, cut tees and divoted tees, started to cut semi-rough after break, started verti-draining tees with a 3/4" solid tine to a depth of 6" and double scarified the 2nd fairway to help cut out long ends and lateral growth, the scarifier was set at -2mm

2011-06-25T03:42:00.000-07:00

Today we have set the course up for the Competition Crail v the rest of the world which is to celebrate Crail Golfing society being 225 years old, hopefully the weather stays good as I'm playing at lunch time lol
We are not the only one's up first thing Fishermen too

2011-06-22T11:52:00.000-07:00

We received 22mm of rain through the night and this morning so jobs first thing were delayed so we carried out machine maintenance work and cleaning out mess room etc, once the rain had stopped we strimmed the roadside before the road got busy then cut greens, changed holes and replaced the hole cup inserts, raked bunkers, moved tee markers and made a start to cutting fairways
Replacing the bottom blades on the tees units
14th green, we have put the cutting height back down to 4mm since the we are not lifting any top-dressing from the aeration work

2011-06-17T10:32:00.000-07:00

As it was calm this morning very unusual for us I was out spraying fairways and semi-rough etc with a selective herbicide to kill off daisies and clover, we have only been able to cut and roll greens in afternoon when they are dry because of the top-dressing this week hopefully be back to normal cutting next week, other jobs yesterday were cutting fairways, cutting tees, cutting surrounds, divoting tees, cutting and ironing greens. Today we raked all bunkers, sprayed fairways, moved tee markers, emptied bins and topped up ball washers, divoting landing areas, collect balls and top-up ball dispenser, cut and ironed greens and fertilised surrounds 11 & 14 as they are looking weak

2011-06-15T10:21:00.000-07:00

High spots on greens have been getting hand watered
First cut on the greens since the aeration work with the grass boxes off so not to lift any top-dressing or fertiliser. Other jobs today were to rake all bunkers, move tee markers, roll greens then spray with wetting agent, spraying weed killer round both sheds and storage area on course, cut and fertilise greens turf nursery and changing holes

2011-06-09T13:27:00.000-07:00

This morning we had a heavy dew so our greens could not be touched until the surfaced dried out so not to lift top-dressing or fertiliser then we vibrate rolled and turf ironed to smooth off the surface other jobs were to cut tees and divot, cut fairways, over seed par 3 tees and top-dress
We had seed left in hopper after the tees so we over seeded the drainage line as well and more top-dressing, the irrigation is set for tonight to water in fertiliser/top-dressing again. At last the new irrigation tank liner and lid was replaced on our smaller tank as it was damaged by the snow from the start of the year

2011-06-08T06:35:00.000-07:00

All the aeration work to the greens is now complete so today we fertilised greens with a 4.0.8 at 30gm2 this will help in the recovery of the surfaces and strengthen up the sward, with all the staff working on the greens in the last 2 days we needed to catch up with course set up ie raking bunkers, moving tee markers, changing holes, cutting 3.5" roughs then made a start to cutting fairways, the irrigation is set up for the greens to water in the fertiliser/top-dressing tonight

Aeration work

2011-06-06T12:32:00.000-07:00

Today we started our aeration program to the greens which entailed slit tining, hollow coring, scarifying, verti-cutting, over seeding and top-dressing

The reason for us carrying out this work is to reduce thatch levels and keep introducing fescue and bent grass seed into the sward and at this time of year we get the quickest recovery

2011-05-30T08:44:00.000-07:00

More pins broken at the weekend with the high winds and the Club Championship had to be stopped and re-scheduled as balls were blowing off greens and it was impossible to putt. today we cut greens with no perimeter cut, cut tees, divot tees, spray tees with wetting agent and iron, rake green side bunkers then jobs after break were collect balls off driving range, start cutting semi-rough and fill in potholes in road to shed with the winds at the weekend and spraying wetting agent we have set up the irrigation to come on tonight

2011-05-27T14:10:00.000-07:00

We are continuing to top-dress the drainage lines on hole 5 weekly to produce a smooth surface while we have the growth, other jobs today were to cut greens with groomers on and turf iron behind, rake bunkers, collect balls, finish off cutting roughs and cut the harder growing fairways again. In the afternoon we stimped the greens to check green speeds as we have round one of the Club Championship tomorrow then we cut and rolled greens again to help gain slightly more pace on the surface

2011-05-24T13:21:00.000-07:00

Jobs first thing today were to clean up and fix the damage from the high wind yesterday, broken pins, ball washers and bins blown over and tree branches over road to Club

2011-05-20T12:35:00.000-07:00

We've been out spraying more fairways and semi-rough with a selective herbicide to kill off daisies and clover

2011-05-18T06:29:00.000-07:00

We verti-cut cut the greens today at -2mm depth to cut any lateral growth and to help keep a smooth surface and the weather stayed dry for us thank god as this task would become very messy if wet
Emptied grass boxes between 2-3 times per green
greens were cut behind verti- cutting and holes changed, other jobs were to rake bunkers, move tee markers, cut 1 pass round greens to clean up any mess left from the verti-cutting, holes changed in practise putting green and cut fairways

2011-05-16T08:58:00.000-07:00

Today we got a dry cut on greens and tees as it has been very windy here all day, all tees were divoted, balls collected from the driving range, started cutting semi-rough, cut 3.5" roughs, top-dressed the par 3 tees and top-dressed the drainage lines on the 5th fairway

2011-05-12T06:45:00.000-07:00

With all the rain at the weekend the greens are growing quicker which has reduced the speed of the surface slightly so we have ironed the greens behind cutter this morning plus we used the groomers on the greens mower to help cut out any lateral growth and clean up the surface other jobs were to finish off cutting fairways, cut tees, divot tees, cut surrounds, machine maintenance and trimming all sprinkler heads
Replacing a damaged sprinkler head on the Ladies 9th tee looks like it was damaged by the verti-drainer or slit tiner

2011-05-10T09:59:00.000-07:00

This morning we spiked the greens with a 6mm solid tine to a depth of 1" this is to allow water and air into the surface, cut greens behind spiker to clean up surface then sprayed wetting agent on greens and surrounds this helps to stop water run off and helps water penetrate into the soil other jobs were to cut the semi-roughs
This afternoon we cored the 14th surround with a 1/2" hollow tine to relieve compaction and take out excess thatch, collected balls, cut driving range and set up junior course on the driving range for tonight's junior coaching

2011-05-09T09:21:00.000-07:00

New growth on Gorse that was cut back last December when we had the snow. Over the weekend we received over 40mm of rain which the course was really needing but greens speeds have dropped slightly, today we cut greens, cut tees and divoted, raked bunkers, collected balls, started to spray areas round bunkers etc with selective herbicide with the knapsacks as areas are to small and awkward to use mounted sprayer, cut 3.5" roughs and made a start to the semi-rough and also set up the corer ready for carrying out work on the 14th apron on Wednesday

2011-05-05T10:24:00.000-07:00

Forecast says rain, at last which will be good as the course is very dry, We cut greens with no perimeter cut, cut tees, divot tees, cut fairways, cut surrounds we try to cut these behind the fairway mowers in case they leave any mess on these areas, carried out scarifying on the putting green on the driving range with the vee moo's at 10mm depth this will help rip out any excess thatch once this was blown and cleaned up the holes were changed as they were damaged by the scarifying

Frost first thing

2011-05-04T08:26:00.000-07:00

We had a frost first thing but thawed out by 6.30am
As we applied a liquid fertiliser to the greens yesterday we used the turf iron to roll the greens so not to lift any fertiliser, changed holes, moved tee markers, strimmed along the roadside down to the Clubhouse, cut bunkers faces then applied a growth regulator to the bunkers faces. The forecast is for rain by Friday which is very welcomed as the course is very dry.

2011-05-03T09:07:00.000-07:00

This week seen Scottie moving from our team to the Balcomie course team and Mike moving across to the Craighead team, tasks so far this week have been Monday - cutting greens, cutting tees, divoting tees, raking bunkers, collecting balls off the range and strimming work. Tuesday - Cutting greens, applying a liquid fertiliser and iron to the greens and surrounds, cutting all semi-roughs, spraying growth regulator on fence line and walls etc to help reduce strimming work, cutting the driving range, setting up junior course on the driving range and making a start to spraying a selective herbicide to semi-rough/3.5" rough areas on holes 1 to 5 to help check the clover that's appearing

2011-05-01T01:56:00.000-07:00

My weekend on duty so I was cutting greens both mornings and have to say the greens have recovered fully from the aeration work carried out on Wednesday and as it's been dry we have been watering greens and tees at night if required

Greens aeration work

2011-04-27T10:08:00.000-07:00

Today we have started our aeration work to the greens which entails double scarifying to a depth of 6mm, verti-cutting and double cutting to help clean up surface with the spare greens units as not to blunt our greens set as we were lifting a little top-dressing. As it was a heavy dew our jobs were to cut semi-rough, collect balls from the driving range and cut greens to help dry them out quicker so we could get a start

2011-04-18T03:13:00.000-07:00

A successful weekend for holding the battle trophy the weather was very kind to the players and the green staff for setting up the course, a congratulations goes to Alexander Culverwell who won the Battle Trophy with 4 round total of 286 and for equaling the course record on his 4th round. It was a busy last few days for us setting up the course for this competition with rolling greens and cutting fairways Friday night etc, Saturday & Sunday mornings was raking all bunkers, setting up tees & divoting, cutting & rolling greens, setting up driving range and changing holes, the greens speeds were 9'7" on Saturday and 10' on Sunday.

Tony rolling greens behind cutter Sunday morning

2011-04-15T06:05:00.000-07:00

This weekend we are holding a 72 hole qualifying open amateur competition so we have been out hand cutting greens, rolling greens the last couple of mornings and will be rolling the greens again tonight, all fairways were double cut, tees cut and divoted, surrounds cut and check all OB posts etc.

2011-04-14T04:56:00.000-07:00

Today we hand cut greens, cut tees still with boxes off, divoted tees and sprayed the tees with wetting agent then after break we finished off cutting green side bunker faces, strimming walls etc that are next to greens, cut surrounds and sprayed surrounds with wetting agent too.

2011-04-12T06:06:00.000-07:00

Monday - we never cut greens, cut all fairways, raked all bunkers and moved tee markers, collected balls off the driving range, sprayed greens with wetting agent and iron,cut tees with boxes off still and divoted. The course is starting to dry out now so I put the irrigation on at night for the greens and tees which will also water in the wetting agent.

Tuesday - we cut greens with triple mower then rolled behind to help smooth off the surface, raked green side bunkers and moved tee markers, cut all semi-rough, trimmed the holes for the senior texas scramble, collected balls off the driving range and then cut the driving range.

2011-04-07T02:02:00.000-07:00

Cutting tees with the grass boxes off as they were fertilised last week so not to lift any fertiliser

Nick verti-cutting greens

Tony & Andy hand cutting behind the verti-cutting to clean up the surface

2011-04-06T13:16:00.000-07:00

Monday - Rab still off this week on paternity leave tasks were greens were cut with triple mower with no perimeter cut, all bunkers raked, tee markers moved, balls collected from range, any areas of semi-rough needing cut and made a start to the strimming work

Tuesday - 3.5" roughs cut, cut all bunker faces and bunker surrounds and raked behind, check tee markers the greens were left today

Wednesday - greens cut with triple mower with no perimeter cut, green side bunkers raked, tee markers moved, all fairways cut, finished off 3.5" roughs, greens hand mowers height lowered and verti- cut units put on for tomorrow weather pending for a pass on the greens, a start made to trimming surround sprinklers and surrounds cut

2011-04-01T02:22:00.000-07:00

Yesterday when it dried up we managed to verti-cut 9 greens but it's wet this morning so we will have to wait till it drys up again so jobs this morning was to hand cut greens, rake green side bunkers, trim greens sprinkler heads, move tee markers and put all par 3 tees back on summer tees then after break we divoted the par 3 tee winter areas and finished off divoting fairways, Tomorrow we have the Spring meeting on so greens will be cut, holes changed, markers set up and all the bunkers raked this is the start of more staff working weekends now to have the courses set up for comps etc

2011-03-31T06:28:00.000-07:00

All the G.U.R bunkers are now back in play for the season, with it raining first thing we greased machines and cleaned up shed then fertilised tees with a 24.5.13 slow release in the afternoon

2011-03-29T06:06:00.000-07:00

Andy out cutting the 3.5" roughs

Last week we noticed the odd Leatherjacket on the surface so we have sprayed an Insecticide other jobs have been raking bunkers, moving tee markers, cutting aprons so we can take those cutting units off to put the verti-cut units on for the greens at the end of the week, divoting landing areas, cutting 3.5" roughs and cutting fairways. Congratulations to Rab on the staff who had a baby girl on Saturday.

2011-03-25T02:37:00.000-07:00

Today we applied lawnsand to the greens to help kill off the moss and kick start them for the season, the greens were cut before hand then watered behind to wash the lawnsand in, other jobs today were raking bunkers and moving tee markers, collecting balls off the range, changing holes then I have a committee meeting tonight. Rab one our members of staff is off as he is about to become a Dad I will keep you posted.

2011-03-23T06:12:00.000-07:00

After the heavy rain last week we decided to make the soakaway in the 15th greenside bunker larger to help drain the water from the surface so we dug out the low area in the middle and replaced the heavy clay with 3 tons of 20mm gravel, other jobs today was to dewy brush the greens, rake bunkers and move tee markers, top up bunkers with fresh sand on holes 16, 17 & 18 and carry on painting the storm hut at tee 15

2011-03-21T07:22:00.000-07:00

spiking greens with a 6mm solid tine to a depth of 1"

We spiked the greens then cut behind to clean the surface up, raked all the bunkers and moved all tee markers, top-dressed the newly turfed 15th yellow tee, finished off planting the gorse and broom in between holes 6 & 8 and painted the starters hut

Quarry's Crash II

2011-03-17T14:12:00.000-07:00

2011-03-17T07:32:00.000-07:00

Today started off thick harr then the odd shower, the course was back open first thing so jobs today were to dewy brush the greens, reshape and rake bunkers after the heavy rain, cut tees, divot tees, empty tee bins, the last coat of paint on the broken tee pots and OB posts, carried on planting more gorse and machine maintenance on the 2500a tees mower and e-gator

At last the rain has stopped

2011-03-16T05:50:00.000-07:00

We have made a start to planting Gorse and Broom in the rough next to tees 7 and towards hole 8 to add feature and colour

In the last 4 days we have had over 50mm of rain with 26mm in 6 hours yesterday so today we closed the course, planned jobs had to be postponed with this adverse weather jobs were changed to divoting fairways and painting broken tee pots and out of bound posts, planting gorse