Friday 27th August

Yesterday, jobs on the course included: hand cutting greens, greens rolled, tees cut and bunkers raked.

We also started lifting turf from one of the tees at the first hole Buddon.

This is part of the site for the new pro shop/starters box.

http://www.carnoustiegolflinks.co.uk/proposed-new-cglmc-building/

The turf from this area is placed at our turf nursery and will be used for winter works.

Also three leaning trees were cut down at the left hand side of the 9th fairway.

Today, greens were hand cut and rollled, approaches hand cut and surrounds cut with triples.

Other jobs included turfing areas where the tree stumps were and strimming round the course.

ooooo straightest lines on the links, Mint.

Wednesday 25th August

Cold start to to this morning, the Dunhill is on the way!!

Heavy dew while changing the holes.

The seed is starting to show through on the greens.

Today, greens were hand cut, markers moved/divoted up and bunkers raked.

weak/newly turfed areas around the course cored, remembering to watch out for sprinklers!!!

These areas are overseeded and top dressed once all cores are removed

and fairways cut.

Tuesday 24th August

Approaches and green surrounds were top- dressed yesterday.

Today, they were cut.

Greens were hand cut, tee banks flymoed/strimmed and bunkers raked.

Walk off areas around greens were mini cored and holes filled with a mixture of seed, wetting agent granules, seaweed granules and rubber crumb.

No photos today due to the heavy rain, which resulted in the guys coming in early to do competence checks on certain machinery.

Friday 20th August

Good start to the week weather wise until this morning.

Greens cut and rolled most days.

Sandy went AWOL for a while on Wednesday morning, up to no good.

Ok, he was spraying odd weeds in the rough.

Young Barry getting his first taste of cutting the greens(no sharks teeth in the edges,like some beginners).

Markers moved and tees cupped up.

Holes changed Monday, Wednesday and today.

Big eel in the burn today.

Friday 13th(****!!!!)/ Saturday 14th August

Friday the 13th, a bit cloudy to see the meteor shower early this morning.

I asked Sandy if he saw any stars, his reply was Stuart and Craig Kerr, whose band coincidentally are playing at The Big Gig in Carnoustie at the weekend (My Fallen Idea). The band is like Oasis and Boyzone put together.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnZWZ_NhzXw

greens were given a light top dressing to fill any holes up, brushed , cut and rolled.

tees cut

and fairways cut.

Here s a picture of the greens after the top dressing and rolling.

Last night and this morning greens that were still a little bumpy were pencil tined and double rolled behind.

The greens are running about 13 on the stimp now!!!

Day 2 of the overseeding programme, bit of a cloudy start.

The sun made an appearance, until on the last green when the heavens opened.

Luckily we had brushed in all the top dressing.

Green after all the top dressing were brushed/drag matted in.

This afternoon we had a visit from Bob Taylor from the S.T.R.I. He was doing an ecology report on behalf of the R and A.

www.stri.co.uk/en/about-stri/stri-staff/ecology/bobtaylor

In the evening we managed another dusting of sand on the green to fill up any open holes.

Tuesday 10th August

"The Big Job" of overseeding the greens yesterday got off to a bad start, as it rained!!

On the brightside, all the course was cut greens, fairways, tees, approaches etc.

Today, the weather was a bit better although there was no wind and a heavy dew first thing.

A start was made, dew brushed off the greens and approaches with the tractor and brush then cut with triples and rolled behind with the smithco roller. The course is mobbed again from the first tee off, so we decide to start at the 2nd green then move to the 5th.

Once green is rolled the two tractor mounted corers move in.

The greens are solid tined with 5/8" tines.

Tines supplied by local company

Steelmaster Products

www.steelmaster.co.uk

Spread with seed and then sprayed Activate R with the wee boy sprayer.

Then we spread seaweed and perma pore over the green.

Top dressed,

brushed behind

drag matted behind the brush.

Cut and rolled.

Greens seeded today: 2nd, 5th, 8th, 12th, 13th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th and the putting green all before the torrential rain!

Bird Watch

Red Bull really does give you wings.

Links Report for June/July

WEATHER

June was a fine month with light winds more easterly than usual. Rainfall was lower than normal, 26 mm for the month, while average noon temperature at 17 º C was typical.

July was a much wetter month with a total rainfall of 75 mm. Average noon temperature was slightly up on June at 17.5 º C and winds were predominantly west – south west, light to fresh, while humidity was higher than usual.

WORK ON THE LINKS

Championship

Aeration
Solid tining, using star tines was carried out on high parts of fairways, teeing grounds and flood damaged areas in June. Hydroject aeration involved trafficked areas generally, the re-laid section at the start of the 18th fairway and overseeded parts of fairways. Several greens were hydrojected also in June.
Bunker Maintenance
The usual bunker maintenance procedures carried on, which included light cultivation of bunker floors as required as well as methodical stone removal and sand shaping. Re-laid turf on bunker tops was watered as required and a light nitrogen fertiliser was applied to these areas in June.
Selective Weedkilling
Selective weedkilling continued in June on green and tee surrounds, fairways, walkways and certain roughs, mostly in the form of spot treatments.
Total weedkiller was used around the Hotel, Starters’ Box and Public Putting Green perimeter.
Top Dressing
Greens top dressing was carried out in conjunction with approaches and surrounds as usual in June with a final light greens application in early July commensurate with the growth and turf density prevailing. The top dressing programme, like other treatments was geared obviously to peak the course for the Seniors Open and included a light top dressing on “Hogan” tees and low areas of fairway and fairway extensions, especially following selective verti-cutting. Top dressing on main teeing grounds commenced at the end of the month.
Irrigation
Occasional overnight irrigation was required mainly during June although localised hand watering was much preferred in targeting requirements on greens in particular along with re-laid turf on bunker tops and the 2nd, 3rd, and 6th greens etc. Sprinklers and control valve boxes were trimmed round as required.
Mowing
Hand mowing on greens commenced at the end of June in the build up to the tournament, although hand mowing had been carried out earlier to suit events and whenever other priority procedures were covered. Low areas on fairways were often mown using triplex machines as was the “island” fairway on the 17th hole. Rolling on greens was a common procedure and included softer approaches nearer the Seniors. Green approaches and tight surround areas along with fairways were brushed prior to mowing in the build up to the tournament which in the aforementioned areas was carried out in one direction (i.e. tee to green) in our usual fashion for such events.
Fungicide Treatment
A preventative fungicide treatment was applied to greens in early June, primarily as a forerunner to a fairy ring control programme. Subsequent sprays followed in conjunction with wetting agent, which included fairways as required. The re-laid section at the start of the 18th fairway was treated for dollar spot control.
Nematicide
The nematicide Eagle Green Care, a garlic derived product, for the control of nematodes, was again applied on greens 1, 2, 7, 9, and 11, where soil sample analysis had identified numbers above threshold.
Overseeding
Weak spots on greens (1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11 and 16) were aerated and overseeded in the usual fashion during June.
Fertiliser
Weaker greens, in particular those which were overseeded received a light application of the organic fertiliser TX10 in June. Certain weaker areas round the course received this treatment also. In early June greens received a summer fertiliser mixture comprising ammonium sulphate, dried blood, hoof and horn, iron sulphate and seaweed meal, a commonly used mixture applied
at 1 oz / sq yd. Green approaches and surrounds were sprayed with a tank mix of liquid ammonia, liquid iron and liquid seaweed. The re-laid area on the 10th walkway and 12th fairway also received liquid nitrogen.
Minor Turf Repairs
A few small turf repairs were carried out to the 2nd green and tee in June along with one or two bunker top repairs.
Conditioner Treatments
A number of conditioner treatments were applied to greens in particular through June and July, including green approaches and surrounds, teeing grounds, higher parts of fairways and weak areas of turf generally.
Applications comprised of liquid nitrogen, seaweed, liquid iron, wetting agent and a phos-form mix (a phosphorus based product with trace elements). These products were combined to suit turf needs over the two months along with a periodic water conditioner (acidifier) spray as required.
Senior Open
The protected landing areas on the 7th, 11th, 15th and 18th holes along with the short 3rd hole arrangement were in operation from the end of June and proved successful in controlling further divot damage in the relevant fairway areas. Nearer the event, the protection fences on the course were removed and have since been replaced. Turf protection rope was strung across tournament reserved teeing areas on the 3rd, 5th, 8th, 11th and 18th tees for the practice days. The 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th and 18th greens on the Burnside Course were roped off at the same time. The Buddon Course team prepared the practice range facility which included nine target pins on the 2nd and 18th fairways, five pins on the 18th green and seven on the 1st green.
Final tournament preparation centred on mowing repetition and lowered cutting height combined with rolling on greens. All playing surfaces (i.e. approaches, fairways, semi-rough) were mown in one direction (tee to green) daily. Target green speeds of approximately 10.5” were met, although the trueness of ball roll came in for the most praise from the players. We would have preferred the greens to have been a little firmer, however ball reaction was consistent between approach and green.

Environmental Work
Environmental work carried out during June and July included burn and ditch clearing; application of Timbrel on young broom; burnt gorse chipping at the 15th hole, Burnside Course; and clearing up loose grass on spectator routes in the rough.
The wooden bridge at the 1st green on the Buddon Links Course was repaired where necessary prior to the Senior Open.
Sensitive heather areas were duly protected from spectator or vehicle movement during the event and protection fences, although in need of adjustment, have been replaced.

Thursday 5th August

A few guys off this week (5 guys), so we have to try and get as much done as we can.

So far:

Greens cut everyday, hand-cutting Monday and yesterday- Triples Tuesday and today.

Fairways cut on Monday.

Approaches and green surrounds cut on Tuesday and will be cut again tomorrow.

Tees were cut today after all of them were top-dressed earlier in the week.

Today, we managed to make a start to cleaning out the burn.

All hands on deck next week as we plan (weather permitting) to overseed the greens.

Carnoustie Golf Links is now on Facebook, have a look.

Monday 2nd August

Just over a week ago since the tournament.

The European Tour and IMG kindly filled our fridge up for us, it did n't last long!

On the Monday, we had the first few tee times.

Willie, was a bit frustrated after blowing up at the 10th, but he still took the money.

Tuesday, saw the start of the grandstands and scoreboards being dismantled.

Well Done Bernhard Langer

Seniors Open Champion and US Senior Open Champion

2010