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 fade 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
