Well another few weeks have past since my last blog entry. We were lucky enough to get a few patches on bunkers revetted just before the end of October, without upsetting play.
We started an extension to the Yellow and Red tee at the 9th. Most of the good turf was salvaged from the tee bank.
Top soil scraped away, sand put in and top soil back on the top.
Turfed with turf from 10th Hogan tee.
At the 10th Hogan tee we are extending the tee forward and making it wider. This tee is used at tournament times and is a bit on the small side the time you get sponsorship boards, drinks fridges, litter bins etc.
I had to call in the big gun to cut a tree down for me.
Sandy in action,
tttiiiiiimmmmbbbbbbbeeeerrrr
a few guys will be happy for the firewood.
Saw this little fella on my travels round the course. A young stoat nibbling on a frog, i would prefer if he would stick to going for rabbits!
So after the tree was down we started work on the 10th Hogan tee. Ready for turf now.
We love when Bonfire night comes round, a chance to get rid of some pallets.
So on to our Winter closure, the first two weeks in November. Turf cut at the 2nd tee, here we will be extending the height of the tee forward. More on this later.
11th fairway turf cut and ready to lift.
Just about all clear for the next process.
Coring work on a few greens. Here we are on the 10th green.
After it was cored we put the graden sand injection machine over it. The same process happened at the 1st and 5th greens.
Apart from the 10th, 1st and 5th all the rest of the greens were verti-drained with 13mm tines about 9 inches deep.
We were quite lucky with the weather and only had a few mornings of frost.
These greens were rolled after this process and top dressed to fill up the holes as we had golf during the weekend of our winter closure.
Last green being verti drained.
All turf lifted at the 11th.
A new addition to the Links, little tym.
Top soil removed and taken to the sheds where we will mix it with sand before putting back. Poorer soil taken away and ground rotovated.
More sand driven in. This sand has come from other jobs we are doing just now, a way of saving money plus re using indigenous sand,
at the left hand side of the 4th green.
At the 4th we are lowering the mounding as it is a really poor area round the green for foot traffic. By lowering the mound it will gain more area for golfers to exit the green to the next tee.
Sand also taken from the left hand side of the 1st green.
The mounding here is just being softened.
Job done.
Cant get a good picture of this but there is movement still at the 4th.
More top dressing on the greens to fill up the holes, this light dusting takes us over the 200 tonnes of sand applied on the greens this year.
You would hardly know that they have been verti drained.
The last of the graden work at the right hand side of the 9th surround.
And breathe!!
Next week we will hope to crack on adding the top soil back to the 11th fairway so we can get ready for turf.
