January Grounds Report

January grounds report

Some much needed rain greeted us in early January with a total of 114mm falling over a 5 day period. This rainfall has given the course some much needed natural water and we have seen a nice green up across the property.

Greens

• During the Christmas/new year period the greens were under some extreme disease pressure with the high temperatures and humidity. Extra fungicide applications were made to nurse them through
• The regular dusting and gypsum program continues with 4 dusting and 2 gypsum applications made over the December and January period
• As stated in the December grounds report, the greens received a 4mm hollow tine to a depth of 40mm. Towards the backend of January we will use a needle tine or possibly trial a different method of aeration called air2go to help with water and oxygen movement in the soil profile
• Our agronomic program is still very busy with applications of fertiliser, fungicide and insecticides

Zoysia

• Early December all Zoysia areas were aerated with a small needle tine to aid with the oxygen and water movement. Later in the month we will aerate these areas again with a larger solid tine and more depth.
• Application of wetting agent was applied to add with the Zoysia soil profile holding water and help with minimizing the turf drying out. This will also add in reducing the scalping of the turf when dry, this happens then the soil profile is dry and all the moisture in the leaf is reduced the mowing head drops down slightly and scalps the turf.
• Gypsum is scheduled to be applied to these areas
• With the recent rainfall you would have started to see some darker rings forming in the Zoysia. This is the first signs a disease forming, we will try to manage this with fertilizer before using fungicide.

Fairways

• Top dressing of fairways is in process/completed. We have spread 340tonne of sand over the fairways. This process will help with thatch control, provide a firmer playing surface and help to level out imperfections in the fairway’s levels like drainage or sand grooving lines. Topdressing is a two-step process, where we distribute sand evenly over the surface and allow it to dry. Once the sand is dry there are two methods to move the sand into the grass canopy. 1) a metal frame is used to drag sand from high areas into low areas, 2) final process is to drag a metal chain frame across the entire surface and rub to sand into the turf. After a day we will irrigate the fairways to wash any excess sand off the surface.
• We will not be topdressing the fairways on the Farm paddock but will be doing some hand work on the drainage lines on 4^th and 7^th fairways that have sunk since installation.

New turf areas

• 300m² of new Kikuyu was laid in several different areas around the course. Large portion of this turf was laid on the right side of 17^th between the green side bunker and pathway, other areas were couple of bare patches on 7^th fairway, right side of 9^th green, right side of 15^th fairway, couple of old tree stumps scares left rough on 16^th
• We will continue with turf work once construction starts on the new forward tee at 18. We have to remove the turf from this area for construction so this turf will be reused on the left side of 15^th were there is currently couch growing.

8^th dam

• With the riverine backup and working which weas just in time as irrigation requirements were on a high with the hot and dry spell we were experiencing. The recent rainfall has the currently at capacity.
• The new aeration system has arrived and we are just awaiting for availability with the clubs electrician for installation, this system which most likely not be visible from the surface releases oxygen bubbles from dam floor and helps with oxygen movement in the water. The current fountain is used to manage algae on the surface.

Upcoming projects

• Construction of the new forward tee at 18 is currently penciled in to start the first week of February. This work has been delayed due to our construction contractor still required at NSWGC where he is involved with their new construction works.

Mark Ward
Course Manager

December grounds report

Update on the works that has been carried out by the course team during December on the playing surfaces

Weather conditions

Greens

• During the 3-day closure in early December the greens received a 4mm hollow tine to the depth of 40mm. This is part of the thatch reduction program, along with the tining we continue with our dusting of sand and gypsum applications.
• To coincide with the tininig of green surface we also applied some bio stimulates to help with the thatch reduction.
• With the hot and humid conditions that we are seeing we have had to apply regulator fungicide and wetting agent products at add the greens during this time
• 3^rd application of Poacure has been applied with the 4^th and final application to be made in the first week of January

Zoysia green surrounds and tees

• Once we had completed the renovation work on the greens, we moved into the Zoysia playing surfaces. These areas received a solid tine just to help relieve compaction in these high traffic areas and help with oxygen and water movement.
• Our monthly fertiliser package was applied to these areas. This package is a maintenance package of essential nutrients just to help with recovery and general turf health
• A wetting agent will also be applied to help hold moisture in the soil profile during the hot December and January period

Fairways

• The start of the month saw the first application of growth regulator applied to the Kikuyu fairways, this is done to aid the mowing requirements during the growing period.
• Wetting agent will be applied to those areas that are using excessive water from tree roots, drainage lines and a heavy soil profile. This will assist in these areas retaining the water applied during the night or by the team early in the morning.

Bunkers

• The team continues to work on the presentation and playability of the bunkers. As we enter the new year we will be adding sand to those bunkers that require extra sand on the bases.

New turf

• The grounds team have recently laid around 300m² of new Kikuyu in some bare areas around the course, the main areas were 7^th fairway, 9^th green pathways, 12^th green surrounds, 15^th fairway and 17^th green surrounds.
• Extra hand watering and fertilising will be done by the team to help with the establishment of the new turf.
• We will look to add some more turf to areas in the coming weeks

Honey Suckle Creek Dam

• We are now pumping water into the dam via the river line, currently the water level is remaining same due to the use of irrigation with the current weather conditions.
• In the new year a new underwater aeration system will be installed. This will help with the overall health of the water by pushing air bubbles through the water profile.

Tree work

• The scheduled tree works took place during the 3-day closure and the following Mondays. There were several trees that had deadwood or branches classed as a safety risk removed, along with this trimming work complete trees were removed due to the safety risk
• Tree at 3^rd fairway was removed due to the danger of falling. Part of the main truck has been left due to Cockatoos nesting in the hollow. There is no immediate danger of the truck falling but it will be closely monitored for any further movement.

Mark Ward
Superintendent

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OCTOBER GROUNDS REPORT

October weather conditions has been favourable for the course with minimal rainfall. Soil temperatures are still on the low end for turf growth with night time temperatures still low for October.

Playing surfaces
Greens have recovered well from the recent renovations and are starting to show good performance as we lead in the business end of the club championships.
Application made to greens over the month
• Weekly dusting (this will help with greens firmness and work on minimising the thatch over time)
• Preventative fungicide for Pythium
• Soil penetrant to help move water through the soil profile, this is different to a wetting agent which is designed to hold water in the soil profile.
• Gypsum, this will help open pore spacers in the soil profile which will help with water movement and release locked up nutrients in the soil profile
• Liquid fertiliser package containing nitrogen, iron and some pigment
• 2nd application of Poacure has been applied

Fairways, tees and green surrounds are received and liquid fertiliser package to encourage growth.

Course furniture and signage
We have now completed in install of the distance signage located at the tees. We are still receiving delivery of bins which will be placed in the allocated areas when we receive delivery.

Teams focus
Over the next month the teams focus will be general maintenance of all playing surfaces in preparation for the upcoming championship finals along the David Mercer Pro Am.
Bunkers will be a focus with sand depths checked and general presentation of the bunkers.

Mark Ward
Superintendent