Superintendents Blog – December 2011
We received 61mm of rainfall during the month of December, with 9 days recording rainfall, however there was no rain recorded in the last 10 days of the month. The yearly total for rainfall was 1328mm.
With the start of the new year it seems that summer has finally arrived with warmer temperatures and prevailing north easterly winds quickly drying the golf course fairways.
I would like to welcome Will Ockenden to the greenstaff as our new assistant superintendent; Will has 20 years industry experience and has worked at four other courses around the Illawarra and southern Sydney areas.
Greens
The greens have been fairly consistent all month and have a relatively smooth surface; the greens will improve as the dusting program continues.
A couple of problems have occurred during the month with a hydraulic hose blowing on the greens mower on the 7th green causing an oil burn on the front section of the green, this area will be repaired when the full extent of damaged is apparent.
The 12th green suffered from heat stress over the Christmas period, this is due to a failure in the electrical decoder component that controls the sprinkler, the problem has been fixed and recovery will be monitored and repair work will follow.
Tees
Tees are being cut twice a week. I will try to spray a selective herbicide this month to control the Kikuyu encroachment on the couch tees.
Fairways.
Fairways have deteriorated over the past 2 weeks due to the onset of dry weather, this dry weather highlighted a deficiency in the pressure from the irrigation pumping station on the 7th dam. The self cleaning filter system was not cleaning its self and this resulted in blockages and reduced water flow to the sprinklers. The problem has been identified and repaired and 6 monthly maintenance will be carried out to prevent any future problems.
Frustratingly I have been unable to complete the turf work on the 2nd fairway; however with our staffing back to normal we will be able to repair the area ASAP.
Bunkers
Bunkers have been trimmed during normal maintenance.
We continue to screen sand from our stockpile and place it in the bunkers.
Machinery
The skid steer loader is having overheating issues during prolonged use however the overall condition of the machine is very poor and it is difficult to justify any considerable money on it to make any repairs, basically the machine will be our next priority replacement when funds are available.
The electric golf style cart need all 6 batteries replaced. The cart can only operate for about 40 minutes at the moment after a full charge.
The John Deere tees mower has blown a front oil seal and is currently out of action for atleast the next week or two. We have raised the height of our older greens mower to 10mm so we can continue to cut tees and green surrounds.
Trees and Gardens
All gardens on the course have been sprayed with a herbicide pre emergent that will give us at least 3 month control of any new weeds seeds germinating.
The problem we have at the moment is that our woodchip stocks are very low and we all know that a well mulched garden helps to control weeds.
Other projects
- Garden work, trimming and mulching.
- Round up spraying under pine trees gardens and course boundaries.
- Tree maintenance.
- Pathway repairs
- Turf work on the 2nd fairway
Thank You Mark Yates
Comments
Post has no comments.