July /August 2013

Over the last few weeks we have been busy with Visitors /Members Play and Tournaments ,so priority has been on presenting the surfaces for our peak period. i will share a few pictures below of some different tasks we have undertaken and completed recently.

George Cantlay our Mechanic has completed a course on Regrinding and Sharpening Cutting Units.

After the Lovley Dry spell ended we were out Spiking the greens.

We have been fixing several Irrigation problems around the course.

We have also had to deal with a fire which broke out to the left of the 2nd Green !

Apologies for the lack of posts over the last while but we are having great difficulty with the reliability of the software this blog uses.

May Aeration & Overseeding

At the start of this week we have been V Draining/ Aerating our greens with 8 mm Solid Tines to a depth of  210 mm .

We have also been out with our Dyna Seeder Units popping in some Fescue.

The Newly Reconstructed Green at the 14th is now in play.

Whilst the weather in the afternoons has been fine the mornings are still very cold for Late May !!

In the last couple of days we have applied some Fish Hyrolysate to our greens with the new JD HD200 sprayer. It is performing well with the new Syngenta Xc Nozzles .

The newly reconstructed green at the 14th is getting close to opening with regular cutting and topdressing helping to produce a smooth surface.

The roots on the 14th Green are down about 5 inches now and with temperatures on the rise and lots of daylight the rooting will now increase steadily    :  )

I took the family to Aden Park in Mintlaw last weekend , it was great to see something other than Poa In Flower ! 

       

Scottish Spring Time

This Spring the Weather has been very poor for promoting early growth ,this has not been a problem for our fine turf areas which have provided good Winter & Spring surfaces and have come through with good vigour and density. Our main problems areas with lack of growth are the newly constructed 14th Green and the newly turfed banks of the burn at the 13th .

The Reconstructed 14th Green needing Mother Nature to provide some Heat!

The Newly Turfed Burn Banks at the 13th Needing some Heat to help the Turf Knit Together.

We have managed to get 5 Top Dressings on the Greens. You can also see up on the bank above the Green the Gorse Bushes have been burnt badly with the Freezing Easterly winds we have been experiencing.

Update on Operation Shore Up

Over the last few weeks we have had contractors in helping us to repair all the storm damaged areas.This at times has seemed like a never ending proccess but thanks to the Contractors and our own Staff ,we are now busy with the final clean up and prepping areas for turfing.

We have managed to reclaim the lost Dune land at the Mouth of the 13th Burn the blocks are now in place and will be Sand Covered and Marram Sprigged in due course.

The Dry Concrete Mix Bagging work to the Banks of the Burn has been Completed.

The foundations are now in place for the new bridge, The Extended Burn Bankings have still to be prepped and turfed.

The Gabion Basket Work has been completed at the 8th hole with Enkamatting covering the baskets .We will be covering the matting with soil and seeding as soon as possible.                                                     
                                                   
                                                  
                                       
                                                                    
                                                        

Operation Shore Up

The Storms and Monsoons last month have caused a considerable amount of damage to the Burn Bankings at The 13th and a section of Dune land at the mouth of the Burn.We have also had two land slips above the 8th Green.Our local Plant Contractor Dick Sangster came in between Christmas and New Year .

     Dick sourced out concrete blocks and reclaimed the lost section of Dune land  ,we have also put Geo Tex sheeting behind the blocks to protect any sand/material being washed out with any further storms ,after this job he moved to the 8th green where the monsoons had created a bulging overburden of about 150 ton on the north facing bank this had partially slipped down the bank towards our 8th green.Dick removed the material which was threatening the green and regraded the bank.

The  second landslip on the 8th which faces East was different as there was no bulging overburden just a fault line at the top of the path.

After consulting with a couple of engineering companies ,the best way to fix this problen was with Gabion Baskets.                                              

After the baskets have been installed they will be covered with a mesh sheeting and soil and seeded to hide from view.

The geo tex sheeting is tucked under the base of the blocks and after back filling has been folded over this will prevent any material being washed away at the base .We will cover the top with sand and are confident that the usual spring gailes will once again start to gather and mask the base of the blocks.Marram grasses will also be planted.

The Burn at the 13th has taken a lot of damage and will be needing considerable work to repair the bankings.