Tuesday 19th March 2013

Last week a covering of snow kept the guys off of bunker revetments and turf preperations.

Course was closed on the Monday and Tuesday.

Some of the guys found better ways to cover up and keep warm more than others.

 

When the sun did come out it was quite warm. Gorse planting at the mound in front of the greenkeeping sheds.

Odd bits of broom in the heather were cut right back to and stop the heather being smothered.

Burn wall work was continued, nearly complete.

Bunker building continued by the end of the week, bunker at the 15th completed by the two younger guys Ross and Willy. Looking good.

Bunker at 16th being built by Danie and Mark.

This week we move to the area between 10th and 11th fairways to prep and turf.



Monday 11th March 2013

LINKS SUPERINTENDENT REPORT FOR FEBRUARY 2013

WEATHER

February’s weather was just what the Doctor ordered after the extremely wet weather we have experienced over the previous few months. It was generally dry with a few hard frosts and plenty sunlight which helps waken up the turf after the winter. There was only 2 days that brought any meaningful precipitation meaning that the high water table that had been keeping low areas and certain bunkers flooded retreated to normal levels.

WORK ON THE LINKS

The favourable weather throughout February allowed us to catch up with the winter programs on the courses with many of the jobs that had been open for while being completed. The revetting of bunkers was also a major target throughout the month as in a normal winter we would have had the bulk of them built before Christmas.

CHAMPIONSHIP COURSE

The fair weather allowed us to lightly top dress the greens, which often is not possible so early in the year. An application of Sulphate of Iron and Turf Fungicide was also made to help promote photosynthesis and prevent any outbreak of disease.

Winter Works

·        Turfing of the Island on the 17^th was completed with an extra row of blocks also being added to the burn wall on both sides to soften what would have been a very steep slope towards the burn.

·        Turfing completed alongside the 1^st tee

·        Site of the old white tee at 4^th lowered and turfed

·        Excavation hole between 10^th/11^th sand capped

·        12 bunkers revetted at: 3^rd Fairway (3), 4^th Green LHS (2), 5^th Green, 7^th Green, 8^th Green LHS, 9^th Fairway LHS, 10^th Green LHS, 14^th Fairway LHS.

Other work

·        Plugging worst of divot scars on heavy played landing areas on fairways

·        Pumping water from low lying areas at start of month

·        Ditch/Pipe repair at RHS 12^th fairway

·        Mains irrigation pipes spanning Barry Burn at 10^th & 17^th holes raised along with bridges at 17^th to help reduce the risk of future flooding

·        Start made to brushing roughs

BURNSIDE

The greens were sprayed with an application of Seaweed and Sulphate of Iron late in the month as temperatures started to increase. The 3^rd green was mini cored and top-dressed to continue to dilute the silt left from the Barry Burn flooding in December; this hole was brought back into play on the last weekend of the month after being closed for 5 months throughout the winter.

Winter Works

·        At the 3^rd/4^th holes the removal of silty soil in low areas and replacing it with sand commenced along with preparing ground along the burn bank after re-positioning and raising the bridge in front of the 4^th tee.

·        Raising of low areas on 5^th fairway

·        Mounds lowered alongside 16^th tee and re-turfed along with where gorse had been removed on the opposite side of the road.

·        6 bunkers revetted; 11^th fairway (2), 12^th green (2) and 18^th green LHS (2)

Other work

·        Verti-drain work continued on tee’s, walkways and fairways

·        Water was pumped away from low areas on the 6^th, 8^th, 12^th, 13^th and 15^th holes

·        A granular application of Sulphate of Iron was made to the tees to help control moss and earthworm activity

·        Gorse trimming took place on the 7^th, 8^th, 11^th, 12^th, 15^th and 17^th holes

BUDDON LINKS

Winter works

·        Bump on the right side of the 4^th green was lowered

·        Extension to the rear of the 5^th tee was carried out along with the continuation of the re-contouring work behind the 4^th green.

·        New Ladies tee on the 12^th hole was built

·        New ‘Gold’ tee on 13^th hole was levelled and partly turfed

·        Area at start on 2^nd fairway which had been stripped was re-turfed

·        Revetted patch carried out on greenside bunker on 10^th hole

Other work

·        Tee’s verti-drained

·        Fairways top-dressed

·        Mounds behind 17^th green strimmed and clippings collected

·        Damaged gorse trimmed and chipped along with big pile of gorse at compound to right of 12^th tee

·        Filling pot holes on roads as required

 

 

Sandy Reid, Links Superintendent - 8^th March 2013

Friday 8th March 2013

Another lot of bunkers built this week. Above bunker at 9th fairway was lowered and a new turf was put on the head. This was lowered due to a build up of sand over the years making the bunker higher and higher.

7th green

5th approach

14th fairway

guys at the 15th approach

another one bites the dust! and the rain is here, maybe a bit more than we wanted but it keeps the newly laid turf moist.

 

The roughs were all brushed up and dead grass/moss picked up with the TM brush.

Bridge at the left hand side of the 1st nearly complete

 

As i said the other day a few of us were at the Scottish Bigga Conference. A few of the guys have taken away some information onboard and have tried to use this in their working day

If you were at the Scottish Bigga Conference you will know whats going on here if not, there was a video shown about a fish company from Seattle.

http://youtu.be/gNDP9jLuzXU

 

 

 

 

6th March 2013

What a great spell of weather we have been having, is it wrong to ask for rain??

9 days since we have last had rain, get the irrigation at the ready!!!

A really good week of work last week.

 14 bunkers have been rebuilt, with a little help from Malx and Barry (Burnside Bulgy Boys).

Certain bunkers at 3rd, 4th, 5th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th and 14th being rebuilt.

Bridge work is still continuing on the course. Here, at the 1st the beams have been put in place after coming back tarted up from the workshop.

More bunker work.

Moles??

 No, Rookie is back from his trip to Oz. He is the master of heading out divots on fairways. This process has been a bit relaxed over the years due to lack of tight turf. Concentration is more on really bad areas now and par 3 tees.

Master craftsman Barry has produced a bee box which will go out in our Operation Pollinator area. The thought of honey sandwiches for our morning piece sounds good.

 

Yesterday, we had a group of 7 guys attend the BIGGA Scottish Regional Conference at Dunfermline. It was a great day, with a range of topics talked about and another chance to meet up with fellow greenkeepers from around the area.

 

Forgot to mention last week congratulations to Paul who recently got married to Melanie. All the best for the future.