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Course Status

Author: Will Salter

Course Update 23/7/26

Committee, Course Status, GreenkeeperWill SalterLeave a comment

At the moment the course is in its worst condition it has been in the last 3 months. We have gone from a situation from last Wednesday of the course in its best condition in the last 3 months to now where it is in its worst condition in that time. This is the first time the course has been closed for a period of time since Anzac Day. The huge deluge of rain we experienced on Anzac day and days after looked to the naked eye that the course was completely flooded, however the water disappeared very quickly and we were back on track within 3 days so playing golf and carts being on course was still feasible at times.

Since then we have experience out of the ordinary rainfall constantly through the colder months which has caused frustration for the committee, members, grounds staff, pro shop and social players alike. A lot of members would be wondering why the course has been completely closed from Sunday, viewing things from afar and although things may look good from afar, when you get up close to the fairways and course in general things and conditions look far from good.

At the moment the course is unplayable and if you can all please see the attached photos this is how all fairways look when you get up close. Other things to consider is the current evapouration rates. Even though the pumps have been on sonstantluy they can only get so much water off the course and the rest relies on evaporation, As an example on Sunday 19th July the recorded rainfall at Coolangatta was 18.2 mm which was primarrily from Midnight until 7am. The rest of the day was completely sunny with high gale force winds which you would expect is great drying weather, however the total evapouration rate for the day was 3mm. If you take that into account that is still 15mm + of water that just does not dissappear.

The continual rainfall we have had since Sunday has been completely unexpected and has been even more detrimentle to the course in general. All grounds staff have been very reluctant to even drive our vehicles on course and picking our battles and focusing on making sure all drains are flowing. The only things being mowed at the moment are the greens and they are the best thing still looking on the course.

When the grounds staff have these situations we try to focus on other jobs required that you can’t do in the summer months and when the course is like this so we have been focusing on the continual face lift of the Island House which has been progressing at an alarming rate.

On a good note the forecast over the next 10 days looks very promisiing and we are hoping to present a great course for the Mens Chanpoinships beginning on Saturday 1st Auguist.

Please be patient everyone its just as frustrating for all of you as it is for all of us.

Best regards

The Shed

Course Maintenance Monday 10th November – Thursday 13th November

CommitteeWill SalterLeave a comment

Greens Maintenance

The greens will be scarified twice initially. Once the scarify process is complete on each green a turf tender vacuum collects all the scarify mulch and then soon after this is collected the coring process begins. The vacuum then does another round on the greens to collect all the cores. The scarify mulch and cores will be used to fill in the bare patches around the course.

After the coring process is complete the greens are left to breath overnight and on the following day Gypsum is spread across the greens to add nutrient into the core holes and the soil. Once the Gypsum has been spread then the sand spreading begins to cover the greens. After the sand spreading is complete the greens will then be fertilized. An additional lighter sand spreading is conducted a week or so later.

Tee Boxes

All tee boxes will be cored after the greens and once all cored then the sand spreading process begins on the tee boxes.

Cart Paths

Major renovations are happening on the cart paths with a road base material that is applied with a bobcat and spreader attached. Once spread out on the paths a roller is used to compact the base and make a much more robust cart path. This will continue past the scheduled course maintenance.

Fairways and Rough

The fairways and rough will be maintained as per the current weekly schedule.

Sand Bunkers

All weeds and grass runners that are prevalent in the bunkers will be poisoned. General bunker maintenance will resume on Friday 14th November.

Tree Limbs

Tree limbs that are overhanging fairways and tee boxes will be cut back. There will be some that will be unreachable. Anything that is reachable with a pole say will be cut back. Low lying limbs in some of the rough areas will also be cut back. Any dead tree will be removed. This will be an ongoing process even after the scheduled course maintenance this week.

Photos of the different course works will be attached to the blog as the week progresses.

All the ground staff are looking forward to presenting a vibrant course for the warmer summer months ahead.

Regards,

The Shed

Major Bunker Renovations

GreenkeeperWill SalterLeave a comment

Your eyes may see it but you wont believe it. Can you guess what bunker this is?

The grounds staff have been hard at it over the last 2 days whipper snipping the edges of the bunkers and surrounds and blowing out the debris. Along with this, some major renovations have begun on the bunkers with sand fill to fix up the faces and have softer sand on the bases.

It was a partially freezing morning this morning with a temperature recorded at the shed of 3.5 degrees. The team got stuck into mowing the greens and fairways first and then hit the bunkers.

Keep on the pulse for a retrospective update on works on the course over the last two months as well as progessive updates on future works.

Happy Hitting out there

Regards,

THE SHED